Did Taylor Swift’s Record Label Defense Help Or Hurt Her?

Taylor Swift may have been one of the most successful artists in 2009, but the majority of both music critics and general music fans still can’t shake off her unsteady performance from The Grammys. First, there was a debate on whether or not Swift was singing out of key during her set with Stevie Nicks. Secondly, Scott Borchetta, the head of her record label Big Machine Records has fired back at critics for expressing their unhappiness with Swift’s pitchy-ness during live shows.

A majority of you told us, yes – Swift was singing out of key during the Grammys. After Borchetta fired back with an argument stating that Swift is one of the best “emotional” singers (and basically telling us she isn’t a good “technical” singer after all), many of you found his defense unnecessary. So, is everyone overreacting about the 20 year old “living American doll?” More importantly, did Scott Borchetta make the mistake by overreacting with everyone else?

After getting fired up about the biggest superstar on his label in the The Tennessean, the Associated Press asked him why he made the choice to make such a public statement. His answer was merely that the criticism was “just over the top.”

We’ve never said we disliked Taylor Swift. As previously stated, we commend her for writing her own songs and doing things her way. However, we are open-ended on whether she does have the vocal chops or not. Also, it’s not just the music critics (who are the experts at what they hear and not see) who have brought light to the topic. Many of our readers, including another fellow music critic who actually thinks Swift is a sweet girl, do not agree with what Borchetta has dished out to the public.

“GUEST” expressed the following statement:

“I think the “emotional communicator” is a nice try, but it just rings hollow because Swift conveys nothing like that – at least not to adults, from what I can see. I’m sure she’s a nice kid, etc., as everyone says. But the fact that everyone is trying to figure out what the actual talent is speaks volumes – so does the fact that the label has to come out like that.”

“@stevienicksnews” added:

“Her label inferring that she may have had an off night and that this backlash is just American society ‘…building someone up to tear them down…’ is simply denial of some very legitimate reactions to a horrible performance. It is what it is, and before you invite people to get in the ring you’d better be sure your fighter can take a punch.”

“HoCo” offered his input for Borchetta by saying:

“I am a professional music critic who has interviewed Taylor Swift and covered her from the start. She is a bright young woman and as a songwriter she is connecting with a vast audience. That said, Borchetta’s shortsighted response here is distressing and obnoxious and does more of a disservice to Swift than he realizes. Instead of blaming the messengers he should hire Swift a vocal coach FAST who can teach her how to sing in tune [...] Frankly, I’m surprised that someone as bright as Swift isn’t aware of what people are saying and isn’t willing to do something about it.”

Borchetta didn’t make any excuses for Swift and Nicks’ lack of preparation for the performance since the AP did report that they had two chances to rehearse (which should be more than enough for professional musicians these days who can still sound decent off the cuff) – BUT he did say there were “technical” problems.

“We had a volume problem in the ear. So, she was concerned that she wasn’t able to hear everything in the mix. That’s just part of live TV. So you’re going to have difficulties on occasion. Unfortunately, on one of the biggest stages, we did have a technical issue. She couldn’t hear herself like she had in rehearsal.”

Most people who defend their artists usually use this “technical problem” as the reason behind a bad performance. However, Borchetta went one step beyond that and glorified Swift on the tallest pedestal imaginable. What’s most ironic about this is that he used the term “technical” for explaining the sound.

That’s kind of what everyone has been trying to say all along. The “emotional” singing didn’t come through this time, nor has it always succeeded. So perhaps Swift and her team should fix this “technical” problem in regards to both the stage crew and her singing.

Overall, we can see why Borchetta is mightily defending Swift. All labels sign artists they truly believe in. The support they give to their artists is assumed. In fact, it’s rare to see labels go above and beyond when it comes to supporting their artists these days. Borchetta obviously believes enough in Swift to be upset by the critics, but did his public and defensive argument help or hurt his artist this time around? Did he go too far?

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