Taylor Swift releases ‘Lover’ album cover & new single ‘You Need to Calm Down’

The official birthday of the British Sovereign, The Trooping of the Colour, London, UK.

Well, finally! Taylor Swift has finally released the name of her new album. She swore that she dropped a million clues in the video for “ME!” and I thought the album title was Kaleidoscope, because that’s what a group of butterflies is called, and there were butterflies in the video. Kaleidoscope would have been a better album title, honestly. She’s calling this album Lover. There were clues in “ME!” – you can see them here. She also confirmed that the album will have 18 tracks/songs, which is more than she’s ever done on an album before. The release date for the album is August 23, 2019. 8 + 2 + 3 = 13, her lucky number.

What do you think of the imagery? I mean… as we saw with “ME!” the imagery seems to be devolving and getting more juvenile. Pink clouds, glitter-heart around her eye, glittery “Lover,” and dip-dye hair. Taylor turns 30 later this year, and I understand that one can embrace “girl culture” at any age, but this feels less like an embrace of girl culture and more like an attempt to manufacture girlishness to sell music to tweens.

Taylor also released a new song called “You Need to Calm Down.” This one is for all the haters, obviously. The actual music sounds… like five other Taylor songs. Lyrically… well…

“Snakes and stones never broke my bones”… I just – JKFKHKHFEHF – I won’t. The Snake Fam online believes that this is Taylor’s big Pride Month song, especially with references like “you could be GLAAD” and “Cause shade never made anybody less gay,” which honestly made me sit back and think about what she was actually trying to say.

Check out this imagery… the snake dissolving into dozens of butterflies. As Taylor looks out on a trailer park.

taylor calmdown

Album cover & single cover courtesy of Taylor Swift.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

91 Responses to “Taylor Swift releases ‘Lover’ album cover & new single ‘You Need to Calm Down’”

Comments are Closed

We close comments on older posts to fight comment spam.

  1. TIFFANY says:

    If my eyes don’t return from rolling them so hard, I will be seeking legal action.

    • Bettyrose says:

      LMAO! I’m glad the song was posted here cuz I wasnt willing to click on it any where else.
      Something nice: I’m sure it’s well intentioned and if it helps even one 13 year old to cope, then good deal.
      Honest eval: WTaF?! Her music is such shameless throwaway garbage. Yes, I too can program my computer to string slightly related words over a repetitive electronic loop.

      • Raina says:

        Her lyrics are a hit it miss for me. I do think success changed her songwriting into something redundant and basic.

        As for 13 year olds, it’s funny that Swift has a tendency to pander to that tween age between knowing enough to think you know everything. Her personality reminds me of the type of person who shrieks and freaks out but the second someone else responds similarly, she rolls her eyes and tells them to “Calm down”

        She’s the main ingredient in her friendships and don’t you forget it.

  2. buensenso says:

    I love the name of the album and this single’s melody. but her lyrics became quite lazy. she used to be brilliant at that. her songs were stories, they had many interesting and unexpected metaphors, I used to be like ‘wow, I wish I’d made that up’. I’m disappointed in her lyrics lately.
    but I have a soft spot for taylor so…

    • Alissa says:

      as soon as she decided she wanted to switch to full pop, her lyrics got a lot less complicated and intricate. I think they’ve suffered for it.

      • Cindy says:

        Yeah, Taylor reminds me of Avril Lavigne in that her music was most mature when she was youngest, and that it only seems to get more childish as she gets older.

      • buensenso says:

        exactly. it’s a shame. now her music is mediocre.

      • Emily says:

        @Cindy – Avril is the perfect comparison. Taylor used to write deeper and radio friendly songs. Her effort to be pop has caused her writing to suffer. I think back to “All too well” and know she’s capable of so much more.

      • Still_Sarah says:

        @ Cindy : I love your comment on Avril Lavigne because I really like her earlier stuff but I found her music never really evolved even though her fan base did. But you’re right that her music has been getting less mature over time.

    • Millennial says:

      These are my exact feelings about this era, too. Lazy songwriting. I’m hoping the album has some better tracks, and she’s just picking crappy pop singles.

      • Alissa says:

        She picked truly awful singles for reputation – I pretty much never listen to those songs, but really liked the album. So I’m hoping this is the same. Although I think this song and ME! are better, marginally so.

      • Abby says:

        @alissa I hated her singles for reputation, so for the first time since Speak Now, I didn’t buy it. Maybe I should have!

        Not sure how I feel about this one. I miss her older lyrics.

    • Ladychef83 says:

      The music is a total rip off of Heartbeats by the knife.

  3. Moses says:

    I liked it.

  4. Alissa says:

    I personally think that the imagery is just fun. I think it would have made more sense for her 1989 phase since it’s infinitely more ’80s than what she ended up going for. The song is fine. I can’t decide whether I think it’s pandering or not. but a lot of people seems to be pleased with the message on Twitter this morning.

  5. Tater tot says:

    I’m very frustrated that Taylor seems to be making money of the LGBTQ community in this era. Yes, I get she’s done great things recently, but she had been hiding for like a decade (and calling people gay in her song as an insult). Now, she’s using the platform to sell. If this was any other straight pop star, they’d be called out.

    Otherwise, her recent songs feel very phoned in. Cheesy, simple. I can’t help but laugh that she’s selling four versions of her album, just to make sure to gets that #1.

    • Alissa says:

      She wrote that song and like 2005 when she was still in high school, I’ll cut her a little slack. I said stupid stuff at that age too. besides, Katy Perry had that you’re so gay song and she’s considered to be very supportive of the LGBT.

      • Tater tot says:

        I don’t consider Katy perry to be the best representative either, but she has been supportive for years. I mean, sure cut Taylor slack for it, I still don’t find these recent actions to be enough to be a LGBTQ icon, which is what her fans/PR are calling her. I’ll wait a few years and see if she continues to walk the walk.

      • otaku fairy... says:

        I agree that just about everybody will show themselves to be ignorant or insensitive over some issue in life. Men do get more chances too- that’s seen with liberals’ treatment of guys like Howard Stern, Prince Harry/William, Eminem, etc, At the same time though, even though Taylor Swift doesn’t exactly have male privilege, she does have a Classy Girl image working in her favor.

    • Ellie says:

      In the song “Picture to a Burn” she says “so go and tell your friends that I’m obsessive and crazy, that’s fine, I’ll tell mine you’re gay”, she meant that she’ll tell her girlfriends that the guy turned gay so that her girlfriends wouldn’t see him as a dating option. Not really an anti-gay statement. Not a big deal, just pointing it out.

      • Tater tot says:

        That….is not what she meant and you know it. Like Alissa said we can cut her slack because she was so young, but let’s not pretend her song meant something otherwise.

    • otaku fairy... says:

      Good point. Honestly, I’m not one of the ones who feels that people are obligated to come out before they can use imagery associated with the LGBT+ movement or play a gay/bisexual character. But it must be noted that women typically get treated like shit by both sides when owning the fact that they’re not either 100% into men or 100% into women, especially if they also embrace sex positive feminism. Young bisexual and pansexual women in particular seem take a lot of crap and ignorance, and are held to ridiculous standards of respectability by both gays and straights. So the fact that Traylor Swift can get away with things like this without being accused of ‘queerbaiting’, ‘Rachel Dolezal’, or being compared to a lying drunk male gaze wh*re basically, despite having only ever publicly dated guys in her teens and 20’s, does seem like more of that ‘Good Girl’ privilege that seems to invade every aspect of women’s lives- including feminism and the LGBT movement.

  6. Chef Grace says:

    Oh Lady have mercy. That last pic of the trailer park looks a lot like the cesspool park up the road from us. It is filled with trump trash.
    But bless her heart , she is so clueless.
    The old hippie in me loves that tie dye though. 😉

  7. Croatian says:

    Such a bummer, I really liked her music, but I can’t anymore with all the repetitions of the same freaking note, where is the melody?! There is no melody, there are 3 different notes in the whole score 🙁
    And she is no Beethoven, Beatles or Dave Grohl to make genius music out of 3 tones!!
    Argh

  8. Eva says:

    This ”new Taylor” feels super lazy & uninspired. This is Instagram aesthetic from 2016.

    • Mo says:

      Are you trying to say she’s making a play for winning Hiddles back? That’s my new Taylorspiracy theory and I’m sticking to it!

  9. Cidy says:

    My eyes just rolled so hard my head hurts.

    She is going to ride this victim narrative until the end. Let’s all remember that this whole “snake” thing came about because she lied about Kanye West, victimized herself (as usual) was caught in a lie, tried to use semantics to get out of it, never apologized for trying to smear someone, and then vanished.

    Girl – grow up.

    • Alissa says:

      I like her enough, and her music, but everything you stayed in your comment is so accurate and it will never stop irritating me that she’s been allowed to keep spinning the victim narrative and just went away for awhile to escape it.

    • little bird says:

      this!!! also, the thing that’s always struck me is how hard it seems to be for her to hold onto friendships- if she’s this dead-set on the victim narrative in public, i can’t imagine what it’s like to be her friend. she strikes me as someone who doesn’t know how to genuinely apologize.

      • Alissa says:

        She’s still super good friends with two girls she grew up with, and her and Selena Gomez have been best friends for a long time too. I think like most people, she’s had friends move in and out of her life but has a couple core friends.

    • Nev says:

      WORD.

  10. Maylee says:

    I enjoyed it. And with the constant waking nightmare of daily news, politics and intolerance everywhere, I’ll take rainbows and butterflies please.

  11. Sassbr says:

    Is anyone going to call her out for her cultural appropriation? “Take several seats, “like damn,” “shade” all of that? First, yes, it’s embarrassing that she’s talking like a teenager and that she’s devolved lyrically and her music now can only appeal to 11-year-olds (whereas on parts of 1989 and some lyrics on Reputation, she obviously was trying to evolve into more “adult” themes, which is where she should be right now,) but she’s doing it by adopting hip hop phrases and slang and she is not doing it well at all. Like girl, you’re not Halsey. It’s cringeworthy.

    I was literally listening to Style last night-I mean, that song is amazing. Artists evolve their style and sound all the time, I’m not expecting it to never change, and even like some of the sound, but her lyrics and themes-like what happened?? Is Someone on her team is telling her “ha, yes, Taylor, people love the snake stuff. Ooh snap, that is some good “clap back” to the “haters!””

    Also, she must realize these songs will not age well, right? They’re not timeless like a great deal of her other work. In twenty years, this is not going to be the songs anyone will regard as her “good stuff.”

    • buensenso says:

      cultural appropriation lol. she’s just trying to sound cool and stuff. and it’s not working in my opinion.

    • Alissa says:

      It’s not hip hop culture anymore, it’s just culture. This is just how people are talking in general these days.

      • Tanya says:

        It’s hip hop culture. No matter who appropriates it, the culture remains as is.

    • Marty says:

      White people adopt AAVE faster than you can say “shook”. Then everyone else starts using it, and finally white people start complaining they’re getting tired of hearing those phrases and the cycle continues. It is what it is.

      • Scotchy says:

        You are on the money Marty. White artists always and have and continue to appropriate AAVE and at this point as a WOC, I just have to move along because I am just soo damn tired of it.

    • Piptopher says:

      I thought Sassbr meant (and I don’t mean to add words to their mouth) to point out not AAVE specifically but these terms’ origin in drag culture (hence, the focus on lgbtq+ imagery, etc). “Shade” as an example, has been divorced from the contextual roots that gave it first meaning. And I agree, white women love adopting drag as an aesthetic and hobby but never reckoning with the revolutionary nature of the movement (Stonewall anyone??)

      • eto says:

        eh those terms didn’t originate from drag culture – more from black men & women then popularized (to the broader world) by drag.

      • KL says:

        @eto “throwing shade” absolutely originated in drag and ball culture, where the first documented use and explanation came from “Paris is Burning.” It was done by a black queen and the ball culture depicted was overwhelmingly black and latino, so there’s that, and it’s true too much credit is given to white queens who popularize these things. But since the experience of black men and women in general couldn’t be equated with those of black queens or arguably ball culture in general at the time, credit where credit is due.

      • Scotchy says:

        You are on the money Marty. White artists always and have and continue to appropriate AAVE and at this point as a WOC, I just have to move along because I am just soo damn tired of it and @KL you are correct but those AA queens were still from AA culture. So it still is from the AA community at the end of the day.

      • KL says:

        @Scotchy as I said, it was from black and other non-white queens, and white queens today are given far, far too much credit for those things. You will not find an iota of disagreement there.

        But queens of color were not, and drag culture was not, wholesale accepted (much less experienced) by straight communities who shared their background. That’s changing, I won’t argue it either. But thirty years ago (when the term originated) the drag and ball communities were formed expressly because of the derision and distance they experienced from literally everyone else. Now the tables are turning — too slowly — and the same communities who once disavowed those people want 100% credit for the culture they created?

        Yes, there’s overlap. But I think, given the history, it’s worth being precise.

  12. Sassbr says:

    Also, for a song that’s about how “we need to calm down, I don’t even care,” it sort of seems like she really really cares? Because it’s like all she writes about now is herself and what people say about her?

  13. Christo says:

    I like the beat, and it is so much better than ME. That said, it isn’t particularly noteworthy. Sounds like it is dedicated to negative Instagram commentators or the gossip blogs of the world?

  14. Leriel says:

    Well, I think she’s trying to appeal to teen audience, that’s why she writes song about she believes is subject between teens. Me! was kinda self-empowering (that’s how she sold it), this song is about online trolls and LGBT (because Pride month), so she can even sell it as “political themes in an album”.

    But, it doesn’t feel natural, more likely Taylor made a list of themes, and wrote a song to every of them. It’s the most manufactured from everything she did before. And while Me! flopped (comparing to Taylor’s lead singles from the past, it’s 11th at billboard chart, and didn’t gain 1st place), I don’t think she will be rising, whatever she says. She tries to be relevant hardly, that’s why she releases album before this year’s calendar for Grammy will close. Previously she did it right after calendar had closed, because she was able to make a longer cycle, but with reputation it didn’t work, so she’s making more hype around her persona and her music, especially when today everything should have a social commentary. Unfortunately her music suffers the most, and we’re getting stuff like “Cause shade never made anybody less gay” – what does it even mean?

  15. Lizzie says:

    she had to make up with katy perry b/c she wanted to rip off her decade long aesthetic with no push-back…

  16. chisey says:

    OK I *think* the song makes more sense if it’s interpreted as gay people talking to homophobic people, not just Taylor Swift complaining about people who write mean stuff about her on the internet. That “shade never made anybody less gay” line makes zero sense if it’s about people picking on Taylor Swift, but if it’s about people who would come and picket a gay pride parade, (Sunshine on the street at the parade/ but you’d rather be in the dark age/ making that sign/ must’ve taken all night) then it kind of does, as an insinuation that really OTT homophobic protestors are getting so worked up because they are themselves gay and trying not to accept that about themselves. Looking at the song through that lens works better for me – I like her, but a whole song about people writing snake emoji tweets about her is pretty eyeroll-inducing. Branching out from that to something that’s a wider problem/issue works better for me. (Although I still miss her earlier song lyrics, and I hope she’s got some songs on this new album that get back to that)

    • Leriel says:

      “protestors are getting so worked up because they are themselves gay and trying not to accept that about themselves”

      Honestly speaking this interpretation makes this line even worse, because it sounds like blaming someone for not accepting themselves, imo.

      • chisey says:

        I get that, the whole ‘homophobic people are really gay’ trope makes me a bit uncomfortable, mainly because it can skirt close to the line of ‘well, you’re just saying that because *you’re* gay’ as an insult or sort of outing people (although, to be clear, I don’t think that’s what she means here). But it’s also a pretty common trope that a lot of openly gay people themselves point out, probably because it’s true for a lot of people – like some Republican politicians. I would hope that Swift would say she intends the line to be interpreted not as ‘I blame you for not accepting yourself’ but as ‘I think you should calm down and stop lashing out at people in an attempt to run away from yourself. Wouldn’t you rather be happy?’ Or, I guess as she’d put it (in the most twee way humanly possible since that’s her current aesthetic), why be mad when you can be glaad. I am having a really hard time typing that with a straight face XD.

      • KL says:

        Same, and also because the subtext is “the problem isn’t that straight people can be violent and hateful, the problem is STILL gay(/queer) people.” Is any other oppression so often turned back on those who experience it in language that says the people who hurt us ARE us, so they’re our problem? I can’t think of any, but maybe I’m overlooking something.

        (Which is not to say I haven’t seen blame-the-victim rhetoric everywhere, or that ANY flavor of that is disgraceful. I’m just bewildered that this particular flavor only seems to crop up in these instances.)

  17. Beach Dreams says:

    This sing-talking trend is getting tiresome. Also, this aesthetic is starting to look like a rip-off of Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream era. That cover for this latest single? Totally TD, bright and bubbly font included.

  18. Well says:

    The songs about her being gay/queer and struggling with her homophobic fan base. Her fan base was intensely homophobic for a long time. This song isn’t about any of the other dramas. The reason people here don’t get it is because they’re straight and not in the closest. This song isn’t about anything other then her homophobic fan base which she’s been trying to shake off for the past year.

    • Leriel says:

      Here we go again.

      Until Taylor will come out herself, everything you are doing is starting a conspiracy theory, which puts you on a Trump supporters level, I hope it feels good.

      Speculations about someone sexuality are immoral and anti-humans. Period.

      • Well says:

        Why is it everyone is presumed to be straight? You realize that’s incredibly homophobic. You’re telling queer people who see someone putting out signs that they aren’t straight as “immoral” and Trump supporters.
        Taylor obviously doesn’t care that people think she’s gay. She literally just wrote a queer anthem. If she cared she wouldn’t be doing what she’s doing right now. Straight people don’t write queer anthems.

      • Leriel says:

        From the beginning: I’m not straight.

        Second: I didn’t tell that Taylor is straight. I just told that speculating about someone sexuality is wrong until this person would come out themself. Sexuality is personal, it’s not a list of behavioural hints, that’s why assuming someone sexuality from their behaviour is stereotyping actually, what you actually doing with “straight people don’t write queer anthem” – what about lists of songs like that? All singers out here are queer? https://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/gay-songs

      • Leriel says:

        And it’s not a “queer anthem”, it’s an anthem against bullies and harrasers, Taylor uses Pride theme as an example, another point of view for you.

    • Sara Foge says:

      @ Leriel: That buzz feed list doesn’t contain any Pride anthems IMO. I think the writer is just trying to be funny. Now, “Same Love” by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis or “Born This Way” by Lady Gaga are such anthems.
      I don’t agree with that idea that the Pride theme is just used as an example by Swift in a song that addresses harassment and bullying in general terms because for that she is way too direct about protestors, signed, the parade etc.

  19. bread says:

    I like the production a whole lot more than the kidz bop that was ME! But the lyrics… still harping on about snakes and haters, and the fact that she equates people saying shit about her online to fundies wanting to deny basic rights to the LGBT community – well, it’s not a good look.

    Also, I wouldn’t call what anti-gay demonstrators are doing “Shade”. “Shade” is campy, gossipy, bitchy, artful and passive-aggressive. What those people are doing is pure hate.

  20. ChillyWilly says:

    Cute song if you are 12 years old.

  21. HeyThere! says:

    I am here for this song! I enjoyed it!

  22. Chimney says:

    I’m not a close follower of Taylor Swift but is she bi or queer? Her new album cover is almost entirely bi pride colors. If so then this song makes sense. If not and she is straight, this seems like a kind of distasteful Pride month cash grab.

    • otaku fairy... says:

      She hasn’t labelled her sexual orientation either way.

    • Elisa says:

      there have always been rumours that she is bi (especially when she spent a lot of time with Karli Kloss) but she never confirmed it…

    • Detriotgirl says:

      “Bisexual pride colors”

      WE HAVE OUR OWN PRIDE COLORS?!? Why was I never informed of this! Everyone at my local lgtbq community center is cancelled! Lol

      • KL says:

        Seriously, no one told you? Try googling “bi pride flag,” there are like a dozen recognized pride flags now and counting. My favorite is when people wear them as capes during parades.

      • Detriotgirl says:

        @KL I’m old enough to remember when having any type of pride flag at all was considered controversial, so I guess I haven’t been keeping up with all the new ones. I only just learned about the trans flag a year or two ago. I guess this is what happens when you get older and less social and stop going to community events as much. I’ve had the same rainbow flag up in my room since high school. I personally don’t feel like I need my own flag as a bisexual person, but I think it’s really cool that it exists! So much has changed in my lifetime. For example, I don’t fully understand the difference between queer, fluid, bi and pansexual… BUT, I think it’s great that people are now more open to having conversations about sexuality and how not everyone fits one of the more old school labels. Options are a wonderful thing!

      • KL says:

        You’re right, options and diversity are ❤

        My local LGBT bookstore of course sell pride flags of all stripes and sizes with a handy little chart to explain them all. A young person came in and told me “I’m about four of these” and walked me through which. It can be a little confusing for me as well, but I remember when people gave me a hard time in high school over wanting to wear the black lesbian triangle charm instead of rainbow pride rings (standard disclaimer: not a TERF, though I will admit to being a goth), and so I can’t be anything but happy that more individuality and self-expression is being encouraged. It’s a rare thrill to be known for exactly who you are on sight.

  23. jammypants says:

    It’s sad that it’s 2019 and people still think “gay” is a pejorative.

  24. Case says:

    I consider this a Trump diss track and therefore love it. Her pop writing is generally very uninspired and simple, though. She’s a better writer than her last few albums show.

  25. BB says:

    This feels desperate and not authentic. Lisa Frank Kacey Musgraves Knockoff.

  26. Ava says:

    I can understand people critiquing her for appropriation and those conversations are good to have, but I think in this case, ultimately, what she is doing is performing allyship and it is not going to happen perfectly but I think it’s good she’s trying. Sure she wants to sell albums. But teenagers will sing along to this. Tweens will absorb the messaging that is pro LGBTQ. Her more conservative fans are being exposed to a good message. She’s not saying she’s gay, she’s explicitly defending her “friends” on the receiving end of hate, and I can’t hate on that. She’s using her platform for a political message I support and I find the song catchy. The snake reference is an inside joke with fans as much as anything now. Hopefully she stops mentioning it soon, but whatever. I want to bop along to this song in a car with some friends over the summer and I don’t really care if people think it’s cool or not. I hope this simple, catchy but “purposeful pop” song catches on in more ways than one. And I hope she has some singer-songwriter type ballads on Lover too, since normally that’s what I love from her.

    • Susan says:

      Thank you for this. I agree so much. I hate when people criticize someone for inaction on important issues and then the moment someone else does take action, all they can do is criticize how they took action, or their authenticity, or something else. Just accept it for what it is: Taylor’s desire to put out a song with a strong LGBT ally theme. And like you said, it can only have a good effect through assimilation into listeners’ psyche.

      And I have to laugh at how people are so upset that Taylor assimilated the snake emoji and turned it on its head. I guess people wanted her to wallow in pain or something rather than turning it to her advantage. She’s having the last laugh though and I envy her ability to foreclose on that strategy.

      • Tater tot says:

        This would be all well and good if she was legitimately bullied, not because she lied and victimized herself to a black man. She’s having the last laugh at being racist?

      • Susan says:

        Doesn’t matter how or why the snake emojis were first used against her, like I said I think it’s hilarious how she has successfully co-opted the imagery and it just steams up her detractors when she uses it.

      • Tater tot says:

        It does matter! It’s not hilarious that successfully co-opt the snake that was meant for her because she was racist. But I guess you can’t understand that 🤷‍♀️

  27. Lorelai Gilmore says:

    It is 100% anti-trump. That line about tweeting at 7 am is a straight-up trump dig.

  28. EbonyS says:

    I never thought that I’d prefer Bad Blood (Remix, obvi) to this stuff she’s churning out 🙄

  29. Em says:

    She is obviously working towards coming out, imo.

  30. Usedtobe says:

    Taylor is my guilty pleasure. I don’t listen to Top 40 radio and don’t listen to individual songs. I listen to the whole album so I don’t even listen to the songs until the album comes out. There is no point because I want to hear it as a whole album anyways. I don’t want to get tired of a song before the album comes out. I will say 1989 is better than Reputation and Reputation will probably be better than this. No matter, it’s fluff, it’s fun, it’s not serious. When I want serious I got to people that have a boatload of talent in writing songs. Taylor just doesn’t have that.

  31. Yes Doubtful says:

    This song is slightly more tolerable than the first single, but it’s still lazy forgettable pop music…

  32. Lo says:

    The cultural SHIFT! BTS just blocked her on iTunes #1 with an app game soundtrack single 😬 unpromoted.

    If you guys follow the industry you’ll understand the impact this is. Album Bundling, even single bundlings. BTS were accused of juicing the numbers by having 4 different versions of their album and just guess who came out with different versions in addition to bundling. Hmmmmm.

    It just warms my heart bc DJs don’t block accounts that request her songs, or laugh and hang up on call-in requests, or a variety of the dirty stuff that isn’t exposed in the industry. BTS is the success story the general public have NO CLUE about. Even reading about them, white journalists are worse than Sarah Sanders about reporting facts.

    • Belinda says:

      This is interesting! I wasn’t really aware of this bundling and “four different types of album” deals. Is this why Lil Xan keeps releasing different versions of that road song? (I’ve stopped paying attention to that viral mess some time ago.)

      I am wondering how the Billboard charts are actually counting the streams now. They changed that right? But I do have doubts Taylor will be able to bring her new album to the very top … I have a feeling the numbers although good, will be nowhere near her past success. I’m not being mean, I love her as a songwriter! I just doubt she still has that power in the market she used to …

  33. Tiff says:

    I would just like to point out that Tay Tay is 5 years older than Cardi B and 6 years older than Meg Thee Stallion and the exact same age as A$AP Rocky. She’s also the same age Kanye was when he interrupted her at the VMAs and gave the (completely accurate) statement that Beyonce had a better album. If we are going to have expectations of maturity of a particular age group… they should held across board. If we are going to infantize 30 year old women we shouldn’t be so quick to sexualize and dismiss and/or hold to a higher “respectability” standard 20 year old black women. If we are going to judge 30 year old black men by their words and actions and “cancel” them, shouldn’t Taylor be held accountable for her weird ass anti-LGTBQ comments?

    • otaku fairy... says:

      I’m all for it. Across the board. Let’s all look at Howard Stern, Prince Harry, and Eminem are treated by us liberals despite some very obvious things they’ve done wrong. That’s not to say that I think Taylor Swift or any of those men have to be reduced to those problematic things by everybody for the rest of their lives, or in Taylor Swift’s case that those things SHOULD be used as a shield for misogyny (or homophobia/biphobia, if applicable), but some equality would be good.

  34. Cara says:

    I don’t hate the new song. I think the lyrics are funny in a tongue and cheek way. It reminds me a bit of one of my fave Taylor songs “Mean.”

  35. virginfangirls says:

    “Can you just not” Ugh! I can’t help but get annoyed with mature women writing lyrics that could have been written by a middle schooler. Gwen Stefanie did that too.

  36. Lo says:

    @belinda I don’t know lilXan but if a song is popular or well done than different producers will want to jump on it to make their own remix.
    If the track doesn’t do well but they want to squeeze sales out of it the yes, they will make remixes to see if they can get one to stick and sell.
    LilNasX has a HIT viral song that has a remix and I really doubt he needed to manufacture any sales from it. It’s a hit among kids and and adults so it has a very long shelf life.

    The problem with Bundling is that they are ‘selling’ even multiple albums with low cost merch and aren’t even making a profit off of the album. So basically they literally are giving away albums to count as sales for Billboard points.

    BIllboard hasn’t changed anything yet but are looking to have things changed by 2020. Rollingstone is looking to make their own chart so BB needs to be in their toes in how they weigh streams/albums/bundles/radioplay.

    Radioplay btw is a BIG racket. Ever since I started following BTS I found out that a group with hardly any sales/streams/sns mentions/ticket sales could be played over and OVER again on the radio, while BTS can hit all of those spots 70-90% better but barely get any daytime regular spins. Radio is basically inflated spins to count on the charts in many cases.
    Of course TS is very popular but probably the true indicator now is ticket sales.

  37. Kathryn says:

    The Taylor who came onto the scene is very different than the corporate pop Taylor who gets all of her new songs played in malls and Starbucks