Dear Taylor Swift,
You have been one of America's top beloved blondes since you have sang your infamous "Teardrops On My Guitar" on June 16, 2006. You have over millions of followers on whatever social media you have, and you have sold out shows every other night, but I think it's time for America to take you off the pedestal that you have ruled over for over nine years.
I can honestly say that I do not know what has come over you; maybe it was all the fame starting at a young age, maybe something happened when Taylor Launter broke your heart, and in the process of writing "Back to December," it came to you. Maybe it was when Harry Styles crashed the snowmobile, and something messed it all up. Maybe, just maybe, you got too big of a head.
Let's retrace some of the decisions you have made that makes some of us wonder what exactly happened.
First of all, you pulled all your music off of Spotify back in 2014. I never understood why that was such a big deal for you. Was it all about the money? It shouldn't matter how much money you are making, Taylor, and to be quite honest, I know you are making enough money for you and about 3/4 of the UNI student population. Was it about having control over your career? I mean you are the one and only Taylor Swift! You have complete control over your career. Think about all the people that are working for you! If you just get up one day and decide to just stop, they would all lose their jobs, too. I do not think you realize how much control you have.
I mean, in the end, it should be about the music. Some of the bands I listen too, they dominate their genre (for an example, All Time Low, Of Mice & Men, Sleeping With Sirens, Bring Me the Horizon, etc), yet, All Time Low leaked their own album! How much money do you think they made off their sixth album?! All Time Low did not care how much money they made; they cared more about the music than anything else. They saw that their fans have a connection with their music. That is what truly matters, the music, not your paycheck.
The second thing that you did, which just added fuel to the fire, was the up-the- wall, crazy, obnoxious, and down right rude, photography contracts that you have. You have this contract with photographers, and the worst part of it, is the hypocrisy that you embedded into it.
The first part of it, was the copyright. The photographer owns all the images that they take, because in the end, photography is art. Not for you it isn't, Taylor. See, in your contract the only way for a photographer can do anything with the photos they have taken, is to contact your management. The photographer owns all copyright, but I guess if you, Taylor, who are in the photos, copyright just evaporates into thin air. So, what's the point of copyright then?
Oh, but it gets better! You also demand the use of those photos for non-commercial and other promotional uses on your social media sites, which leaves the photographer unpaid.
Here's the fun part. Taylor, you took your music off of Spotify, because you said music is a valuable art form and people should have to pay for that, but when a photographer does their art form, it's only worth one time use, but you are more than welcome to use their photos more than once and for free.
How is this even right? What boy out of the three dozen you have dated, did this to you?
It still bamboozles me that your valuable piece of art titled "1989" sold more than 1.287 million copies, but a photographer can only sell their valuable art just one time. I know it might come to you as a shock, but some photographers take pictures for a living.
Aw, you poor, poor thing. Curse you, Harry Styles!
The last final thing you did is the worst of all. A couple at their wedding danced to your song "Shake it Off", and they posted a video that included their vows and their first dance. Due to copyright infringement, set by you Ms. Swift, their video was muted on YouTube. How cold are you? Just let them live their lives! I think you should be honored that they played that song at their wedding and chose to put that in their video. These people are not here to steal your billions of dollars: they are your fans.
I think you better be careful what you do next, because you might just have some more teardrops on your guitar than you can handle.
Sincerely,
Former T-Swift fan
