Label Defends Taylor Swift as 'Voice of a Generation'

By Marc Schneider Posted Feb 4th 2010 09:59AM

Taylor Swift was more than a little pitchy at the Grammys on Sunday, but the onslaught of criticism from viewers, fans and the media has ticked off the head of her record label. Scott Borchetta, CEO of Big Machine Records, went on a media offensive this week to respond to all the backlash over Swift's multi-song performance, which included a cringe-worthy duet with Stevie Nicks, the young singer's idol. But in defending Swift, did the label boss exacerbate the situation?

"Maybe she's not the best technical singer," he began in comments to The Tennessean, "but she's probably the best emotional singer because everybody else who gets up there and is technically perfect, people don't seem to want more of it."

Borchetta slammed critics, which included the New York Times and the Washington Post among others, but also may have overreached in his description of the pop-country singer.

"I think (the critics) are missing the whole voice of a generation that is happening right in front of them," he told the paper.

Voice of a generation? Borchetta used the same phrase in an interview with the Associated Press on Wednesday, and added that Swift "speaks directly to (her fans), and they speak directly back to her."

"This is not 'American Idol.' This is not a competition of getting up and seeing who can sing the highest note. This is about a true artist and writer and communicator. It's not about that technically perfect performance."

Borchetta appears to be trying to lower expectations for Swift's vocal abilities while at the same time raise her profile as the Bob Dylan or Kurt Cobain of Generation Y. (In a twisted way, it makes perfect sense: Dylan and Cobain are known more for their iconic songwriting than their actual vocals.)

Talk of Swift's sub-par performance nearly overshadowed the fact that she beat album of the year favorites Beyonce and Lady Gaga. PopEater readers, who by and large are huge Swift-backers, agreed it wasn't her best night. "Horrible ... embarrassing" wrote one commenter about Swift's live voice.

"It's that classic thing that critics do of building something up and then wanting to tear it down," Borchetta told the AP.

The label boss blamed a technical issue for throwing Swift off on Grammy night when singing 'Rhiannon' with Nicks, though The Recording Academy hasn't revealed any such problem.

"We had a volume problem in the ear. So, she was concerned that she wasn't able to hear everything in the mix," Borchetta said. "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."

Swift's 'Fearless' has sold over 5 million copies and was the top selling album of 2009. She is the youngest artist to ever win the Grammys' top prize of album of the year.

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Taylor Swift Snapshots

Taylor Swift drops one of her awards as she poses backstage with her awards for Album of the Year, Best Female Country Vocal Performance, Best Country Song and Best Country Album at the Grammy Awards on Sunday, Jan. 31, 2010, in Los Angeles.

Taylor Swift Snapshots

** CORRECTS BYLINE TO MARK TERRILL ** Musician Taylor Swift drops one of her awards as she poses backstage with her awards for Album of the Year, Best Female Country Vocal Performance, Best Country Song and Best Country Album at the Grammy Awards on Sunday, Jan. 31, 2010, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark Terrill)

Taylor Swift Snapshots

** CORRECTS BYLINE TO MARK TERRILL ** Musician Taylor Swift poses backstage with her awards for Album of the Year, Best Female Country Vocal Performance, Best Country Song and Best Country Album at the Grammy Awards on Sunday, Jan. 31, 2010, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark Terrill)

Taylor Swift Snapshots

Musician Taylor Swift speaks onstage during the 52nd Annual GRAMMY Awards held at Staples Center on January 31, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. The 52nd Annual GRAMMY Awards - Show Staples Center Los Angeles, CA United States January 31, 2010 Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic.com To license this image (59467012), contact FilmMagic.com

Taylor Swift Snapshots

Taylor Swift accepts award at the 52nd Annual GRAMMY Awards held at Staples Center on January 31, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. The 52nd Annual GRAMMY Awards - Show Staples Center Los Angeles, CA United States January 31, 2010 Photo by Kevin Mazur/WireImage.com To license this image (17147357), contact WireImage.com

Taylor Swift Snapshots

LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 31: Singer Taylor Swift (R) backstage during the 52nd Annual GRAMMY Awards held at Staples Center on January 31, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Christopher Polk/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift Snapshots

Tags: grammys, taylor swift

Comments

(510)

Thursday 04 February

By bhappy

Highest Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

Ok, I just saw Kurt Cobain's name in a TS article. WTF, how dare they make the comparison. His lyrics were great, although tragic but he started a new era of music for the generation. What does TS do? Absolutely nothing! Her lyrics are terrible, she cant sing and the media shoves her down our throats. Isnt there more to life than boys for us girls?

Thursday 11 February

By Bosco

Vote down Vote up Report this

Dylan's voice never even got near a key. You must be tone deaf.....

By Mary

So yeah, the Grammy's, its a pure political process and its all about what label's turn it is, who is pulling favors this year, it's definitely not about who is the best

By lalaladidadada

Ok Everyone knows that taylor swift does not have a good voice nor is she extrememly attractive...the masses like her because her songs are heartfelt and mean something...

By R K

Low Ranked Vote down Vote up Report this

She wouldn't have sold so many CDs if she wasn't connecting with a large part of the listening audience. So a lot of people don't get it, including some of her generation, so what? Nobody is popular with everyone, and no one person can speak or every person of that generation!

As far as her subject matter, is it so hard to understand that as a young girl, she's singing about boys and crushes and relationships? Do you really expect a 20-year-old to realistically be singing about the other country staples like drinking, divorce, and raising kids?

The comment about her record label "stealing" is crazy. People buy her CDs and go to her concerts and love her. And the comment about having her and Beyonce have an a capella singing contest is also ridiculous. Whether she is or isn't a better technical singer than Beyonce or anyone is irrelevant. If there was a category for best technical singer, then yes, come up with some sort of criteria or contest. But for any of the actual categories, they entail so much more than that.

Friday 05 February

By kaela

High Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

yeah, preteen girls who haven't heard real talent. thats about 95% of her fan population...the other 5% is the creepy old men.

Dylan's voice never even got near being on key you must be tone deaf.....

By ggdoorsfan

lawd hammercy, jack nicholson should stare that label guy down, and shout ”you can’t handle the truth”… comes a time when you just have to cut the spin and just call a spade a spade… she’s a good songwriter who cannot sing in a live setting w/o the backup of studio wizardry and autotune… she’s not the only one, and won’t be the last, but her profile is higher now, since her grammy appearance has left her w/little to no wiggle room to dispute it… i don’t dislike her, or downgrade her accomplishments in any way, and i like to support young artists as a rule, but in her case it’ll be as a songwriter, not as a singer or live performer…

By Lori Cumbee

I recently bought tickets for my daughter and I in March to see Taylor Swift live in concert. After seeing her performance in during the Grammy's I am praying she was just having a bad night, not just because I spent a fortune on the tickets but I don't want my daughter to be dissappointed. When a singer is professionly directed more for the young teens, these children are looking up to the singer to sing well, not necessarily how well the music is written!

By Neal

If she is the voice of her generation, then we are in far worse trouble than we knew.

By Jason

If she is the voice of her generation, then that generation is auto-tuned, off-key, and placed into the wrong genre. I don't know why everyone seems shocked by her lackluster performance....all of her performances are "lackluster". She can only sing in the studio, with the help of computers. Every single live performance she gives is terrible, because she cannot sing!!!

By Bonbon

Well let's look at it this way, she writes songs, she can play guitar, she's appealling and she can somewhat sing so she's doing better than most of the losers out there today, I am sick of all these gimmicks and that's what I like about her, so yes she deserved the grammy, but she couldn't hold a candle to Stevie Nicks in Stevies younger years, sorry.

Monday 08 February

just because our generation isn't all in the music industry, sleeping around and making millions doesn't mean were losers. this generation is the future, so watch what the hell your talking about. it gets harder everyday to live in this generation. i don't want taylor swift to be the only remembered singer in 50 years...shes not worth it.

By Tammy

I love all kinds of music. This isn't the first time I have heard her sing live. I am sorry this girl is really bad live. So let the Label guy explain this. Is there a problem everytime she sings live? I had said it before, if you have the money and a good recording studio, crew anyone can sound good.

By Jeff

Maybe the voice of !@#&^*(), but that won't get me to buy it

By Deputydog

Have long maintained that Ms. Swift couldn't successfully audition for a start-up high school chorus. She can't hit notes, her tone is a flat as her anatomy, her range is non-existant. As for her lyrics, well who cares other than the teeney-boppers? Every time I hear that she's received another award I realize that there are no standards for what is good any more. Her songs and singing are the very reason the mute button was put on remotes. The decline of civilization is not at hand, we're there.

By A

Her record label executive is an idiot, defending her like this just makes it worse and makes her poor performance more newsworthy. Especially when he basically insults American Idol; I'm sure Carrie Underwood is going to be thrilled to hear he thinks she's just about hitting the high notes. If Taylor Swift wants to be in the industry she has to learn to take criticism. The whole attitude of her camp seems to be that she is above criticism, anyone who says anything bad about her is just being mean, which is ridiculous.

Mentioning her anatomy lets us know what you're really looking for in a female singer, doesn't it?

By Carol

Poor Taylor simply cannot sing. Period. I'm getting me an agent so I too can make a fortune and garner lots of grammys without any singing talent -- oh wait -- I can carry a tune, and I'm not singing flat -- guess I'll never make it.

By Tracie Smith

Who exactly is she sleeping with to continue to win these adwards. It's not like she's talented or anything. I saw her 'performance' on the Grammy's...SHE CAN'T SING, HELLO!!!!!
It was so bad, we changed the channel until she finished.
Her mommy and daddy bought her record contract for $250,000, otherwise we would have NO idea who the heck she is.

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