Barbara Walters famously once said, “Taylor Swift is the music industry.” But why and how? Well, Taylor’s bestie, Lana Del Rey, gave an intriguing answer last month: “She’s told me so many times that she wants it more than anyone.” That, I believe. Blondie may have the most impressive pen game out there and a list of prolific muses that includes Joe Alwyn and Matty Healy, but she didn’t become a billionaire — or the biggest pop star in the world — purely because of her remarkable songwriting talent. Taylor prides herself for being a savvy businesswoman, and throughout her career, she’s consistently prioritized climbing the charts and making as much money as possible.
With artists like Olivia Rodrigo, Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan, and Charli XCX rising to A-list status recently, Taylor’s working extra hard and employing some questionable tactics to maintain her spot at the top. The pop icon said it herself in “Anti-Hero”: “Sometimes I feel like everybody is a sexy baby / And I’m a monster on the hill.” Taylor’s insecure about being a veteran pop star, especially as this new generation of Gen Z pop girls starts to really compete with her.
Look, the woman is a songwriting genius. I’ve always said that and always will. However, some of her latest business moves, likely prompted by this insecurity, have been frustrating. I’m a fan of Taylor, but I’m also a fan of all the Gen Z girls (and a feminist in general), and I’d like for all of them to have their time at No. 1 on the charts.
Sigh: Here are all the times Taylor Swift has tried to hinder other female artists’ success.
I think about this one all the time. Remember when Olivia Rodrigo was a diehard Swiftie, gushing about Taylor in every interview and posting promo content for Fearless (Taylor’s Version)? Remember how that abruptly stopped in 2021, and she never uttered Taylor’s name again? Well, Taylor apparently thought Olivia’s shout-singing in the “deja vu” bridge was too similar to the “Cruel Summer” bridge. (The melodies and lyrics are totally different… the singing styles are just both chant-y.) Now, Taylor gets half the royalties from “deja vu.” It’s pretty wild, considering the fact that Olivia was always so open about idolizing Taylor. If anyone can trademark shout-singing, we’re really in trouble.
When Rolling Stone asked Olivia how she felt about the messy credits situation, she admitted that she was “a little caught off guard” when it went down. The former Disney star added, “At the time it was very confusing, and I was green and bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. It’s not something that I was super involved in. It was more team-on-team. So, I wouldn’t be the best person to ask.” Would she take the same approach if another artist released a song that had similarities with one of her own? “I don’t think I would ever personally do that,” Olivia clarified. “But who’s to say where I’ll be in 20, 30 years. All that I can do is write my songs and focus on what I can control.” Our media-trained queen.
On her second album, GUTS, Olivia included a track titled “the grudge” that is almost certainly about the Taylor drama. In the bridge, she sings, “Your flowers filled with vitriol / You build me up to watch me fall / You have everything and you still want more.” In an insanely ironic twist, one of Taylor’s Tortured Poets Department tracks, “imgonnagetyouback,” copies a clever lyrical concept from Olivia’s GUTS hit, “get him back,” but I don’t think Olivia’s getting half of those royalties.
Billie Eilish is another Gen Z star who’s felt the effects of Taylor’s mission to dominate the industry. Although Billie and Taylor have previously expressed admiration for each other, their relationship seems to be a little more tense these days. You may recall that Taylor just so happened to drop three new versions of TTPD right before Billie released her new album, HIT ME HARD AND SOFT. Coincidence? I fear not. There was a whole chart war situation — both artists dropped new remixes of songs and new album versions in an attempt to secure that coveted No. 1 Billboard slot. In the end, Taylor won with her army of seven billion stans, so Billie’s album debuted at No. 2.
If they had both released albums at the same time, this wouldn’t have been a huge deal. But Taylor’s album came out literally a month before Billie’s!! HIT ME HARD AND SOFT is a phenomenal album, and it deserved No. 1.
If I was Billie, I’d also probably be shading the “Fortnight” singer here and there. “Doing a three-hour show… That’s literally psychotic,” Billie said during a recent Stationhead session. Someone’s in their Reputation era. “Nobody wants that. You guys don’t want that. I don’t want that. I don’t even want that as a fan. Even my favorite artists I’m not trying to hear them for three hours. That’s far too long.” Hmmm, I wonder which artist she could possibly be referencing there. Billie’s also previously called out “some of the biggest artists in the world” for being wasteful when it comes to vinyl packaging… another fairly obvious Taylor reference.
Yes, Taylor even attempted to interfere with BRAT summer. I myself saw Charli XCX open for Taylor at the Reputation tour back in 2018, but I can’t totally tell where these two stand now. BRAT was initially projected to reach No. 1 in the U.K. during the week of June 14, which would have been a meaningful milestone for Charli, who’s had an up and down journey in music for 16 years now. Unfortunately, she did not get No. 1 that week because Ms. Swift decided to release six U.K.-only album variants and claimed the slot for herself.
How many versions of Tortured Poets can there possibly be? The limit does not exist, apparently.
Charli, however, recently stood up for Taylor after her fans expressed their anger by chanting “Taylor Swift is dead” at her shows (very fucked up). She wrote on Instagram that she “will not tolerate” it anymore. “Can the people who do this please stop,” Charli urged. “Online or at my shows. It is the opposite of what I want and it disturbs me that anyone would think there is room for this in this community.” Maybe there’s no ~bad blood~ here after all?
yup https://t.co/HitEzpJ4V3 pic.twitter.com/tOkbImaY6T
— niles (@NILES100) July 9, 2024
It seems like Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan are Taylor’s latest targets. Just this week, Sabrina and Chappell were officially the only women in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. Ya know what would’ve been cool? If Taylor posted that news on her Insta story and cheered them on. Instead, she immediately (and predictably) dropped an acoustic version of “Fortnight” in order to get back into that top 10. To semi-quote Regina George, “Stop trying to make ‘Fortnight’ happen. It’s not gonna happen!” Literally, what happened to that “ITS THE SUMMER OF SABRINA AND MAY IT CONTINUE FOREVER”?? comment on Sabrina’s Insta? Actions speak louder than comments.
Like I said, Taylor is a genius. I’ve been a fan since I was six years old. But for the love of god, Tortured Poets is not her best work, and it’s really okay if this summer is about Charli, Sabrina, and Chappell. We need more than one artist! I don’t think Taylor is gonna sing about the club, that me espresso, or getting naked in Manhattan any time soon.
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