I don’t listen to a lot of popular music. Unless it’s popular in South Korea. So I only really know about popstars if they’re doing something other than singing in a room full of lasers and colourful smoke.
Taylor Swift, the darling of YouTube and every Tumblr user’s lifetime BFF, has just done something pretty kickass. She got Apple to backtrack on not paying artists during their new free music streaming trial. Royalties for everyone!
Without getting into the pros and cons of the ‘open letter’ approach to conflict management…
This story got our attention not because of Taylor’s global fame, although obviously that gets news coverage, but because of female power and influence. It’s nice to see a woman using her (quite substantial) power for the good of a community. Artists, songwriters, producers and many other people involved in making music will now get a cut.
The woman’s got history with music streaming services, having abruptly yanked all her music from Spotify. Let’s all pretend it has nothing to do with this new Tidal thing. Whistle whistle, shuffle shuffle.
Doing something positive that’s not completely selfish is hard. Especially in male-dominated careers and environments, where many women feel like they’ve got to look out for number one. It’s not easy to speak up, and it’s not automatically guaranteed you’ll be listened to. So for Taylor to swing her clout about a bit in the face of a company as big as Apple is pretty encouraging. (And yes, I know that sounded sort of wrong.)
The best analogy I can make is being a freelancer and trying to get paid. That’s not limited to women, but it’s a hassle. Every email feels like a little ‘ahem’ and a soft tap on the shoulder, because clients don’t always listen. They’re not that likely to answer the phone when they know they owe you money.
I’m not suggesting you write an angry open letter in the Guardian every time something gets your goat. What I think this tells us is that speaking up on an issue you care about is not immediately doomed to fail. Maybe we have more woman power than we all realise.
