While we are not exactly on Chapter 27 in the book, a lot of
what we talked about this week was the success of Taylor Swift. So even though
we were consciously talking about starting your own business, we discussed
Taylor Swift’s business.
I don’t know a lot about Taylor Swift, except for the songs
she sings. I like her music, but I’m not obsessed with her. However, this class
has gotten me to be really intrigued by her.
http://www.detroitnews.com/story/entertainment/music/2014/11/07/taylor-swifts-sales-bad-news/18665081/
This article from Detroit News talks about how her massive
sales are bad news for music business. This caught my eye because it
contradicts everything we have said about Taylor Swift. While most stars are
struggling with getting their albums to sell, Swift sold 1.287 million albums
in a week. They say the problem is that she pulled her music off Spotify for
this week to increase sales. Spotify doesn’t nearly pay the artists their dues
given the amount of work that goes into an artist’s song. Swift does not
believe music should be free. The author believes that “Spotify is the greatest
thing that has ever happened to music.” As a potential starving artist, I do
not agree. Spotify gives the public a notion that music can be obtained by any
means for basically nothing. Spotify is a different kind of music business than
Taylor Swift. It’s innovative, but its still just a medium for hearing songs.
The artist of the song needs appropriate compensation for their art. Spotify
takes that away from the artist. Maybe Spotify should be like ISMLP, in which
only music that is public domain, should be “free.”
Word Count: 273
Excellent post. If Spotify only had public domain music, no one would listen to it.
ReplyDeleteI both agree and disagree. Music is a product, as we have talked about in class, and I don't buy anything that I'm not sure I'm going to like. I have always loved Taylor Swift and her music, but from what I had heard from her new album I wasn't so sure I would like it. So I listened to it on a streaming site before I decided to buy it (and before she took it all down from the internet). It was quite informative because then I decided not to buy it. I agree that people abuse it and just listen to the album on Spotify or other streaming sites and never buy it even though they love it. But I think there is a different way to handle it than making it disappear on all streaming sites. I wouldn't buy something if I have no idea what it sounds like, but that may just be me. I mean, can you even return music CDs to a store if you don't like it? I know that iTunes purchases are final. Also, she makes plenty of money so why is she being so picky about making even MORE money. It just seems a bit crazy. Something that One Direction said in their Google Hangout for their new album FOUR (coming out tomorrow!!) was that they were disappointed that fans have leaked their album and listened to it online before it was released, but there wasn't much they could do about it. They said that the good thing about their fans is that most of them won't listen to the leaked album and even if they do, if they like it, they'll buy it. Harry mentioned the Radiohead album that was released virtually for free. I thought they made a good point. If I like something, I'll buy it, and there are enough people like me that One Direction will never be broke.
ReplyDelete-Mallory