Taylor Swift - The Tortured Poets Department (April 19, 2024) Album • Page 95

I didn't realize these were "Available for 6 hours only" and then "extended" an additional amount of time... ridiculous

 

Eh, I think most of you care too much. She's really not tricking anybody, my 11 year old gets excited about the announcements and knows she's going to hear bonus tracks on streaming or YouTube within the day of release. She got the main variant she wanted on release and was happy with that physical copy. You either buy all the ones you want or you don't, it's not some diabolical trick. From a chart standpoint it's pretty obvious what she's doing

 

Maybe she could do her fans a solid for helping make her an actual billionaire and not bleed them dry every few weeks?

 

being a shark is how she became a billionaire and billionaires aren't our friends, it's frustrating but this is also someone who trademarked the year she was born

 

Nobody is forced to buy all this. Just ignore it.

 

My main issue is how they lie about the limitedness of it all. “Only x hours to buy!!!” and then it’s extended or put back up for sale later. Yes, no one is forced to buy but it does give a sense of well if I don’t buy now I can never have this. They know some of her fans are rabid and will buy everything.

 

I think y’all overestimate the amount of fans who actually buy every single variant she puts out. I am surrounded by swifties IRL and on the internet and I don’t know anyone who does or even gets close.

 

She got Paramore to do Misery Business in their set

 

I think that song is rotating all summer. It's been a different song in that slot thus far.

 

that was just to taunt Olivia

 

Several points above that echo my sentiments: it's not that serious. The fake limited nature is called "marketing". Nobody is forced to buy anything. I'm a huge fan, as our several of my kids (also their friends, my nieces, etc.) and I don't know anyone who buys it all. Relax.

 

I'll post the tik tok that I saw. Hayley said it came from up top for them to play that

 

I both agree with "it's not that serious" and still think we can call out predatory practices when we see them. You may not personally know fans who buy all this shit, but they absolutely exist! And creating a situation where you're asking fans to buy three different digital copies of your album just to get a few (incredibly inessential) bonus tracks is shitty, regardless of how many people actually pull the trigger. She is an insanely wealthy person who has shattered just about every benchmark of success you could hit in the music industry, and she is still insisting on these kind of cheap "MUST HOLD NUMBER 1 FOR ANOTHER WEEK" tactics to...prove a point? Look good? Block another pop star out?

Idk, I can both recognize that I'm not being "forced to buy anything" and still think this kind of thing makes her less likable/makes me feel a little squicky about praising the actual art. I can't deny that the way she has handled the last few releases (Midnights to a certain extent, but definitely 1989 TV and definitely this) has cheapened the music for me a bit.

 

Oh I absolutely agree that it’s tacky behavior! The idea that she’s bleeding her fans dry is what’s silly to me.

 

Yea I totally agree with that. Nobody’s ever forced to buy stuff but I’d think the website that leads the musical internet in “take my money” posts would better understand that some level of exploitation is inherent to marketing and it’s very obvious when it’s egregious and unhealthy even just to see. We’re not immune to our impulses and proclivities.

(Speaking more to the general mentality of that explanation, not a specific post)

 

The issue is that other diehards perpetuate that you’re not hardcore if you’re not buying all the copies. We live in a culture where you have to “prove” how much you’re into something buy buying/obtaining every version/edition of a product.

 

It’s not that serious, but it is stupid and annoying and not worth defending, lol. That whole business thing sure makes me all the more eager to ignore everything about Taylor, outside of listening to her music on Spotify a bunch.

 

I def agree it’s not that serious, but opposite most of y’all I feel the most indifferent about the trying to hold #1 and stuff. If she wants to game that however she can, more power to her. (Billie Eilish talked shit about it then did like 4 variants herself!! Eco vinyl but w/e.) Good for Taylor that she wants to be the most famous person ever or the most #1s ever or whatever it is that motivates her, this isn’t the 80s where historical benchmarks could be set based on everyone wanting to hear something they liked buying 1 copy of the album at Sam Goody. She doesn’t owe other pop stars anything, I couldn’t care less if she finds a way to hold #1 over Billie or anyone else.

That said, it rubs me a bit the wrong way to see her take advantage of her fanbase, which I can’t see things like the TTTP bonus track releases or the midnights clock and subsequent 3 versions any other way.

I’m a big fan, most of the other people in here criticizing it are big fans, it’s not being haters or oversensitive it’s just calling out the monetization strategy as being a bit over the top.

 

I think tacky is the appropriate word for it. It doesn't impact me personally. I stopped buying any of her merch because the quality sucked and a lot of it is ugly, but it comes across tacky. It's unnecessary. Doubt she cares tho. At the end of the day she'll be remembered for the milestones and records she breaks, not the way that helped get or keep her there. Im sure if she thought she could get away with the old controversial macy gray album announcement dress she would wear that too lol. I'd be less annoyed if she put the same time and strategy into the designs and quality of her merch. If anything I feel like many swifties buy bootleg merch cause her drops are so random and varied in quality. It might make her stuff feel more worth it if it felt more thoughtfully created, but I guess why do all that when fans will buy it regardless?

Don't mind me, I'm just salty a green shirt I bought from her dyed my skin and other clothes green no matter how many times I washed it

 

Predictions are that Taylor is going to remain at #1 and Billie will debut at #2. I would have loved to see Billie get a #1 debut but it is what it is. What is annoying though is some Taylor stans saying she “won” or this is “payback” for Billie’s vinyl comments. Basically turning this into a battle or competition. Sure, when I read Billie’s comments about vinyl Taylor did cross my mind, but it’s just unfortunate that someone can’t speak about something ongoing in the music industry without Swifties making Taylor a victim out of it. Billie has spoken highly of Taylor in the past and I doubt has any animosity towards her since her comments were general and not aimed at one person, but Swifties are gonna be Swifties.

 

SwiftiesTM are the worst

 

Swifties are fucking demons.

 

The capitalist queen wins again