I totally agree with you on both posts, B, but just wanted to give some insider perspective (to the industry in general, LOL imagine if I worked for Tay. I WISH). Retailers who are stocking any big new release - music, movies, books, etc - will always want an exclusive edition to lure fans to their store. If special editions with a new track, new colour variant, message from Taylor, photos, what have you, are given to that retailer it often means they will place a much larger stock order. So it is frustrating for fans, and believe me I've worked in fan marketing enough to know that it is a double edged sword between servicing the retailer vs giving the fans what they want (because it is a fine line, fans do want exclusive extras but it gets to a point like this where saturation makes us fed up). But I guess my point is its not all Taylor and her money grabbing that dictates whether there are multiple versions of a release. Despite her being the biggest music artist in the world right now, she still needs her product to be stocked in all the major outlets. The fact is the retailer HQs are demanding more and more from creative industries in exchange for supporting a release. We live in a scarily capitalist world! I do think Taylor and her team do a good job of balancing - e.g. giving the fans stuff we actually want and putting a song no-one cares about on the Target edition lol. Olivia on the other hand putting a new song on each special edition feels like a risky decision and I'd hope Tay never does something like that.
Right, I've seen it done with books as well. If you buy from Barnes and Noble you get this extra scene or playlist or whatever. But let's face it. Taylor is at a point in her career where she very well could afford to say no, you're getting a new color Target but that's that. Not a new, exclusive song that forces my fans to splurge on yet another version cause I didn't have the decency of putting them all out at the same time.
She knows what she's doing, it all goes to the lists. Every new version counts into the sales.
It's like with Midnights. We all know at some point she'll put out the 3AM version. And if we want to own it, we'll have to buy another one. And she might not put YLM in it. That might be only in the CD that was for sale or she might put it out some other time in yet another version. She does do it with songs too. Not just with special colors.
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Totally agree with all your thoughts QueenBW and especially this. JK Rowling also knocked herself off some ‘top rich lists’ and decreased her wealth by donating so much money to various charities/ setting up her own charity etc. I know Taylor is generous to an extent when she doesn’t have to be but I’d like to think she wil do something meaningful with her money at some point.
I agree that she's generous to an extent but I also think it's just that we live in the hellfire that is late stage capitalism that makes us praise her as an employer.
Like yes, she provides insurance for her crew and dancers which most other artists do not. But this says more about the other artists and about the precariousness of employment within late stage capitalism than anything else. Insurance is like the lowest bar an employer can provide. But she's praised for it because other asshole artists don't do it. But really, it's the bare minimum.
The bonus for her tour drivers and cree was much lauded and of course it's a good thing and it meant a lot for them, I remember one could then afford to send his kid to college. Awesome. But when we think fo what that money meant for her in terms of the whole tour earnings...it's a drop in the ocean.
She could be doing more, is what I'm saying. It's like the Spiderman thing. With great power (or money ) comes great responsibility.
