Beyoncé, Taylor Swift and Artistic Independence
What have you been up to during this world pandemic? Taylor Swift has been recording, not only one, but two surprise albums (that we know of yet) and rerecording most of her previous work (with bonus tracks).
Taytay has me feeling like the unemployed b*tch that I am. Didn’t have to drag me that way.
As a very emotional Taylor Swift fan, her latest era had me thinking about a lot of things. Some of them are about running away to a cabin in the middle of woods to become a sad writer. Others made me think about how capitalism and the music industry corrupts art trough power dynamics.
Let me clarify that a bit. It’s no lie that Taylor is not a fan of private equity and the dirty transactions that happen behind the scenes, she has publicly spoken about that multiple times. Ms. Swift has also stood up for artist’s right to be paid for their music and was very clear about her thoughts on Scooter Braun buying all of her work. All of that is just a bit of the struggles that artists (especially young ones) have to endure to be able to live from what they love. Currently, music is treated as a real state by these companies and, no surprise that tends to effect the work that comes to the public.
What Taylor Swift’s Folklore/Evermore era has me thinking, is how much of pure art and incredible music has been turned away, simply because it doesn’t fit the industry standards. I can imagine if Taylor had presented that album on the early stages of her career, producers would have throw it in the trash along with their overly priced LA’s green juice bottle. What I mean is, Folklore and Evermore have been a major success without following traditional selling tactics. They both sound extremely different from her previous music, they have not been promoted, nor there is a super extravagant visual attachment to them. They have songs that tell stories about other people and Taylor’s imaginary world. It’s a whole new point of view and, in my opinion, her best songs lyrically.
Furthermore, Taylor posted on her Instagram page, a little message about the rerecording of her old album Fearless, which includes 6 new songs that didn’t made the cut in 2008 — for mercadological reasons. That been said, it’s clear that mediation that stand between the fans and the artist is exhausting and constraining, keeps us from seeing the entire picture.
Now, If you’re under 27 you probably remember when Beyoncé, without warning, released her self titled album “BEYONCE”. It was a game changer not only because the queen gave us FLAWLESS as a god given present, but because it completely broke all of the music industry’s unspoken rules about the releasing of an album. For starters, there was no promotion, not one single mysterious instapic to prepare the world. Secondly, it was a visual album — which means that most of the songs had a video that came with it. Beyoncé basically said: I don’t wanna be a bitch, but you guys are really boring.
Ever since then it became kind of a tradition for artists to release their work on a Friday, or even put out visual albums themselves. The true fact here is, Beyoncé as a well stablished singer pushed the boundaries and limitations that are forced upon art by an industry focused solely on numbers and money. Is no lie she has been increasingly bold as the years go by, giving zero fucks about her award prizes and position on charts and putting out her best work ever. It’s clear to see that Beyoncé’s latest work, such as Lemonade and Black Is King sound and look like a piece of art, much more sensible and honest than ever before.
The point here is not to drag promotion and marketing, we know those things play their part in a competitive field such as music. But rather, to question if the artistic work that makes it’s way to us is actually genuine. It’s amazing to see the Icons that both Beyoncé and Taylor had become and their amazing evolution as artists when they started to move more independently from theirs brands. Sure enough that’s not the reality of most singers, but isn’t it interesting how artists tend to make their best music when they are free to create?
Maybe is just a coincidence? Maybe is because capitalism is ruled by a privilege class that couldn’t care less about honest art? So many difficult questions…
Anyway, it makes me happy that the new generation has more resources than ever to make music and put it out independently. To make their marketing as they see fit and to talk directly to their audience through social media. That is amazing. Maybe it’s time for us as consumers to value those artists and start questioning the hierarchy that gains and thrives with our money and consumption power. Just something to think about.
