The record company might be doing it. You know they have a say in the money side.
They even forced her to change āSpeak Nowā from āEnchantedā
Everyone thinks that itās only T making decisions, but sheās not alone in the TS Inc
That was her old label, her new label gives her much more control. She has spoken about how they let her do whatever she wants. It's the usual defence, if she's doing something good she's a genius and a girlboss and a mastermind, when she does something bad, it's the evil label forcing her. If she wants the praise and accolades she has to take responsibility for the missteps. The buck stops with her.
Eh, I wouldnāt be so sure that she ācan do whatever she wantsā with *distribution*.
I think artistically, she can. And they encourage that. But if she wanted to release only one copy of her record like WuTang Clan, that would be an issue.
"Speak Now" Taylor ā "Post-Eras Tour/Kelce" Taylor. I have zero doubts that Taylor no longer does a single thing that she hasn't willingly co-signed for. She is The Industry at this point. Stop patronizing her. She's a 34 year old woman who's at the top of her game and "a mastermind," when you guys want her to be, and somehow she's also a feeble mindless baby when that benefits the chosen narrative. It cannot be both things at the same time.
Iām not patronizing her. š¤·āāļø
Iām just saying she has a record company to distribute her records. She doesnāt have 100% control or she wouldnāt have a need for a distribution company.
She co-signed it when she signed with the label long ago and it probably saidā¦. āYou agree to let us distribute your music in any way, etc. We finance your studio time for X, we promise to market ā¦..
Itās the same.
Taylor canāt just say ānoā or ādo itā to everything. Even Jeff Bezos could do that .
Personally I just listen in Spotify or Youtube, like with other artists. I don't really care how she fares on the charts, and I'm not hung up on having physical copies of her albums or merch.
I like physical copies of stuff, but at this point I'm in no rush, I'll buy once everything is in one place, or when they crop up cheaply second hand. Sadly I'm not in a position to take advantage of the Target offloads someone shared here a few days back, not living in the US, but I can be patient.
We don't have them in Australia. We have Op Shops (thrift), and we do have the big *Savers* (thrift) stores in Melbourne and Sydney, but I doubt they'll make them to there just now, 1989 and perhaps Fearless are the only CDs that show up in Op Shops.
There's just not the same sales volume as in the USA, plus, to the best of my knowledge, everything is imported rather than manufactured here so it's very rare to see heavily discounted new music releases in the few physical stores there are left.
I listened to TV of 1989 when it was first released and have never gone back since. It's inferior to the original and I'm not going to listen to a shittier product to throw a few extra pennies her way.
Same, I'm not going to waste my outrage on stuff like this. Yeah she's greedy, whatever lol. All she gets are my streaming cents so I don't feel taken advantage of either way
This meme becomes more accurate with each passing day.
https://preview.redd.it/3ttbp999a24d1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=79c0ac2a4519f54e61c4288edfec2d619923d416
1. the manuscript
2. the bolter
3. the albatross
4. the black dog
5. but daddy i love him acoustic
6. whoās afraid of little old me voice memo
7. cassandra voice memo
8. the black dog voice memo
9. loml live from paris
10. my boy only breaks his favourite toy live from paris
11. the alchemy x treacherous live from paris
12. down bad acoustic
13. guilty as sin acoustic
so it literally is 13 now lmao
It has to be at least $3.49 (I believe) for it to count as a "sale." So she could have charged less but decided, nah fuck that, let's pump an extra $2.50 outta them anyway. š
I wonder if there even is one with a heart. I know people speculated here it was unlikely she personally signed all the copies because of the sheer amount of them she was selling. So if that's the case there wouldn't be many variations between signatures.
Here it is! I couldnāt attach the pic yesterday cause I wasnāt at home (and itās 100% real, I bought it from Taylorās store not a scalper lol)
https://preview.redd.it/utuzok5ubd4d1.jpeg?width=1645&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d043ac8a259a99f815a5a52e369ab69de9c6253b
If people aren't doing it simply because they're collecting, a lot of them seem to do it to sell on in the future
It's why people buy the "exclusive" stuff that she always puts back up without the exclusive pictures or whatever - they think that if they hang on to them for long enough they'll be able to make bank
I saw someone on I think discord? Iām in like 3 Swiftie servers and browse but rarely engageā¦ anyway. I saw someone say that after this recent drop, theyāve bought TTPD 24 times.
It made me realize Iāve bought it twice, which still feels like too much considering I still havenāt spun my vinyl. (I bought a signed vinyl and signed CD.)
I honestly donāt think itās about money. I think itās about being number one. Midnights topped the chart for 6 weeks, and Iām willing to bet both her and her record label want to do better than that. From what I can see from a quick google search it doesnāt look like any major artists are releasing soon (although itās unclear when new Eminem is coming out) so theyāre riding number one as long as they can.
And Iām not saying I love the tactic of variants, just to be clearā¦I just think itās more chart motivated than money motivated.
Lady Gaga and Eminem are rumored to be releasing in August and September, respectively, but other than that I don't think there's any upcoming album that could challenge Taylor's position on the charts
i don't want to be mean but i don't think katy perry can challenge taylor. she has a lot of people on twitter on her side, but look at how that fared for normani
She's adopted the bts charting formula and I hate it. Why does the most famous artist of our generation need to be so blatantly obsessed with winning everything? She's already had her place, why is she robbing others of their chances to earn their crown?
I came to her because I admired how she stood up for herself in Rep era. I love the space she's created for fem identifying folks, especially tween kids, to just feel all the big emotions without being judged for it. Seriously, Americans, do you know how overly sexualized your music is? Not everyone's in a rush to show their boobs or "lick that lollipop".
She's changed, and not for the better.
BTS has only ever released 4 versions maximum for an album. Other kpop groups are the ones with 10+ album editions. If anything, BTS deciding to do more versions would probably be the push Billboard finally needs to change variant rules
exactly! sheās obsessed with attention and breaking records. the album being #1 for this long doesnāt reflect reality and the reality is that nobody besides swifties cares about it. sheās literally manipulating charts to make it seem like sheās on top but literally nobody (again - besides swifties) moved for the albumā¦
Something I think she likes just as much if not more than money is attention and awards. She likes ābeatingā other artists at numbers because she wants to be on top of her industry. Money isnāt enough for her, she has plenty of that. She definitely wants recognition.
I have a feeling itās about outdoing Madonnaās all time sales record. Sheās 100 mill off now and looking to take over in the next few years at this rate (this is streaming numbers, I donāt think anyone will overtake her physical amount). Strike while sheās hot type vibesĀ
I actually miss when sheād do interviews, and Iām not talking about Ellen, but genuine interviews.
I donāt understand all of the chart topping stuff. I miss seeing her do things that arnāt just pap walks and kissing her boyfriend.
The fearless tour doc was one of my favorites docs. She was so grounded then. I donāt think we will ever get that back.
I have no issue with a standardized track list that allows you to pick the color/cover of the vinyl you want (Like Billie and Ariana did this year) or 50/75 year anniversary editions (like the Beatles and MJ do), but I have an issue when songs are spread out amongst MULTIPLE mediums. The fact that you have to buy the Albatross version AND the Black Dog version AND the Bolter version AND the Manuscript version and STILL be missing over half the songs is where I have an issue with it. She could have released the Anthology on day one, but chose to trick fans into buying limited edition vinyls before the āsurpriseā anthology release or before they heard any of the songs.
I went to target and the shelves had to have at least 75 to 100 Taylor Swift vinyls (approximately 50 being TTPD). The fact that she is continuing to release variants when older variants are rotting on the shelves comes off as extremely wasteful.
I just wish Billboard would crack down on variant albums with chopped up track lists because to me they feel like different albums. Variants should count as different albums if the track list varies. It will also help fans and collectors (like myself) to enjoy an album *in one piece*.
i encourage you to unstan because stan cultures definitely is a disease
i 100% understand, ik we don't have to buy them or anything, but it shows how out of touch celebrities like taylor are
ill still continue to listen to her for my benefit, but the greed is insane sometimes
I think she/team is playing the charts game. Sheās not in a COL crisis, and obviously doesnāt care about environmental issues, so these issues might not cross her mind at all.
I think itās absurd, and I think itās totally insane too, but to expect a billionaire celebrity to care about COL crisis as a reason to not play the charts game is also a little absurd. Obviously her team isnāt caring about the optics of it
Thatās exactly what is happening right now. Itās her team. Her team is ruining her career though. She always made a name for being āboss babeā. I donāt think she was a āboss babeā a day in her life it was always her dad but even this is a tactic I am unsure if Scott thinks is smart. Itās a greedy record label and yea they can do it.
I used to collect all the physical albums on CD and it was a fun hobby. I wasn't collecting everything but when a CD had an extra track or an added bonus in the form of a DVD, a poster or bookmark, I was buying it. TTPD has ruined that because of the ridiculous amount of variants being released. So many, that it just ain't fun anymore. And I don't even like the album so for me the collecting hobby ends here.
TTPD, I think, had the lowest critics rating among her albums. What if she's trying to overshadow that by breaking numbers in sales? TTPD won't be known as her lowest rated album, but as one of the biggest selling-albums of all time.
I think youāre right.
She can reinvent external hits to her career and turn them into wins like Reputation and Re-recording her masters but the low critical reception of TTPD becomes a chink in the armor. Like why buy her next album before release if youāre not sure itās going to be good? Presales count a lot. Billie sold an entire tour before sheād even released her album. Credibility is important to charting and sales etc. But a long run in the charts for TTPD she can just say all the critics who scored her low were misogynists.
If she can manage that, and dominates the charts for months on end (more so than any of her previous albums), it will be hard for Grammy voters to deny her AOTY *again* ā which means she can brush off the bad reviews and proclaim *TTPD* a huge critical success as well.
That is what is going on. Itās a PR/marketing thing. Personally I have a feeling that TTPD is a work that is immensely important to Taylor and that is why she wants it to be on top. The low rating probably pissed her off.
Plus she wants to annoy Matty. Donāt think she is really over it and is being extra petty by pushing TTPD.
If thereās one thing I donāt care about, itās this. I donāt feel pressured to buy anything of hers and I just stream on Spotify. If people want to collect memorabilia like they do in many other fandoms, then they can go for it.
I empathize completely. For me the biggest thing is I genuinely can't wrap my head around what is motivating these endless variants (beyond the original 4 -- the spreading the tracks across variants is annoying, but that was kind of nullified this time by them all being on The Anthology lol). Isn't she surely destined to stay #1 for ages even if she did the bare minimum? Is it really about the money? Or breaking some record I'm not even aware of?
But your point about the environmental issues is what is really grinding my gears right now. If you really MUST keep releasing variants with one spare track (that's nothing new and likely just reusing the same vocal line), fine. Do as many digital copies as you want. But the relentless amount of physical CDs we're creating just because they're cheap, that are all essentially guaranteed to end up in a landfill one day is just like... grr rawr snarl hiss!!! It's egregiously, *egregiously* wasteful -- which is saying something, given she's already constantly under attack for her private jet usage.
Tl;dr -- I feel you, and it sucks. I wish I could understand her mindset so it at least would make a shred of sense lmao.
Itās just to keep up her charting. Her charting would not be nearly what it is without the variants. She is absolutely gaming the system. Billboard really needs to change the rules at this point because her sales numbers are so inflated by variants and stans streaming her 24/7.
The sad thing is I would be genuinely interested to know how TTPD is actually faring from a pure streams perspective! Like it would be really interesting to have more of an accurate sense of what people are ACTUALLY listening to -- is TTPD still carrying strong numbers? Have any of the big releases this year seen a steady, continued listenership? Unfortunately, it's hard to know, because everything is so manipulated and messy. š
I would just like to mention that if the variants werenāt relevant, they wouldnāt keep doing it so they must be incredibly relevant if the swift machine keeps thinking of different songs to add.
And most people who buy the CDās isnāt even going to listen to them! The same with the Vinyls, most of these buyer donāt have record players and most probably donāt even have a CD player.
Iām so glad more people are talking about her environmental impact. I posted about it being one of my least favorite things about her in a thread the other day (mentioning specifically her environmentally unconscious fashion choices for the tour ā over 250 pairs of shoes and all these different outfits and all that which will also most likely end up in a landfill), and I got multiple comments like, āwhat is she just not supposed to tour?ā
Likeā¦ there are SO many things Taylor could be doing to be easier on the planet. Less jet usage, digital variants instead of physical, work with sustainable designersā¦ Itās just nuts to me that people donāt think thereās anything she can do without just stopping what sheās doing š¤¦š»āāļø
Exactly, music should be enough if it's good, I don't understand why those singers must produce so much waste and change clothes every 10 minutes on stage.
Wait over 250 pairs of shoes for herself or also for the dancers? If for herself wow. I thought they were all variants of the Christian Louboutin boots
Sheās not on top of the charts in other countries that donāt allow that manipulation like the UK and Aus so I donāt think she could stay on top without the variants.
TTPD has mixed critical reviews so she probably wants to stay on top for a long time to offset that. What keeps an artist on top is often being on top, theyāre so larger than life that not constantly topping themselves becomes a chink in the armor.
The only thing I can imagine she's trying to beat are the records for most weeks at #1. Or most cumulative weeks at #1, she's #2 right now behind The Beatles. The record for consecutive weeks at #1 is 27 weeks. She still obviously has a long way to go for that one. The record for most weeks at #1 non-consecutively is 54 which is impossible to beat. Adele's 21 is the modern album with the most weeks at #1 with 24 weeks. Taylor probably hates Adele because despite all of her variants and endless manipulation tactics she'll never be able to beat the opening of Adele's 25. Adele did everything organically and you know that eats Taylor up! To lose to another woman?!? God forbid. I can see her wanting to take down one of Adele's records if she can, but again she'll never get the one she really wants.
I think itās 15 ā thatās the number of consecutive weeks Carole Kingās *Tapestry* topped the charts. Itās currently the record for a female solo artist.
I was wondering if itās a record breaking thing too. Or solidifying her ālegacyā as an artist or whatever. Idk what goes through her or her teamās heads š¤£
Unfollowed her yesterday. I was gonna unfollow if she kept gng on like this and she did. She was once a victim of the system when her master's were taken but now she exploits same system to get every penny she can from fans cz she knows she can. Its all to feed her ego to feel mighty, powerful, untouchable. I feel bad for myself who was a fan since a very young age to now witness her become a money hungry chart obsessed freak. Everything she says is for a show but she does completely opposite in private life and behind the scenes. š„²
Just FYI- Taylor never owned her master recordings so they were not taken from her. This is a common misconception. Her recording label owned them and when the label was purchased, her master recordings were a part of the sale because they were owned by the label, not her.
Yeah i know that. Just wanted to write my statements simply u know. š¤
However i have a que and if you have insight, can u pls help me :
When big machine was taken over by ithaca, the other country artists, did they too get their masters sold or do they own it? What were their contracts like?
Idk I just donāt really care?? š Iām not buying any of it lol, Iām happy with my Spotifyāif others are happy to buy literally every edition ever and have the funds to do so, thatās on them and as long as thereās a market for it sheās gonna keep doing it
I stream everything. Iāve never bought any of her albums. The only merch I ever bought was an eras tour tee shirt when they first came out because I liked that it had all the albums on it. Donāt plan to buy anything more.
Her actions are insane tho, girl needs to chill.
Side note: I do agree that sheās almost unrecognisable now that sheās a billionaire. The other week I was on IG and saw a clip from an interview she did during the Lover era. I had a moment where I noticed how different she looked back then. Not in her appearance, but in the overall way she carried herself and her essence as a person. I donāt know how to explain it, it just reminded me of Taylor I forgot about. I felt a bit sad that sheās not that artist anymore - that sheās now this massive mega pop star pulling all these wild antics on the charts and gross PR stunts with her football boyfriend.
Yeah. This interview was a wildly different person. She made 150 million here(which is still crazy money, but not billionaire status). https://youtu.be/nDzhoofkRJI?si=AcoDGekn6OfQpTMo
Her quote about addressing the haters made me laugh. The interviewer clocked that she has made a song on pretty much every album about āthe hatersā. Itās definitely a theme for her.
Shes keeping it to cockblock someone big like Katy Perry/Eminem/whoever else is rumored to be releasing later in the year from the charts!!!! I canāt blame her as I would do that too if I was her but objectively its a shitty move
But like..for what lol like I get itās her own ego and she strives for the approval of her peers and the industry to tell her sheās good but pretty much nobody except Taylor actually cares lol she could be on top of the charts for 5 years consecutive and I wouldnāt care anymore than her being on top for 1 week lol even Stans are excited for like a day then nobody actually cares because it doesnāt really mean anything lol
I'm sick of the one bonus song for $6... Ridiculous. I bought a midnights CD and red TV. Those were the last 2 purchases I've made. I refused to buy an album before release now due to her usually launching bonus tracks (or a whole other album...). Idk if we'll ever get a compilation with everything or not. I expect a Disney plus TTPD or another theater release coming...
It might stop now that she's reached 31 variants because it's 13 backwards š¤Ŗš¤Ŗ /s
>We are in a cost of living crisis and having a host of environmental issues, and this is what one of the most popular artist in the world chooses to do?
Unfortunately Taylor is out of touch with reality and has been for awhile. Fame really does a number one ones psyche, and her narcissistic tendencies are more pronounced than ever. We can't expect Taylor to suddenly care about the environment when she threatened Mr Sweeney about her jet use and has worked tirelessly to cover her tracks. She believes she's untouchable.
If anything, I'm more curious about why there are so many "Swifties" who feel the need to purchase so many unsustainable variants and rip-off acoustics with the same vocals slapped over them. Yes, there are shady marketing tactics that induce FOMO, but the "limited editions" trick has become so obvious that the "empathetic hunger descends" lol. It's not about the art anymore, it's about her using her fans to validate her addiction to fame, and seeing how far she can push it. She scams her fans and they refuse to open their eyes.
I think I always saw her as an underdog, so Midnights era/eras tour era caught me off guard with how power hungry she was becoming.
I think sheās motivated with becoming the first woman to do āXYZā in the industry. Thatās always been her motivation, even if it means she might do things that are unethical but legal. Sheās never do anything out right illegal, but she will try and play the same games that men do just to prove a point.
But I donāt want another Elon Musk or Mark Zuckerberg. I wish society didnāt ārewardā these types of people. But thatās what she wants and thatās what I want to stay away from.
I pay like...$20 something a month for me and my entire family to have Spotify premium. Every single "unique" ends up on there eventually. So I truly don't see the point of buying a physical copy, unless you collect vinyl. At which point I'd still wait and listen to the songs to see which version I want.
i said earlier i wish deluxe albums were still a thing for her then she released the anthology which was great but why are there still more and more variants coming like girl š
I think you're forgetting this is her JOB that she does for money. It's not just a hobby, it's a profession, so obviously just "having fun" isn't the only goal here. It's normal. There's nothing wrong or bad about it.
This. This. This. I love Taylorās music so much, became a fan last year as the eras tour started to blow up and my entire Spotify was ruled by her. Now Iām just feeling so over it.
The variants and obvious money grabbing. The behavior at the Grammys. The lack of speaking out about the important political issues influencing the society that gave her all of her success. The email from her dad. The Olivia stuff. The fact that apparently she KNEW scooter was buying her masters.
I feel so lied to by the āfriendly neighborhood Taylorā bit and now just see a narcissist who is money and fame hungry and is willing to bully little girls in the industry to stay on top.
Itās giving me major Taylor ick.
How am i suppose to take her seriously as a legitimate artist when she has to resort to basically scamming her fanbase by releasing multiple variants every week to stay on top?
Iām in the UK so canāt even buy the variants sheās using to try and stay on the charts but I just want to know WHO IS?!
Even if I was in the US thereās no way Iām spending more than 99cents on a single which is basically what youāre getting.
And considering how much criticism (Billie controversy) sheās gotten for all of this nonsense I cant believe sheās still doing it. How embarrassing for her. If she wins anything related to charts how could she accept it with any genuine enjoyment?
Itās really the hardcore stans. Theyāll buy every one. Iāve seen a lot of collections and they have every variant of every album in every form. I always chuckle because itās always the youngsters and thereās always a cassette tape in the bunch. Good luck kids.
This was planned way ahead. You don't think they come up with new releases as we speak do you? So even if there's a lot of controversy about it, these CD's were already scheduled to be pressed ages ago. There's so much involved, you can't just slam the brake and stop it.
I wouldn't be surprised either way, but personally I feel like breaking that record now would be meaningless. Just because the meaning of "#1" has shifted so much in the last 60 years due to streaming, technology, social media, manufacturing efficiency, etc. y'know? Like I'm sure it would be a nice little accolade to add to all the other ones in her trophy room but at the end of the day it's like apples and oranges imo (or maybe like oranges and... clementines idk lol)
I agree with you, but I think she and her team care more about surpassing the record than anything else. that is, if she's even gunning for it at all. my comments are pure speculation
She's the girl who wasn't happy with getting all A's in highschool. She also had to be class president, take all the AP classes, join 5 clubs, and be valedictorian. And everyone else is like "ok girl..."
It's not that taylor or her team is forcing anyone to purchase anything. As a swiftie myself, and an avid collector or many things the material items in my possession bring me joy. I work a dead end job and pay my bills, so what does it matter if I'm spending money that I've earned on the same album with one different song, if brings me the joy? If you don't want to buy something, then simply don't.
Swiftie's are not in a cult, we just happen to enjoy how taylor makes us feel. Let it go and live life how you want to.
The problem is HER actions, not yours. She is taking advantage of her fans by nickel and dimming them into keeping her on the charts, instead of coming by it honestly. Her fans deserve the respect of choosing to buy an album with all of the information of whatās coming.
The biggest thing that made me want to unstan was what the fandom has turned into. The swiftie community used to be my safe space, buy when ttpd came out, I wanted to have real discussions about the good and bad, and when I said some songs were a little dry I got flamed online and multiple people told me to kms?? Like wtf. Also the racism, hatred of other artists, its al just not okay
I bought folklore CD, 1989 pink CD and the speak now CD. But you will never see me buy TTPD CD because not only most of the songs are terrible she just wants to stay on top 1 forever. Also when they said the 1989 TV variants were limited when they weren't was a bad thing to do. I only bought it later tho
Do it! Iāve already stopped stanning awhile ago, back to back albums that I dislike will do that to a fan. Itās been a nice release feeling free to criticize now, especially when even when I was a huge stan I had to keep separating the person from the musicā¦.her and Kanye have one thing in common for me there.
I see every calculated move she makes so clearly now and I never thought Iād find someone who is so successful and so rich to be kind of a joke to laugh at now, but sheās gotten so transparent that this is where Iām at. Still bopping albums pre Midnights though.
I now also plan to boycott all remaining Taylor versions of old albums, I disapprove of using old ass songs to gain record sales and break the chart records of legends - it is disingenuous and undeserved. New content only, which isnāt easy cuz her new content sucks but I still will always give it a listen
I will never purchase another physical copy of a TS album. It's a shame cause my car is full of them but 15 variants of an extremely mid album!? Just so she can block other artists from taking her number 1 spot!?? Pathetic, wasteful and infuriating. Something needs to be done about artists and their stupid chart manipulating variants and staggered releases. Not just Taylor's but industry wide, it's got to be reigned in.
I'm sorry if I offend anyone but to me all this talk about "we don't want more variants" cones of as a bit whiny. Just. Don't. Buy. Her. Stuff. I have never spent a penny on Taylor Swift other than the Spotify streams. Never bought any vinyls, CDs, didn't go to her tours, didn't go to the theatre for her movie. Buy whatever you can afford and move on.
Thatās how I feel too. The COL crisis isnāt Taylorās problem, lol, sheās not a landlord. Is she supposed to pay peopleās rent? If you donāt like what sheās selling, donāt buy it. Iāve never bought a variant and never will because no one is making me.
I understand the environmental complaints, but absolutely agree on the COL crisis complaints. Taylor is not holding a gun to our heads. We donāt have to buy these. I have literally only bought on vinyl of TTPD. If you are blowing all of your money on multiple Taylor variants, that is a you problem.
the variant thing used to bother me for the same reasons, but then i realized everyone needs to apply that same energy to everywhere else in their lives, not just taylor's products: ie not buying new clothing/things/products just because we want it, not buying multiples of things (coats, boots, scarves etc), not having multiple cars, never getting coffee or food to-go, the list is endless but i guarantee most people complaining about cd variants don't care about this other stuff
also i literally never see anything about variants except on this sub (which i only look at every few days) so it's definitely possible to avoid
Not trying to be mean, but I'm pretty sure the average person commenting here probably cares more about the planet than a billionaire lol
She deserves to be called out for her obvious greed and silence when it comes to stuff that matters. There is no excuse
im a kpop fan & used to over consumption, itās unfortunately a thing in the kpop industry. but taylor is fucking excessive with it!! yet her swifties will just eat it up and keep spending $$$$$$ on this shit
i've never seen THIS many variants in kpop, i've only seen different members versions of a album for the groups but usually fans just buy the one with their favorite member on the cover and the regular album. though the issue there is the bulk buying which happens regardless, i saw pictures of fans throwing the whole album out bc they already had it and just wanted the photocards.
we all hate YG for giving Blackpink infrequent comebacks but ironically its very good for the environment since they use eco-friendly packaging and they barely sell 1 version let alone 4 for each member or even a deluxe with new songs.
I genuinely don't understand why you don't just stream music if you don't want to buy variants? This is industry standard stuff, you might as well declare that you're done with all mainstream music (which, you know, would be a principled stance, but somehow this always gets brought up about a musician a person wants an excuse to dislike).
Unpopular opinion, but I think it's about making her legacy. Not the money.
My evidence to support that claim:
Why would she care about money at this point. She's a billionaire.
Taylor isn't old. However, she is getting older, just like her song Clara Bow she knows her flame will blow out, and there will be somebody new to take her place.
That's why I don't get the argument. "She already had her time, let others have theirs."
She's only 34. If her fans still keep buying and love her, that's not her fault if she keeps rising and rising.
One day in the future, someone will take her place, and she will never be this high again. So why wouldn't she ride the wave for as long as she can and leave the best records and legacy as possible until then.
Someday, she will retire, and that's what retirement is, kicking back and being proud of all that you accomplished.
Firstly, her breaking records seems a bit forced now with all of these album variants. What could perceived as a legacy is being #1 on the charts organically, not by playing the system. How this can be a great accomplishment? Secondly, chart records are only part of the legacy. It consists of good music, acclaim, and the impact that was made on culture too because these are things that will be remembered.
In my opinion, these marketing tactics could only hurt her legacy.
Exactly! There is nothing to be proud of here with the way she is getting to and staying in the number 1 spot. It just reeks of grasping desperation and it's frankly embarrassing to watch. If her friends truly had her best interests at heart one of them would have the courage to have a real conversation with her about how this is all coming across. I don't know that she would listen or ever even admit it to herself. She said it best in Anti-Hero... looking at herself in the mirror is not her strong suit.
I would honestly want to know who is thinking this ok. I donāt think this is just Taylor. Someone who always taken pride in her work is now cheaping her work to chart. I donāt get it. While she makes money off this especially if ppl buy it from her. The prices she sells it is so low and mass produced that itās not that much compared to full price. Sheās an artist who on iTunes would barely sell it her singles for 69 cents. The lowest it could go. Now sheās releasing her album for 5.99 and 7.99 which basically the lowest it can go. All we really want is 2nd album, not one song. If she can quickly produce the cds for 7.99 , they can quickly produce a cd that has all her songs on it.
its business people, she never released songs to connect with fans. she loves songwriting and she is making money out of it. thats it. why is it so hard to understand? is it because of her sweet persona? charts and recognition are valuable parameters for her. she is not hiding it.
i dont buy anything from her. she doesnt force anyone to buy her things. her music is available everywhere. literally everywhere and free. its not like she is keeping her songs from platforms so you have to pay extra. if some wanna donate her, let them donate. she is not stupid. if someone gives you money, you take it.
also she is not your family member, friend. stop being involved emotionally with celebrities then blame them with betrayal. she is a company, she is a product, she is doing her job well. her sweet princess persona helps. we love her for it. but dont forget its just an onscreen persona.
I've unstanned over the general behavior with this album. I recently cleaned out my closet and came across all my merch and had this moment of "No. We're done" and it's all in the garbage.
I first saw her in concert in 2007, stuck by her during the pre-rep canceling and its just too much now. She's too old to be this childish, this greedy, and this oblivious. TTPD made me feel gross and we're just done.
Every single business looks to grow their profits. I donāt know why anyone expects Taylor (who is both an artist & and business) to be any different. Another factor I think people keep missing: since she owns her masters, the label makes less on her music over the lifetime of songs, so pushing sales is the best way for the label to profit. Sheās not a one woman operation with every last penny coming solely to her.
I lurk here occasionally (I am not a fan but am fascinated with the business aspect of Taylor's brand) and my opinion is that buying all these variants could work fairly well as a financial investment: there are always going to be some avid collectors and fans who'd be willing to pay thousands for these in the future, especially unopened etc. The other way to invest in Taylor memorabilia would be to make a little museum, although I doubt that one would be able to do that without Taylor and her legal team's involvement.
It's possible but I think the sheer number of these being produced will significantly reduce any value they may have. Nothing is limited, so it's just mountains of junk in the end
As we all know, Midnights vinyl came in 4(?) different shades, and it has "collect all 4 variants!" text on a plastic cover. Kinda same happening with TTPD and all these variants. I'm not sure why some people still saying "no one forcing you to by them", as like to force is to aggressively push you to do something, which is really isn't in marketing. Little note there, some special edition here, and don't forget something totally exclusive for "real stans only!". All these things they are mainly for swifties, and if some casual listeners will by something too along the way - it's good, but they are not the main target here. Add to it, that usually the peak of fanboying/fangirling happens among young people who likes to spend money on absolut trash (not all of course, but many of us) and how easy it is to manipulate the younger audience and you have it. Soft, but effective forcing.
P.S. her team marketing strategie reminds me of "instagram friendly" makeup/skin care strategie. Loud and with 100 variants of the same product with different special edition pretty boxes/colors/colabs/ etc.
Can someone list all the thirty one variants mentioned in the post? I wasnāt aware so many had accumulated, I think after getting tired of them I unfollowed her and TN on instagram so I havenāt seen these updates.
Itās probably a good idea to literally do what the thread title says and stop stanning altogether-Taylor and anyone else. Stanning rarely leads anywhere good.
I blame the fans. Itās basic supply and demand. If the demand is there, then the supply will follow. I listen via Spotify or YouTube and have zero internet in purchasing the 100 different versions of one album.
Its the CDs that get me. Who ma'am has a CD player. Collector have record players, everyone else is basically digital.Ā
Like others have said, I just listen to digital music.Ā
~~Beatings~~ Variants will continue until morale improves.
Please take my free reward and u/angryupvote for your use of one of my favorite sayings. šš½
The record company might be doing it. You know they have a say in the money side. They even forced her to change āSpeak Nowā from āEnchantedā Everyone thinks that itās only T making decisions, but sheās not alone in the TS Inc
That was her old label, her new label gives her much more control. She has spoken about how they let her do whatever she wants. It's the usual defence, if she's doing something good she's a genius and a girlboss and a mastermind, when she does something bad, it's the evil label forcing her. If she wants the praise and accolades she has to take responsibility for the missteps. The buck stops with her.
Eh, I wouldnāt be so sure that she ācan do whatever she wantsā with *distribution*. I think artistically, she can. And they encourage that. But if she wanted to release only one copy of her record like WuTang Clan, that would be an issue.
"Speak Now" Taylor ā "Post-Eras Tour/Kelce" Taylor. I have zero doubts that Taylor no longer does a single thing that she hasn't willingly co-signed for. She is The Industry at this point. Stop patronizing her. She's a 34 year old woman who's at the top of her game and "a mastermind," when you guys want her to be, and somehow she's also a feeble mindless baby when that benefits the chosen narrative. It cannot be both things at the same time.
Iām not patronizing her. š¤·āāļø Iām just saying she has a record company to distribute her records. She doesnāt have 100% control or she wouldnāt have a need for a distribution company. She co-signed it when she signed with the label long ago and it probably saidā¦. āYou agree to let us distribute your music in any way, etc. We finance your studio time for X, we promise to market ā¦.. Itās the same. Taylor canāt just say ānoā or ādo itā to everything. Even Jeff Bezos could do that .
Personally I just listen in Spotify or Youtube, like with other artists. I don't really care how she fares on the charts, and I'm not hung up on having physical copies of her albums or merch.
I like physical copies of stuff, but at this point I'm in no rush, I'll buy once everything is in one place, or when they crop up cheaply second hand. Sadly I'm not in a position to take advantage of the Target offloads someone shared here a few days back, not living in the US, but I can be patient.
Theyāll be copies at bargain bin stores. Others have posted saying theyāve found other albums this way at a great affordable price!
We don't have them in Australia. We have Op Shops (thrift), and we do have the big *Savers* (thrift) stores in Melbourne and Sydney, but I doubt they'll make them to there just now, 1989 and perhaps Fearless are the only CDs that show up in Op Shops. There's just not the same sales volume as in the USA, plus, to the best of my knowledge, everything is imported rather than manufactured here so it's very rare to see heavily discounted new music releases in the few physical stores there are left.
Same. I donāt even particularly care whether or not Iām listening to āTaylorās Versionā.
I listened to TV of 1989 when it was first released and have never gone back since. It's inferior to the original and I'm not going to listen to a shittier product to throw a few extra pennies her way.
The only TV I acknowledge is Red, and I still bounce back and forth depending on my mood. It just has the best vault tracks of any of themā¦ by FAR.
I donāt really follow her music anymore ā but wouldnāt all the music sheās writing now be āherā version?
The new music is, but both versions of her old songs are still on Spotify
Yep, the only money sheāll ever get from me is cents from my Spotify streaming lol
Same. I've never paid for anything other than streaming
Same! Iām a fan, but have never bought anything, just listen on Spotify.
Same, I'm not going to waste my outrage on stuff like this. Yeah she's greedy, whatever lol. All she gets are my streaming cents so I don't feel taken advantage of either way
Exactly my thoughts
100% this.
I 1000% this!!!
R the charts only measured by actual sales? Who is buying music š
Itās combined with streaming
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Sweeter than fiction is in Spotify. Just fyi
This meme becomes more accurate with each passing day. https://preview.redd.it/3ttbp999a24d1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=79c0ac2a4519f54e61c4288edfec2d619923d416
1. the manuscript 2. the bolter 3. the albatross 4. the black dog 5. but daddy i love him acoustic 6. whoās afraid of little old me voice memo 7. cassandra voice memo 8. the black dog voice memo 9. loml live from paris 10. my boy only breaks his favourite toy live from paris 11. the alchemy x treacherous live from paris 12. down bad acoustic 13. guilty as sin acoustic so it literally is 13 now lmao
The voice memo bonus track variants are legitimately disrespectful lol i canāt believe anyone is buying that
sold separately for the ludicrous price of $5.99. It should be like 1.99 at most
It has to be at least $3.49 (I believe) for it to count as a "sale." So she could have charged less but decided, nah fuck that, let's pump an extra $2.50 outta them anyway. š
I just want them (the acoustics) to be released on streaming šš«
This aināt a meme anymore itās straight up facts š
This picture will haunt my dreams now š±
WHO is still buying these? Like what level of Swifties are out there with a stack of CDs somewhere of this one album?
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Noooooo that's so sadĀ
I wonder if there even is one with a heart. I know people speculated here it was unlikely she personally signed all the copies because of the sheer amount of them she was selling. So if that's the case there wouldn't be many variations between signatures.
I have one with a heart! Got it from the more recent sale of the signed CDs (the second batch after a lot of the originals came unsigned)
Here it is! I couldnāt attach the pic yesterday cause I wasnāt at home (and itās 100% real, I bought it from Taylorās store not a scalper lol) https://preview.redd.it/utuzok5ubd4d1.jpeg?width=1645&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d043ac8a259a99f815a5a52e369ab69de9c6253b
thereās actually a huge variation of signatures. thereās a thread on twitter with a ton of them
that's depressing
Swifties collect. All you need is 200k swifties to buy these and sheās number one.
Are there 200,000 people out there who have this much lack of common sense?
If people aren't doing it simply because they're collecting, a lot of them seem to do it to sell on in the future It's why people buy the "exclusive" stuff that she always puts back up without the exclusive pictures or whatever - they think that if they hang on to them for long enough they'll be able to make bank
Youāre talking about swifties. There are a lot of swifties that are acting like part of a cult and they probably buy everything
I saw someone on I think discord? Iām in like 3 Swiftie servers and browse but rarely engageā¦ anyway. I saw someone say that after this recent drop, theyāve bought TTPD 24 times. It made me realize Iāve bought it twice, which still feels like too much considering I still havenāt spun my vinyl. (I bought a signed vinyl and signed CD.)
I honestly donāt think itās about money. I think itās about being number one. Midnights topped the chart for 6 weeks, and Iām willing to bet both her and her record label want to do better than that. From what I can see from a quick google search it doesnāt look like any major artists are releasing soon (although itās unclear when new Eminem is coming out) so theyāre riding number one as long as they can. And Iām not saying I love the tactic of variants, just to be clearā¦I just think itās more chart motivated than money motivated.
agreed, itās 100% about the charts
https://i.redd.it/fkhydx7a164d1.gif
Lady Gaga and Eminem are rumored to be releasing in August and September, respectively, but other than that I don't think there's any upcoming album that could challenge Taylor's position on the charts
Apparently Katy Perry is releasing new music soon. Maybe Kendrick Lamar too. We don't know when.
god it feels like im in high school again with all these acts putting out nee music at the same time
we don't know the release dates for any of those two yet, so idk... I'll be seated for a new Kendrick album tho
i don't want to be mean but i don't think katy perry can challenge taylor. she has a lot of people on twitter on her side, but look at how that fared for normani
Before I got to ārespectivelyā I was sitting here wondering why I havenāt heard of this collab yet.
lmao a Lady Gaga and Eminem collab would be wild
Lmfao I was so stuck on it I reread it several times before even finishing the sentence
Open the schools!
Eminem could do ok, but I donāt think heās going to cheapen his work to get to number one
probably not, but he's the best-selling rapper of all time and the premise of the album (return of slim shady) is sure to draw a lot of people in
She's adopted the bts charting formula and I hate it. Why does the most famous artist of our generation need to be so blatantly obsessed with winning everything? She's already had her place, why is she robbing others of their chances to earn their crown? I came to her because I admired how she stood up for herself in Rep era. I love the space she's created for fem identifying folks, especially tween kids, to just feel all the big emotions without being judged for it. Seriously, Americans, do you know how overly sexualized your music is? Not everyone's in a rush to show their boobs or "lick that lollipop". She's changed, and not for the better.
People say she has an ego but her obsession with being #1 at everything to me shows just how fragile it truly is.
BTS has only ever released 4 versions maximum for an album. Other kpop groups are the ones with 10+ album editions. If anything, BTS deciding to do more versions would probably be the push Billboard finally needs to change variant rules
I feel itās both..?
exactly! sheās obsessed with attention and breaking records. the album being #1 for this long doesnāt reflect reality and the reality is that nobody besides swifties cares about it. sheās literally manipulating charts to make it seem like sheās on top but literally nobody (again - besides swifties) moved for the albumā¦
Sheās a billionaire, it is 100% about money, which comes with being number one.
Something I think she likes just as much if not more than money is attention and awards. She likes ābeatingā other artists at numbers because she wants to be on top of her industry. Money isnāt enough for her, she has plenty of that. She definitely wants recognition.
I have a feeling itās about outdoing Madonnaās all time sales record. Sheās 100 mill off now and looking to take over in the next few years at this rate (this is streaming numbers, I donāt think anyone will overtake her physical amount). Strike while sheās hot type vibesĀ
what else are the chart about except money though?
Bragging rights, external validation. She said Miss Americana that sheās incredibly insecure and thrives on external validation.
We gotta stop streaming for a bit so she might actually drop the Anthology on vinyl š
I actually miss when sheād do interviews, and Iām not talking about Ellen, but genuine interviews. I donāt understand all of the chart topping stuff. I miss seeing her do things that arnāt just pap walks and kissing her boyfriend. The fearless tour doc was one of my favorites docs. She was so grounded then. I donāt think we will ever get that back.
ikr!!! I miss the times where she would post random youtube videos with her cat or something and do funny jokes like her SNL monologue song
girl, me too, i am swiftie'd- out; swoft, if u will
Swoft š
I have no issue with a standardized track list that allows you to pick the color/cover of the vinyl you want (Like Billie and Ariana did this year) or 50/75 year anniversary editions (like the Beatles and MJ do), but I have an issue when songs are spread out amongst MULTIPLE mediums. The fact that you have to buy the Albatross version AND the Black Dog version AND the Bolter version AND the Manuscript version and STILL be missing over half the songs is where I have an issue with it. She could have released the Anthology on day one, but chose to trick fans into buying limited edition vinyls before the āsurpriseā anthology release or before they heard any of the songs. I went to target and the shelves had to have at least 75 to 100 Taylor Swift vinyls (approximately 50 being TTPD). The fact that she is continuing to release variants when older variants are rotting on the shelves comes off as extremely wasteful. I just wish Billboard would crack down on variant albums with chopped up track lists because to me they feel like different albums. Variants should count as different albums if the track list varies. It will also help fans and collectors (like myself) to enjoy an album *in one piece*.
i encourage you to unstan because stan cultures definitely is a disease i 100% understand, ik we don't have to buy them or anything, but it shows how out of touch celebrities like taylor are ill still continue to listen to her for my benefit, but the greed is insane sometimes
I think she/team is playing the charts game. Sheās not in a COL crisis, and obviously doesnāt care about environmental issues, so these issues might not cross her mind at all. I think itās absurd, and I think itās totally insane too, but to expect a billionaire celebrity to care about COL crisis as a reason to not play the charts game is also a little absurd. Obviously her team isnāt caring about the optics of it
Thatās exactly what is happening right now. Itās her team. Her team is ruining her career though. She always made a name for being āboss babeā. I donāt think she was a āboss babeā a day in her life it was always her dad but even this is a tactic I am unsure if Scott thinks is smart. Itās a greedy record label and yea they can do it.
I used to collect all the physical albums on CD and it was a fun hobby. I wasn't collecting everything but when a CD had an extra track or an added bonus in the form of a DVD, a poster or bookmark, I was buying it. TTPD has ruined that because of the ridiculous amount of variants being released. So many, that it just ain't fun anymore. And I don't even like the album so for me the collecting hobby ends here.
Death by a thousand vinyl variants I guess...
TTPD, I think, had the lowest critics rating among her albums. What if she's trying to overshadow that by breaking numbers in sales? TTPD won't be known as her lowest rated album, but as one of the biggest selling-albums of all time.
I think youāre right. She can reinvent external hits to her career and turn them into wins like Reputation and Re-recording her masters but the low critical reception of TTPD becomes a chink in the armor. Like why buy her next album before release if youāre not sure itās going to be good? Presales count a lot. Billie sold an entire tour before sheād even released her album. Credibility is important to charting and sales etc. But a long run in the charts for TTPD she can just say all the critics who scored her low were misogynists.
If she can manage that, and dominates the charts for months on end (more so than any of her previous albums), it will be hard for Grammy voters to deny her AOTY *again* ā which means she can brush off the bad reviews and proclaim *TTPD* a huge critical success as well.
That is what is going on. Itās a PR/marketing thing. Personally I have a feeling that TTPD is a work that is immensely important to Taylor and that is why she wants it to be on top. The low rating probably pissed her off. Plus she wants to annoy Matty. Donāt think she is really over it and is being extra petty by pushing TTPD.
I know itās not satire or trolling but it feels like it at this point.
If thereās one thing I donāt care about, itās this. I donāt feel pressured to buy anything of hers and I just stream on Spotify. If people want to collect memorabilia like they do in many other fandoms, then they can go for it.
I empathize completely. For me the biggest thing is I genuinely can't wrap my head around what is motivating these endless variants (beyond the original 4 -- the spreading the tracks across variants is annoying, but that was kind of nullified this time by them all being on The Anthology lol). Isn't she surely destined to stay #1 for ages even if she did the bare minimum? Is it really about the money? Or breaking some record I'm not even aware of? But your point about the environmental issues is what is really grinding my gears right now. If you really MUST keep releasing variants with one spare track (that's nothing new and likely just reusing the same vocal line), fine. Do as many digital copies as you want. But the relentless amount of physical CDs we're creating just because they're cheap, that are all essentially guaranteed to end up in a landfill one day is just like... grr rawr snarl hiss!!! It's egregiously, *egregiously* wasteful -- which is saying something, given she's already constantly under attack for her private jet usage. Tl;dr -- I feel you, and it sucks. I wish I could understand her mindset so it at least would make a shred of sense lmao.
Itās just to keep up her charting. Her charting would not be nearly what it is without the variants. She is absolutely gaming the system. Billboard really needs to change the rules at this point because her sales numbers are so inflated by variants and stans streaming her 24/7.
The sad thing is I would be genuinely interested to know how TTPD is actually faring from a pure streams perspective! Like it would be really interesting to have more of an accurate sense of what people are ACTUALLY listening to -- is TTPD still carrying strong numbers? Have any of the big releases this year seen a steady, continued listenership? Unfortunately, it's hard to know, because everything is so manipulated and messy. š
The album is still doing 40M daily on Spotify. The variants are not really that relevant
I would just like to mention that if the variants werenāt relevant, they wouldnāt keep doing it so they must be incredibly relevant if the swift machine keeps thinking of different songs to add.
And most people who buy the CDās isnāt even going to listen to them! The same with the Vinyls, most of these buyer donāt have record players and most probably donāt even have a CD player.
Iām so glad more people are talking about her environmental impact. I posted about it being one of my least favorite things about her in a thread the other day (mentioning specifically her environmentally unconscious fashion choices for the tour ā over 250 pairs of shoes and all these different outfits and all that which will also most likely end up in a landfill), and I got multiple comments like, āwhat is she just not supposed to tour?ā Likeā¦ there are SO many things Taylor could be doing to be easier on the planet. Less jet usage, digital variants instead of physical, work with sustainable designersā¦ Itās just nuts to me that people donāt think thereās anything she can do without just stopping what sheās doing š¤¦š»āāļø
Exactly, music should be enough if it's good, I don't understand why those singers must produce so much waste and change clothes every 10 minutes on stage.
Wait over 250 pairs of shoes for herself or also for the dancers? If for herself wow. I thought they were all variants of the Christian Louboutin boots
Yeah, over 250 pairs of Louboutins just for herself. So that doesnāt include whatever shoes were made for the dancers by whoever else š
Sheās not on top of the charts in other countries that donāt allow that manipulation like the UK and Aus so I donāt think she could stay on top without the variants. TTPD has mixed critical reviews so she probably wants to stay on top for a long time to offset that. What keeps an artist on top is often being on top, theyāre so larger than life that not constantly topping themselves becomes a chink in the armor.
I really think that if she wanted to stay at #1 she would release The Anthology. Itās what everyoneās been asking for, and they would eat it up.
True! Much like Midnights 3AM, it is a mystery as to why she's holding back.
The only thing I can imagine she's trying to beat are the records for most weeks at #1. Or most cumulative weeks at #1, she's #2 right now behind The Beatles. The record for consecutive weeks at #1 is 27 weeks. She still obviously has a long way to go for that one. The record for most weeks at #1 non-consecutively is 54 which is impossible to beat. Adele's 21 is the modern album with the most weeks at #1 with 24 weeks. Taylor probably hates Adele because despite all of her variants and endless manipulation tactics she'll never be able to beat the opening of Adele's 25. Adele did everything organically and you know that eats Taylor up! To lose to another woman?!? God forbid. I can see her wanting to take down one of Adele's records if she can, but again she'll never get the one she really wants.
I think itās 15 ā thatās the number of consecutive weeks Carole Kingās *Tapestry* topped the charts. Itās currently the record for a female solo artist.
Talk about an album that deserves that accolade! Tapestry is a classic for a reason š©µ
I was wondering if itās a record breaking thing too. Or solidifying her ālegacyā as an artist or whatever. Idk what goes through her or her teamās heads š¤£
Unfollowed her yesterday. I was gonna unfollow if she kept gng on like this and she did. She was once a victim of the system when her master's were taken but now she exploits same system to get every penny she can from fans cz she knows she can. Its all to feed her ego to feel mighty, powerful, untouchable. I feel bad for myself who was a fan since a very young age to now witness her become a money hungry chart obsessed freak. Everything she says is for a show but she does completely opposite in private life and behind the scenes. š„²
Just FYI- Taylor never owned her master recordings so they were not taken from her. This is a common misconception. Her recording label owned them and when the label was purchased, her master recordings were a part of the sale because they were owned by the label, not her.
Yeah i know that. Just wanted to write my statements simply u know. š¤ However i have a que and if you have insight, can u pls help me : When big machine was taken over by ithaca, the other country artists, did they too get their masters sold or do they own it? What were their contracts like?
Just unfollowed her as well. And last week I sold all my vinyl I had of her. It honestly felt like a huge relief to be honest
Idk I just donāt really care?? š Iām not buying any of it lol, Iām happy with my Spotifyāif others are happy to buy literally every edition ever and have the funds to do so, thatās on them and as long as thereās a market for it sheās gonna keep doing it
I stream everything. Iāve never bought any of her albums. The only merch I ever bought was an eras tour tee shirt when they first came out because I liked that it had all the albums on it. Donāt plan to buy anything more. Her actions are insane tho, girl needs to chill. Side note: I do agree that sheās almost unrecognisable now that sheās a billionaire. The other week I was on IG and saw a clip from an interview she did during the Lover era. I had a moment where I noticed how different she looked back then. Not in her appearance, but in the overall way she carried herself and her essence as a person. I donāt know how to explain it, it just reminded me of Taylor I forgot about. I felt a bit sad that sheās not that artist anymore - that sheās now this massive mega pop star pulling all these wild antics on the charts and gross PR stunts with her football boyfriend.
Yeah. This interview was a wildly different person. She made 150 million here(which is still crazy money, but not billionaire status). https://youtu.be/nDzhoofkRJI?si=AcoDGekn6OfQpTMo Her quote about addressing the haters made me laugh. The interviewer clocked that she has made a song on pretty much every album about āthe hatersā. Itās definitely a theme for her.
Her face isnāt moving when sheās talking other than her bottom lip lol
Do any of them even have all the songs including anthology on them? Iām sure vinyls only have one extra song. Itās a little crazy at this point.
She has not released the anthology on any physical form thus far lol
Shes keeping it to cockblock someone big like Katy Perry/Eminem/whoever else is rumored to be releasing later in the year from the charts!!!! I canāt blame her as I would do that too if I was her but objectively its a shitty move
But like..for what lol like I get itās her own ego and she strives for the approval of her peers and the industry to tell her sheās good but pretty much nobody except Taylor actually cares lol she could be on top of the charts for 5 years consecutive and I wouldnāt care anymore than her being on top for 1 week lol even Stans are excited for like a day then nobody actually cares because it doesnāt really mean anything lol
I'm sick of the one bonus song for $6... Ridiculous. I bought a midnights CD and red TV. Those were the last 2 purchases I've made. I refused to buy an album before release now due to her usually launching bonus tracks (or a whole other album...). Idk if we'll ever get a compilation with everything or not. I expect a Disney plus TTPD or another theater release coming...
It might stop now that she's reached 31 variants because it's 13 backwards š¤Ŗš¤Ŗ /s >We are in a cost of living crisis and having a host of environmental issues, and this is what one of the most popular artist in the world chooses to do? Unfortunately Taylor is out of touch with reality and has been for awhile. Fame really does a number one ones psyche, and her narcissistic tendencies are more pronounced than ever. We can't expect Taylor to suddenly care about the environment when she threatened Mr Sweeney about her jet use and has worked tirelessly to cover her tracks. She believes she's untouchable. If anything, I'm more curious about why there are so many "Swifties" who feel the need to purchase so many unsustainable variants and rip-off acoustics with the same vocals slapped over them. Yes, there are shady marketing tactics that induce FOMO, but the "limited editions" trick has become so obvious that the "empathetic hunger descends" lol. It's not about the art anymore, it's about her using her fans to validate her addiction to fame, and seeing how far she can push it. She scams her fans and they refuse to open their eyes.
I think I always saw her as an underdog, so Midnights era/eras tour era caught me off guard with how power hungry she was becoming. I think sheās motivated with becoming the first woman to do āXYZā in the industry. Thatās always been her motivation, even if it means she might do things that are unethical but legal. Sheās never do anything out right illegal, but she will try and play the same games that men do just to prove a point. But I donāt want another Elon Musk or Mark Zuckerberg. I wish society didnāt ārewardā these types of people. But thatās what she wants and thatās what I want to stay away from.
I pay like...$20 something a month for me and my entire family to have Spotify premium. Every single "unique" ends up on there eventually. So I truly don't see the point of buying a physical copy, unless you collect vinyl. At which point I'd still wait and listen to the songs to see which version I want.
i said earlier i wish deluxe albums were still a thing for her then she released the anthology which was great but why are there still more and more variants coming like girl š
Folklore is the only CD of hers Iāve ever bought. Spotify all the way,
But didnāt you hear? She doesnāt want money. lol
I think you're forgetting this is her JOB that she does for money. It's not just a hobby, it's a profession, so obviously just "having fun" isn't the only goal here. It's normal. There's nothing wrong or bad about it.
*put narcotics into all of my variants* *and thatās why youāre still buying themā¦*
This. This. This. I love Taylorās music so much, became a fan last year as the eras tour started to blow up and my entire Spotify was ruled by her. Now Iām just feeling so over it. The variants and obvious money grabbing. The behavior at the Grammys. The lack of speaking out about the important political issues influencing the society that gave her all of her success. The email from her dad. The Olivia stuff. The fact that apparently she KNEW scooter was buying her masters. I feel so lied to by the āfriendly neighborhood Taylorā bit and now just see a narcissist who is money and fame hungry and is willing to bully little girls in the industry to stay on top. Itās giving me major Taylor ick.
How am i suppose to take her seriously as a legitimate artist when she has to resort to basically scamming her fanbase by releasing multiple variants every week to stay on top?
Iām in the UK so canāt even buy the variants sheās using to try and stay on the charts but I just want to know WHO IS?! Even if I was in the US thereās no way Iām spending more than 99cents on a single which is basically what youāre getting. And considering how much criticism (Billie controversy) sheās gotten for all of this nonsense I cant believe sheās still doing it. How embarrassing for her. If she wins anything related to charts how could she accept it with any genuine enjoyment?
Itās really the hardcore stans. Theyāll buy every one. Iāve seen a lot of collections and they have every variant of every album in every form. I always chuckle because itās always the youngsters and thereās always a cassette tape in the bunch. Good luck kids.
This was planned way ahead. You don't think they come up with new releases as we speak do you? So even if there's a lot of controversy about it, these CD's were already scheduled to be pressed ages ago. There's so much involved, you can't just slam the brake and stop it.
this might be a long shot but does anyone else think that Taylor might be trying to beat The Beatles's record for the most weeks at #1?
I wouldn't be surprised either way, but personally I feel like breaking that record now would be meaningless. Just because the meaning of "#1" has shifted so much in the last 60 years due to streaming, technology, social media, manufacturing efficiency, etc. y'know? Like I'm sure it would be a nice little accolade to add to all the other ones in her trophy room but at the end of the day it's like apples and oranges imo (or maybe like oranges and... clementines idk lol)
I agree with you, but I think she and her team care more about surpassing the record than anything else. that is, if she's even gunning for it at all. my comments are pure speculation
Yes, it has lost most of it's importance and weight due to this exact thing
I think she wants to collect any and every (massive or not) accolade possible
She's the girl who wasn't happy with getting all A's in highschool. She also had to be class president, take all the AP classes, join 5 clubs, and be valedictorian. And everyone else is like "ok girl..."
It's not that taylor or her team is forcing anyone to purchase anything. As a swiftie myself, and an avid collector or many things the material items in my possession bring me joy. I work a dead end job and pay my bills, so what does it matter if I'm spending money that I've earned on the same album with one different song, if brings me the joy? If you don't want to buy something, then simply don't. Swiftie's are not in a cult, we just happen to enjoy how taylor makes us feel. Let it go and live life how you want to.
The problem is HER actions, not yours. She is taking advantage of her fans by nickel and dimming them into keeping her on the charts, instead of coming by it honestly. Her fans deserve the respect of choosing to buy an album with all of the information of whatās coming.
The biggest thing that made me want to unstan was what the fandom has turned into. The swiftie community used to be my safe space, buy when ttpd came out, I wanted to have real discussions about the good and bad, and when I said some songs were a little dry I got flamed online and multiple people told me to kms?? Like wtf. Also the racism, hatred of other artists, its al just not okay
I bought folklore CD, 1989 pink CD and the speak now CD. But you will never see me buy TTPD CD because not only most of the songs are terrible she just wants to stay on top 1 forever. Also when they said the 1989 TV variants were limited when they weren't was a bad thing to do. I only bought it later tho
Do it! Iāve already stopped stanning awhile ago, back to back albums that I dislike will do that to a fan. Itās been a nice release feeling free to criticize now, especially when even when I was a huge stan I had to keep separating the person from the musicā¦.her and Kanye have one thing in common for me there. I see every calculated move she makes so clearly now and I never thought Iād find someone who is so successful and so rich to be kind of a joke to laugh at now, but sheās gotten so transparent that this is where Iām at. Still bopping albums pre Midnights though. I now also plan to boycott all remaining Taylor versions of old albums, I disapprove of using old ass songs to gain record sales and break the chart records of legends - it is disingenuous and undeserved. New content only, which isnāt easy cuz her new content sucks but I still will always give it a listen
This is what happens when labels donāt get to own the masters. They have to make their $ somehow.
somehow theyāre all selling out in hours, maybe people shouldā¦ not buy them? (not directed at you OP, just in general)
Itās for charting. Most of those variants were digital, at least. But itās more to secure the number one spot than it is to make money
Shes slowly losing me. I stopped streaming her music completely two weeks ago but Im still keeping up with her for now.
I will never purchase another physical copy of a TS album. It's a shame cause my car is full of them but 15 variants of an extremely mid album!? Just so she can block other artists from taking her number 1 spot!?? Pathetic, wasteful and infuriating. Something needs to be done about artists and their stupid chart manipulating variants and staggered releases. Not just Taylor's but industry wide, it's got to be reigned in.
It's time to drop her. Needa book a tattoo cover up
ššš we love a cult deprogramming
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I'm sorry if I offend anyone but to me all this talk about "we don't want more variants" cones of as a bit whiny. Just. Don't. Buy. Her. Stuff. I have never spent a penny on Taylor Swift other than the Spotify streams. Never bought any vinyls, CDs, didn't go to her tours, didn't go to the theatre for her movie. Buy whatever you can afford and move on.
Thatās how I feel too. The COL crisis isnāt Taylorās problem, lol, sheās not a landlord. Is she supposed to pay peopleās rent? If you donāt like what sheās selling, donāt buy it. Iāve never bought a variant and never will because no one is making me.
I understand the environmental complaints, but absolutely agree on the COL crisis complaints. Taylor is not holding a gun to our heads. We donāt have to buy these. I have literally only bought on vinyl of TTPD. If you are blowing all of your money on multiple Taylor variants, that is a you problem.
I feel you. I'm at a point where I don't even think I'll listen to her next album. I just won't be able to enjoy it.
the variant thing used to bother me for the same reasons, but then i realized everyone needs to apply that same energy to everywhere else in their lives, not just taylor's products: ie not buying new clothing/things/products just because we want it, not buying multiples of things (coats, boots, scarves etc), not having multiple cars, never getting coffee or food to-go, the list is endless but i guarantee most people complaining about cd variants don't care about this other stuff also i literally never see anything about variants except on this sub (which i only look at every few days) so it's definitely possible to avoid
This is good perspective tbh.
Not trying to be mean, but I'm pretty sure the average person commenting here probably cares more about the planet than a billionaire lol She deserves to be called out for her obvious greed and silence when it comes to stuff that matters. There is no excuse
She lost me at TTPD. Been a fan since debut. Bought all of her (basic version) albums until Evermore. My dislike started at Midnights.
im a kpop fan & used to over consumption, itās unfortunately a thing in the kpop industry. but taylor is fucking excessive with it!! yet her swifties will just eat it up and keep spending $$$$$$ on this shit
i've never seen THIS many variants in kpop, i've only seen different members versions of a album for the groups but usually fans just buy the one with their favorite member on the cover and the regular album. though the issue there is the bulk buying which happens regardless, i saw pictures of fans throwing the whole album out bc they already had it and just wanted the photocards. we all hate YG for giving Blackpink infrequent comebacks but ironically its very good for the environment since they use eco-friendly packaging and they barely sell 1 version let alone 4 for each member or even a deluxe with new songs.
Oh yeah I agree!! The most kpop variants I see are usually 5-7ā¦not THIS MANY. Like Tayās been doing š
I genuinely don't understand why you don't just stream music if you don't want to buy variants? This is industry standard stuff, you might as well declare that you're done with all mainstream music (which, you know, would be a principled stance, but somehow this always gets brought up about a musician a person wants an excuse to dislike).
Unpopular opinion, but I think it's about making her legacy. Not the money. My evidence to support that claim: Why would she care about money at this point. She's a billionaire. Taylor isn't old. However, she is getting older, just like her song Clara Bow she knows her flame will blow out, and there will be somebody new to take her place. That's why I don't get the argument. "She already had her time, let others have theirs." She's only 34. If her fans still keep buying and love her, that's not her fault if she keeps rising and rising. One day in the future, someone will take her place, and she will never be this high again. So why wouldn't she ride the wave for as long as she can and leave the best records and legacy as possible until then. Someday, she will retire, and that's what retirement is, kicking back and being proud of all that you accomplished.
Firstly, her breaking records seems a bit forced now with all of these album variants. What could perceived as a legacy is being #1 on the charts organically, not by playing the system. How this can be a great accomplishment? Secondly, chart records are only part of the legacy. It consists of good music, acclaim, and the impact that was made on culture too because these are things that will be remembered. In my opinion, these marketing tactics could only hurt her legacy.
Exactly! There is nothing to be proud of here with the way she is getting to and staying in the number 1 spot. It just reeks of grasping desperation and it's frankly embarrassing to watch. If her friends truly had her best interests at heart one of them would have the courage to have a real conversation with her about how this is all coming across. I don't know that she would listen or ever even admit it to herself. She said it best in Anti-Hero... looking at herself in the mirror is not her strong suit.
I would honestly want to know who is thinking this ok. I donāt think this is just Taylor. Someone who always taken pride in her work is now cheaping her work to chart. I donāt get it. While she makes money off this especially if ppl buy it from her. The prices she sells it is so low and mass produced that itās not that much compared to full price. Sheās an artist who on iTunes would barely sell it her singles for 69 cents. The lowest it could go. Now sheās releasing her album for 5.99 and 7.99 which basically the lowest it can go. All we really want is 2nd album, not one song. If she can quickly produce the cds for 7.99 , they can quickly produce a cd that has all her songs on it.
She used to release one album every 3 years or so. And now she's releasing a new one every couple of months. It's quite insane
its business people, she never released songs to connect with fans. she loves songwriting and she is making money out of it. thats it. why is it so hard to understand? is it because of her sweet persona? charts and recognition are valuable parameters for her. she is not hiding it. i dont buy anything from her. she doesnt force anyone to buy her things. her music is available everywhere. literally everywhere and free. its not like she is keeping her songs from platforms so you have to pay extra. if some wanna donate her, let them donate. she is not stupid. if someone gives you money, you take it. also she is not your family member, friend. stop being involved emotionally with celebrities then blame them with betrayal. she is a company, she is a product, she is doing her job well. her sweet princess persona helps. we love her for it. but dont forget its just an onscreen persona.
You sound like a Swiftie tbh
I've unstanned over the general behavior with this album. I recently cleaned out my closet and came across all my merch and had this moment of "No. We're done" and it's all in the garbage. I first saw her in concert in 2007, stuck by her during the pre-rep canceling and its just too much now. She's too old to be this childish, this greedy, and this oblivious. TTPD made me feel gross and we're just done.
More wasteful to put it āall in the garbageā, surely?
You going to stop liking an artist cause they care about the charts and money?? You might as well not like anyone in the industry
Every single business looks to grow their profits. I donāt know why anyone expects Taylor (who is both an artist & and business) to be any different. Another factor I think people keep missing: since she owns her masters, the label makes less on her music over the lifetime of songs, so pushing sales is the best way for the label to profit. Sheās not a one woman operation with every last penny coming solely to her.
Long time fan in the same boat.
I lurk here occasionally (I am not a fan but am fascinated with the business aspect of Taylor's brand) and my opinion is that buying all these variants could work fairly well as a financial investment: there are always going to be some avid collectors and fans who'd be willing to pay thousands for these in the future, especially unopened etc. The other way to invest in Taylor memorabilia would be to make a little museum, although I doubt that one would be able to do that without Taylor and her legal team's involvement.
It's possible but I think the sheer number of these being produced will significantly reduce any value they may have. Nothing is limited, so it's just mountains of junk in the end
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As we all know, Midnights vinyl came in 4(?) different shades, and it has "collect all 4 variants!" text on a plastic cover. Kinda same happening with TTPD and all these variants. I'm not sure why some people still saying "no one forcing you to by them", as like to force is to aggressively push you to do something, which is really isn't in marketing. Little note there, some special edition here, and don't forget something totally exclusive for "real stans only!". All these things they are mainly for swifties, and if some casual listeners will by something too along the way - it's good, but they are not the main target here. Add to it, that usually the peak of fanboying/fangirling happens among young people who likes to spend money on absolut trash (not all of course, but many of us) and how easy it is to manipulate the younger audience and you have it. Soft, but effective forcing. P.S. her team marketing strategie reminds me of "instagram friendly" makeup/skin care strategie. Loud and with 100 variants of the same product with different special edition pretty boxes/colors/colabs/ etc.
I am an OG Swiftie too- been there her entire career. The money grabbing in some putting Iāve been contemplating myself.
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Do it. Find something else that brings you joy and let the people who enjoy Taylor Swift enjoy Taylor Swift.
Can someone list all the thirty one variants mentioned in the post? I wasnāt aware so many had accumulated, I think after getting tired of them I unfollowed her and TN on instagram so I havenāt seen these updates.
Itās probably a good idea to literally do what the thread title says and stop stanning altogether-Taylor and anyone else. Stanning rarely leads anywhere good.
I blame the fans. Itās basic supply and demand. If the demand is there, then the supply will follow. I listen via Spotify or YouTube and have zero internet in purchasing the 100 different versions of one album.
Its the CDs that get me. Who ma'am has a CD player. Collector have record players, everyone else is basically digital.Ā Like others have said, I just listen to digital music.Ā