The fact is that Prince never did anything to be seen as petty and immature, Taylor did. Prince didn't stick his tongue out in interviews when asked about his previous label, didn't perform petty acts of vengeance against it day after day. He was bold, he just did what he had to do. Taylor is just immature. And not because she's a woman and he's a man, it's just because he was much more adult than her. Because right now she's just being a petulant child without actually doing something.
oh no, god forbid someone sticks their tongue out! a high crime! also, she’s doing plenty - and you can’t say she’s “performing petty acts of vengeance against it day after day” and also “being a petulant child without actually doing something.” those two things are mutually exclusive. but since I have to spell it out for you, here goes. buckle up, because this is going to be long.
taylor has done predominantly six things since this started:
expressing displeasure about the sale and explaining why she was upset and hurt
letting everyone know that she was re-recording and when she planned to do it.
taking a dispute over performing old songs public when it couldn’t be resolved privately.
declining most sync requests she receives despite her desire to have her music live on as a way of devaluing her old work.
explaining that a live album release was unauthorized so that her fans knew it wasn’t hers.
finding new ways to allow her work to live on without having to work with scott and scooter or enable them to profit off her catalogue
each of these things have very clear aims and are part of tried and true PR strategy play books — and they’re very effective. expressing displeasure gets people talking, which creates bad press, and worries investors. withholding access to the music, both through live albums and syncs, essentially doubles down on that, especially knowing she’ll actually re-record. these strategies are working: we know their investors are feeling unease and are sweating over getting a return on their sale. and the issue in november really made them look terrible, put a fissure in the relationship between scott and scooter, and ultimately did achieve her aim, which was getting to perform on the AMAs and authorizing the songs for miss americana. nothing she’s done has been genuinely pointless - it’s all been intended to systematically discredit the purchase of her catalog, decrease the value of the music, prevent them from profiting on her work any more than they already have, and - most recently - finding new ways for her work to live on under the circumstances that she’s facing. it’s a masterclass in business and in PR: pressure, leverage, bad press, alternative solutions. and that’s that on that.
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