Taylor Swift Indie Controversy

 Once again, I thought I would add my opinion to something nobody asked for. Taylor Swift received a lot of controversy for 'cosplaying' as an indie/folk musician and as an Indie kid, I feel like I should weigh in upon the matter. 

First of all, I have to give my credentials to be considered an Indie kid and having a legitimate opinion. I cried when I saw Liam Gallagher perform Live Forever, I drink dark fruits and I have said the phrase 'I listened to them before they were famous' more times than I could possibly imagine. Although I have strayed away from my roots during my years at university, indie rock is still my genre of music, the thing I know the best and the thing I have the biggest opinion of. 

Taylor got some hate for cosplaying as indie in this album and I see it. First, of all, let's talk about the album. For me it's nothing too special, it is obviously very well produced and has some nice meaningful lyrics. Aaron Dessner from The National helped with the lyrics on the majority of the songs and it shows in the music. However, the problem I see with these albums is the ignorance of it. Smaller musicians are struggling in the pandemic as everyone is but their main source of income will be stopped until the foreseeable future. Taylor is flaunting her worth and her affluence on the lesser artists, even if she does not mean to. 

Is Taylor's album any better than Laura Marling? No, Laura is more unique and writes pretty much all her music herself. One way that I look at Taylor switching genre's so dramatically is that it could bring eyes to a dying genre. Independent artists and rock as a whole have been struggling for years with the massive bands such as Liam Gallagher and Arctic Moneys doing incredible stuff but there is not much else coming into the mainstream. Will Taylor Swift's foray help bring new eyes to the genre? Hopefully, but most people will come and go and never have any idea about similar music. 

And that is what Jenka has to say