Is Taylor Swift right about music or Jennifer Lopez? The future is Taylor Swift's way

Gigaom covered Taylor Swift’s WSJ article on the future of music is a love story.

Taylor Swift is right about music, and the industry should act on her ideas

 

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Country star Taylor Swift made some bold and hopeful claims this week about where the music business is going. We should listen to her.

Country-pop star Taylor Swift penned an optimistic essay in Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal about the lasting bonds between performers and their fans, and why she thinks the music industry is “just coming alive.” You can think what you want about Swift’s songs, but her take on the business is a welcome change from the doom-and-gloom we normally read.

The Doom and Gloom is covered by HuffingtonPost’s article on Jennifer Lopez’s statement the music industry is no longer a big magical world of possibilities.

Jennifer Lopez Says Music Industry Is No Longer A 'Big Magical World' Of Possibilities

Posted: 06/23/2014 10:14 am EDT Updated: 06/23/2014 4:59 pm EDT
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JENNIFER LOPEZ
NEW YORK, NY - JUNE 20: Jennifer Lopez performs on ABC's 'Good Morning America' at Rumsey Playfield on June 20, 2014 in New York City. (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images) | Jamie McCarthy via Getty Images

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NEW YORK (AP) — Jennifer Lopez remembers the days when her record label budgeted $1 million for one of her music videos. Today, she's attempting to create the same magic with one-tenth of the money.

The entrepreneur says being a singer has been "challenging" since she debuted on the pop scene in the late 1990s, dominating the charts with back-to-back hits while becoming a driving force on other entertainment platforms.

"It used to be like this big magical world, almost like Oz, when you'd make a record," the 44-year-old says. "(It) was like anything was possible."

Lopez, who released her eighth album, "A.K.A.," on Tuesday, says the music industry no longer feels like Oz.

"Now, it's like, 'We'll see if we can do that and we can give you this much,'" she says of record label meetings. "And you're like, 'Wow, OK. So how am I gonna do that?' It's a whole different mind-set."

Taylor Swift posted here own story on WSJ on the future of music is a love story.  Seems like Taylor swift is falling in love, and Jennifer Lopez is the end of love.

Where will the music industry be in 20 years, 30 years, 50 years?

Before I tell you my thoughts on the matter, you should know that you're reading the opinion of an enthusiastic optimist: one of the few living souls in the music industry who still believes that the music industry is not dying…it's just coming alive.

Here are some of the best points made by Taylor Swift.

There are a few things I have witnessed becoming obsolete in the past few years, the first being autographs. I haven't been asked for an autograph since the invention of theiPhone with a front-facing camera. The only memento "kids these days" want is a selfie. It's part of the new currency, which seems to be "how many followers you have on Instagram."

Fan Power

A friend of mine, who is an actress, told me that when the casting for her recent movie came down to two actresses, the casting director chose the actress with more Twitter followers. I see this becoming a trend in the music industry. For me, this dates back to 2005 when I walked into my first record-label meetings, explaining to them that I had been communicating directly with my fans on this new site called Myspace. In the future, artists will get record deals because they have fans—not the other way around.