[Make Them Laugh]

so Lucy.... any new news over the weekend??

[paper rings]

I don't think so.

[Make Them Laugh]

...ok

[BlondieLeigh]

Taylor wrote an article -

For Taylor Swift, the Future of Music Is a Love Story The Singer-Songwriter Says Artists and Fans Will Still Form Deep Bonds, but They Will Do It in New Ways Where will the music industry be in 20 years, 30 years, 50 years? Before I tell you my thoughts on the matter, you should know that you're reading the opinion of an enthusiastic optimist: one of the few living souls in the music industry who still believes that the music industry is not dying…it's just coming alive. There are many (many) people who predict the downfall of music sales and the irrelevancy of the album as an economic entity. I am not one of them. In my opinion, the value of an album is, and will continue to be, based on the amount of heart and soul an artist has bled into a body of work, and the financial value that artists (and their labels) place on their music when it goes out into the marketplace. Piracy, file sharing and streaming have shrunk the numbers of paid album sales drastically, and every artist has handled this blow differently. In recent years, you've probably read the articles about major recording artists who have decided to practically give their music away, for this promotion or that exclusive deal. My hope for the future, not just in the music industry, but in every young girl I meet…is that they all realize their worth and ask for it. Music is art, and art is important and rare. Important, rare things are valuable. Valuable things should be paid for. It's my opinion that music should not be free, and my prediction is that individual artists and their labels will someday decide what an album's price point is. I hope they don't underestimate themselves or undervalue their art. Arrows Through the Heart In mentioning album sales, I'd like to point out that people are still buying albums, but now they're buying just a few of them. They are buying only the ones that hit them like an arrow through the heart or have made them feel strong or allowed them to feel like they really aren't alone in feeling so alone. It isn't as easy today as it was 20 years ago to have a multiplatinum-selling album, and as artists, that should challenge and motivate us. There are always going to be those artists who break through on an emotional level and end up in people's lives forever. The way I see it, fans view music the way they view their relationships. Some music is just for fun, a passing fling (the ones they dance to at clubs and parties for a month while the song is a huge radio hit, that they will soon forget they ever danced to). Some songs and albums represent seasons of our lives, like relationships that we hold dear in our memories but had their time and place in the past. However, some artists will be like finding "the one." We will cherish every album they put out until they retire and we will play their music for our children and grandchildren. As an artist, this is the dream bond we hope to establish with our fans. I think the future still holds the possibility for this kind of bond, the one my father has with the Beach Boys and the one my mother has with Carly Simon. I think forming a bond with fans in the future will come in the form of constantly providing them with the element of surprise. No, I did not say "shock"; I said "surprise." I believe couples can stay in love for decades if they just continue to surprise each other, so why can't this love affair exist between an artist and their fans? In the YouTube generation we live in, I walked out onstage every night of my stadium tour last year knowing almost every fan had already seen the show online. To continue to show them something they had never seen before, I brought out dozens of special guest performers to sing their hits with me. My generation was raised being able to flip channels if we got bored, and we read the last page of the book when we got impatient. We want to be caught off guard, delighted, left in awe. I hope the next generation's artists will continue to think of inventive ways of keeping their audiences on their toes, as challenging as that might be. There are a few things I have witnessed becoming obsolete in the past few years, the first being autographs. I haven't been asked for an autograph since the invention of the iPhone with a front-facing camera. The only memento "kids these days" want is a selfie. It's part of the new currency, which seems to be "how many followers you have on Instagram." Fan Power A friend of mine, who is an actress, told me that when the casting for her recent movie came down to two actresses, the casting director chose the actress with more Twitter followers. I see this becoming a trend in the music industry. For me, this dates back to 2005 when I walked into my first record-label meetings, explaining to them that I had been communicating directly with my fans on this new site called Myspace. In the future, artists will get record deals because they have fans—not the other way around. Another theme I see fading into the gray is genre distinction. These days, nothing great you hear on the radio seems to come from just one musical influence. The wild, unpredictable fun in making music today is that anything goes. Pop sounds like hip hop; country sounds like rock; rock sounds like soul; and folk sounds like country—and to me, that's incredible progress. I want to make music that reflects all of my influences, and I think that in the coming decades the idea of genres will become less of a career-defining path and more of an organizational tool. This moment in music is so exciting because the creative avenues an artist can explore are limitless. In this moment in music, stepping out of your comfort zone is rewarded, and sonic evolution is not only accepted…it is celebrated. The only real risk is being too afraid to take a risk at all. Celebrity Spotlight I predict that some things will never change. There will always be an increasing fixation on the private lives of musicians, especially the younger ones. Artists who were at their commercial peak in the '70s, '80s and '90s tell me, "It was never this crazy for us back then!" And I suspect I'll be saying that same thing to younger artists someday (God help them). There continues to be a bad girl vs. good girl/clean-cut vs. sexy debate, and for as long as those labels exist, I just hope there will be contenders on both sides. Everyone needs someone to relate to. And as for me? I'll just be sitting back and growing old, watching all of this happen or not happen, all the while trying to maintain a life rooted in this same optimism. And I'd also like a nice garden.

X

[paper rings]

Thanks for posting. I love it.

[Make Them Laugh]

thanks Leigh

[BlondieLeigh]

Originally Posted by lulu-144 (View Post) Thanks for posting. I love it.

Me too It's awesome that she wrote it.

[paper rings]

It really is.

[london grammar]

I read that a few days ago, awesome!

[brazilianchick20]

OMG I saw Tay at the gym on Monday. Decided to try a new studio in NY that a friend suggested and Taylor was there. I was stunned. The gym is super tiny, only one room and it was only my trainer and I. Then 10 minutes before the session ended the bell rang. 2 minutes later Taylor opened the door. I was SO stunned. She looked amazing, all dressed up. However, she went directly to the only dressing room and changed into regular gym clothes. Black shorts, a neon dark orange top and a white tshirt. Red lipstick and hair down but looked like a regular person at the gym otherwise. She trained with my exact same trainer. I couldn't say anything. It just felt like her personal space. My trainer also didn't even act like it was Taylor Swift. Tay was super nice and normal. She got into the studio on her own, carrying her stuff. She complimented the trainer for looking tanned after the 4th of July and then mentioned she ate so much during the holidays. Haha, like every other girl on the planet. Just normal, sweet, polite. I didn't say a word to her, I was a little starstruck and it just didn't feel appropriate. She wasn't there at the same time today. Maybe if I see her again I'll speak to her. It seems she goes everyday. I go 3x a week. SO CRAZY. I'm not the biggest fan but I do love every single song of hers. Fearless is probably my favorite album ever.

Just...so surreal. I think Karlie Kloss goes to the same gym and that's how she started going. I had no idea, and what are the odds that she went right after my section with my same trainer. Stunned. I sneaked a picture, but felt awful about it and am not sharing. Feel weird posting this story here but I've always been a regular at fan forum seems appropriate to share this with some Tay fans. Only positive impressions of her. So normal. AND she DOES change into regular workout clothes...

[paper rings]

That's awesome!

Guys taylor posted on Insta and labeled the video "First Clue" I can't post the video right now.

[BlondieLeigh]

The video is here.

Something to do with 18 The first single is out on the 18th August? The album is out on the 18th October? There's 18 songs on the album?

[paper rings]

I'm guessing the single is out on August 18th, as the VMA's are the next week.

[BlondieLeigh]

That's my guess too I think that being posted now suggests that it's soon

[london grammar]

The 18th, yess! That's not so far away.