I’m going to do a little dissenting with the music industry today my dear reader. I enjoy reading reviews, opinion pieces, and listening to interviews of various musical artists. Most of the folks I like to read about are established and well educated in the art of music. Some are not, but we are not all equal in our prose.

What sets this dissent up is a quote by Ritchie Blackmore of the band Deep Purple. “When the family all get into the truck and we go on a bit of a holiday – which probably is like 20 miles down the road cuz I don’t like to travel – all I hear is Taylor Swift or something,” “I find it hard to relate to that, but it’s not wrong, it’s the new generation wanting to hear that. That’s probably as great to them as The Beatles and Cream and Jimi Hendrix was to me. “So I can’t really complain, but I do like to complain, and I will complain, and I think the crap that they’re playing on the radio today is bloody awful.” https://www.loudersound.com/news/ritchie-blackmore-taylor-swift

Here’s my dissent with Mr. Blackmore. Taylor Swift is the most successful musical artist of all time. Her music speaks to generations of people, both men and women alike. Her success in the industry has changed the way an entire generation listens to music. She can easily be placed alongside the Beatles, Queen, Abba, and Nirvana as defining the sound or at least the culture of popular music around the globe. I took in the Disney special of the Eras Tour, and I was moved by the experience emotionally in the same way listening to Who Wants to Live Forever by Queen moves me. The last time I listened to Taylor Swift before the Eras Tour Special was a grammy broadcast when she was a teenager playing banjo. “That’s nice,” I said. Meanwhile my students knew every word she sang, and I heard it on every bus trip.

Is Taylor Swift’s music art or commodity? It’s art. It isn’t bloody awful. The music speaks loudly to multiple generations of people. Her lyrical prose is a pure expression of herself. Her musical compositions are a little thin texturally, but I’m a classically trained musician, I over analyze textures and orchestrations. I want musical surprises. The musical intent of the lyric, the musicking of her audience, and the inherent honesty of the musical product place this in the Fine Art category for 21st century music. Sorry Ritchie, I dissent with you and many others on the work of the artist Taylor Swift.

Am I a fan of Swift’s music? Not really. There are things I like, and then there are things that make me go… meh. Is that Taylor’s fault? No! I’m an older man. Her lyrics don’t affect me the same way as other demographics. Does that lesson her artistic impact? No!! I’m not a fan of Picasso’s art work. It is interesting, but it doesn’t hit me as artistically as a Rothko piece. Does that make Picasso a second rate artist? Again… NO!!!

My dissent here is with Blackmore concerning Taylor Swift. He is being close-minded. Is he wrong about a lot of current popular music? I don’t feel he is, but he is heaping a lot of it into a stereotype. The modern music economy is one of commodity. Similar chord progression, similar lyrics, twelve songwriters or is that producers, and sampling, sampling, sampling. Here is a fun example of the triteness in country music. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FY8SwIvxj8o

I don’t listen to popular music. When I do listen to popular music it is primarily due to some other genre featuring the music. Film, Television, Commercials, or background music at a ball game. Very little pop music appeals to me from an artistic standpoint. Most of it sounds the same… Then along comes a Taylor or an Adele that just knocks my socks off with their musicianship or uniqueness. I no longer think of Taylor Swift as being, “That’s nice” sort of music. Occasionally a rapper will surprise me, Empire State of Mind-Jay Z featuring Alicia Keyes, Sabotage-Beastie Boys or Damn by Kendrick Lamar. Is this music art or commodity?

I think the measure of art or commodity comes down to a few things: originality, generational crossover, and longevity. Songs to be considered fine art: Beat It-Michael Jackson, Bohemian Rhapsody-Queen, Every Breath You Take-The Police… The list would be endless for someone devoted to the history of rock and pop music. Songs to considered commodity: Mambo #5-Lou Bega, Safety Dance-Men Without Hats, or whatever one hit wonder novelty hit you could place here…

Blackmore is entitled to have an opinion, but I’m free to dissent with it. Taylor is a far better musician and composer to be lumped in with the commodity brokers of synthesized music processing…

Go get ’em Swifts! I’m glad you have a wonderful musician, woman, entrepreneur, and humanist to follow. It is musicians like her that give me hope for the future of our music industry…

Like an LP… round and round it goes…