Taylor Swift is a merchandising maven.
As I’ve said before, Harvard should let her take over the business school.
Now that her album, “The Life of a Showgirl” is selling millions of copies, she’s got more “surprise” CDs to sell her fans.
Nothing like milking a good thing.
There no surprises, actually. The Swift machine has been planned out in detail. So less than 24 hours after the initial release, Swift has got more goods to hawk.
Mind you, she’s already got it hooked up so you can’t download individual tracks from her album. The whole thing has to be bought as one piece.
Now come 4 CDs more, with “Acoustic versions” of the “Showgirl” songs. The CDs will cost $7.99 and sales will count toward her weekly total.
One CD, dubbed the “Life Is A Song Acoustic Version,” will include “Opalite (Life Is A Song Acoustic Version)” and “Ruin the Friendship (My Advice Version)” as the bonus tracks. Another, called “Dressing Room Rehearsal Version,” will feature “Wi$h Li$t (Settled Down Acoustic Version)” and “The Life of a Showgirl (Dressing Room Rehearsal Acoustic Version).”
A third, “Alone In My Tower Acoustic Version,” has “The Fate of Ophelia (Alone In My Tower Acoustic Version)” and “Eldest Daughter (Now You’re Home Acoustic Version)” as its added attractions. And the fourth new CD, “So Glamorous Cabaret Version,” includes two versions of the same track, one of which is a voice memo demo rather than a new recording: “Elizabeth Taylor (So Glamorous Cabaret Version)” and “Elizabeth Taylor (Original Songwriting Voice Memo).”
Yes, that’s right a memo.
If Swift could sell you the water bottle caps from the recording sessions, she’d do it.
All of this is meaningless. It’s cynical, and a con. Many of the songs on the new album sound ripped off from other artists’ music. Why would anyone want more of it?
The thing is, none of this music is different or even interesting. Think of Joni Mitchell 19 years into her career having already finding new avenues of jazz and African music to incorporate into her repertory. Or Paul Simon. Or Marviin Gaye just a decade into his career coming up with “What’s Going On?” Taylor Swift is the ultimate recycler of known material. It’s like buying a 3D printed house instead of using an architect.
