Taylor Swift takes subtle jabs at former record label in triumphant American Music Awards return

After much anticipation, Taylor Swift‘s return to the American Music Awards went off without a hitch Sunday, as the pop superstar delivered a series of impassioned speeches and performances while standing in defiance of her former record label. She capped off the evening by achieving a historic 25th AMA win, breaking a record set by Michael Jackson.

To recap the preceding week and a half of uncertainty: On Nov. 14, the singer took to Twitter to call out Big Machine Label Group for allegedly barring her from performing her old hits at Sunday’s AMAs, where she was honored with the artist of the decade award. A public spat between Swift and the label’s owners, Scott Borchetta and Scooter Braun, ensued, with the record label ultimately announcing that she had permission to perform her entire catalog on the telecast. (Swift released her most recent album, “Lover,” on Universal Music Group’s Republic Records this past summer. It was her first label change since signing to Big Machine at age 15.)

Fans wondered how Swift, 29, would choose to address the controversy in her much-anticipated return to the AMAs. The jabs were ultimately subtle, yet pointed.

Swift opened her artist-of-the-decade medley with her incisive feminist anthem “The Man,” which she sang wearing a stark white button-down shirt with titles of all of her Big Machine-released albums scrawled across it in bold black letters, including “Fearless,” “Red” and “1989.” She was joined by roughly a dozen young girls in matching shirts for the song, which includes lyrics such as, “I’m so sick of running fast as I can, wondering if I’d get there quicker if I was a man.”

The song choice, coupled with the statement shirts and children on stage, made for a powerful statement by Swift, an outspoken feminist who has long fought for the rights of up-and-coming artists. When she signed with UMG last year, for instance, she wrote into her contract that the company must distribute money from the sales of its Spotify shares to artists. By taking her own legal battle public on social media and now TV, she not only has gotten people on her side, but has hopefully emboldened other artists to speak up for ownership of their own music…….read more

 

Source: USA Today

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