Latest / The conspiracy / Master Manipulator OR Genuine Genius _ Taylor Swift

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Master Manipulator OR Genuine Genius _ Taylor Swift · The conspiracy

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Hey, first off, just want to start this off real light,
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: say you look absolutely beautiful today and I'm super happy
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: that you're here and just breathing the same air as me. Well,
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: I guess not the exactly America here somewhere else and
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: I'm here, but I'm very glad that you're here. Taylor Swift.
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: Taylor Swift has sold over two hundred million records, generated
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: two billion dollars from a single tour, and somehow convinced
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: millions of people to buy the same album twice. That's impressive,
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: And Taylor Swift didn't just become the music industry's first
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: self made female billionaire by writing catchy songs about her
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: ex boyfriends. Behind those carefully curated Instagram posts and surprise
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: album drops lies one of the most sophisticated business operations
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: in entertainment history. Empire built on unprecedented media control, calculated
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: relationship narratives, and a revolutionary understanding of parasocial economics. So
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: today we are going to talk about the story of
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: how a teenager from Pennsylvania transformed personal heartbreak into a
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: business model and built up a fan base so loyal
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: that they would be considered an army, all while quietly
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: becoming the most powerful executive in modern music. So whether
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: you love her or hater, one thing is undeniable. Taylor
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: Swift isn't just a pop star. She's a billion dollar
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: case study in making the personal profitable and going to
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: be honest. It's impressive and slightly terrifying. So let's get
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: into it. So basically, before I really get into the video,
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: I man, I've been doing so much research on government
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: and politics and everything going on in the world, and
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: it's I think we're all starting to slowly find out
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: that we see what the media wants us to see,
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: and it's programmed that way. It's all it's all very
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: sophisticated and procured. And I have been looking into Hollywood
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: as well, and with the TikTok and Instagram, everybody's blown
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: up about Taylor Swift and it seems to be like
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: the thing of the Internet right now. And it just like,
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: as somebody who wouldn't call myself a swiftye but can
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: you know, appreciate people making music and people enjoying music.
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: It's very interesting to me because I watch the relationships
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: and people crying over engagements and people obsessing over Easter eggs,
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: and all this kind of stuff, and it's extremely interesting,
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: and I'm like, how where did this come from? Because
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: I haven't really been in that world. So I think
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: right now the internet's at war like anti Taylor Swift
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: or pro Taylor Swift, and there wasn't that gray area.
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: So I really came at this in that gray area.
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: I just wanted to be like, how did this woman,
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: this one person, create such an empire? And obviously there's talent,
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: and there's all these things that add up, and this
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: isn't meant to be any sort of hit piece, but
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: I think it kind of delves into more things than
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: just Taylor Swift. I think it delves into just the
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: world in which we live in right now. So it's
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: kind of an overarching thing. But honestly, just out of
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: pure curiosity, I wanted to deep dive into Taylor Swift's
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: life in her career and just know how the frick
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: all this happened and why people are so invested because
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: I don't understand it. So Taylor Swift's rise to global
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: stardom began not in the honky tonks of Nashville, like
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: I thought. Honestly, that's what I thought. I didn't. I
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: don't know a lot about Taylor Swift, so I learned
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: a lot about it in reading about her. But anyway,
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: she actually started in the affluent suburbs of Pennsylvania, where
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: a convergence of family wealth, business expertise, and strategic investments
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: created an extraordinary launch pad for success. So born December thirteenth.
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: She loves the number thirteen. I get it now. I
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: didn't even know she was born in December thirteenth, nineteen
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: eighty nine. That's the name of one of her albums.
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: So born September thirteenth, nineteen eighty nine in West Reading, Pennsylvania,
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: Taylor Allison Swift entered a world of privilege that would
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: prove instrumental in shaping her path to becoming one of
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: music's most successful artists. So, the Swift family's upper class status,
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: and yes it's upper class. I feel like I see
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: a lot of people really adamant on arguing that she
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: was like middle class or middle upper class. But it's
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: like there's no argument and we'll get into it. But
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: like her family was like tens of millionaires at this point,
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: and I don't know why that matters. It's like some
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: people are just born into that, and it's you know,
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: luck of the draw, you know, And there's nothing inherently
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: wrong with that. So I don't see why why people
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: need to get so defensive about that. But let's keep moving.
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: So with the Swift's family's upper class status, combined with
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: their willingness to leverage substantial resources for their daughter's ambition,
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: provided opportunities that remain inaccessible to most aspiring musicians. And
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: Scott Kingsley Swift what a name. Taylor Swift's father built
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: his career as a first vice president at Merrill Lynch,
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  Speaker 1: where he established the Swift Group Financial Advisory division, serving
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  Speaker 1: high net worth clients and following three generations of family
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: tradition in finance. So Scott had joined Merrill Lynch in
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: nineteen eighty and spent over thirty years building a very
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: successful practice that contemporary sources estimate generated a net worth
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: of twenty to thirty million dollars by the two thousands.
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  Speaker 1: Upper class. If that ain't upper class, I don't know
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: what is. So very affluent family again, that's fine, worked
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: for his success and that's totally fine. Whatever, and his
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: expertise in wealth management would prove crucial, not only in
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: funding his daughter's career, but in structuring the business deals
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: that would launch it. And Andrea Gardner Swift, Taylor Swift's mother,
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: brought complimentary expertise from her background as a mutual fund
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: marketing executive. And Andrea also born into her own privileged background,
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: with her father, Robert Finley, serving as a president of
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: Raymond Construction Company, and her mother, Marjorie, was a professional
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: opera singer with her own television show in Puerto Rico,
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: which is really that's cool, that's awesome. So Andrea understood
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: both business and performance. She has, like Taylor Swift, was
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: born into like the ultimate momager dadager is that a
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: word family like out the get go, So her marketing
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: would become what she later described as fundamental and selling
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: the product Taylor was creating. While her decision to leave
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: her career entirely to manage her daughter's development represented a
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: luxury few families could afford, so the family's wealth manifested
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: intangible assets that provided both stability and opportunity, and on
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: top of everything else and owning multiple homes, they also
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: owned an operated Pine Ridge Farm, which was an eleven
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: acre Christmas tree farm in Cumru Kumruth Sorr. If I'm
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: saying that wrong township in Pennsylvania and this acted as
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: essentially a hobby farm, it was not a necessity at
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: all in the family. If anything, it was quite literally
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: a glorified tax right off basically, which again is fine.
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: You know, you can have hobbies. I remember learning about
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: Taylor Swift when I was growing up. The narrative was that,
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: you know, she's like a small town country girl, grew
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: up on a Christmas tree farm, and like that's it.
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: But in inter actuality, it was like came from a
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  Speaker 1: very affluent, upper class family who was in like multi multimillionaires,
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  Speaker 1: who also just happened to have a Christmas tree farm,
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: which again is fine, but we already see that narrative
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: being built, that relatable narrative just reporting I'm just stating
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: facts right now. And owning a home in Pennsylvania and
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: the Christmas tree farm, the family also maintained a vacation
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: home in Stone Harbor, New Jersey, and in nineteen ninety
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  Speaker 1: seven purchased a Georgian colonial home at seventy eight Grand
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  Speaker 1: View Boulevard in Wyomissing for two hundred and eighty thousand
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: different time, and it was a thirty five hundred square
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  Speaker 1: foot residence with five bedrooms situated on point seventy five
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  Speaker 1: acres in one of Pennsylvania's most affluent planned communities. So
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: this property portfolio alone placed the Swifts well above typical
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: American families, where median household income during that period ranged
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: from thirty to fifty thousand annually, and Wyomissing was just
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  Speaker 1: like an incubator of affluent families. The community that shaped
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: Swift's formative years was no ordinary American suburb. West Reading
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  Speaker 1: and the broader Wyomissing Area represented a pocket of exceptional
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: prosperity and educational excellence in southeastern Pennsylvania, and the Wyomissing
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: Area School District consistantly ranked as the top district in
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  Speaker 1: Berks County and among Pennsylvania's finest, and provided Swift with
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  Speaker 1: educational advantages that extended far beyond basic academics and the
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: district's ninety six percent graduation rate. Extensive advanced placement programs
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: and a strong emphasis on arts education created an environment
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  Speaker 1: where creative ambitious were nurtured alongside academic excellence. So just
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: great schooling, you know. Brought up in a really great environment,
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: essentially from the facts that we have anyway you know. So.
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: By two thousand and six, Newsweek had begun featuring Wyomissing
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  Speaker 1: among the nation's top twelve hundred public high schools, while
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: The Washington Post would later call it the most challenging
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  Speaker 1: public school in Pennsylvania. So this wasn't merely good fortune
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: in geography. It was a result of deliberate choices enabled
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: by wealth, and the Swift family's ability to live in
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: Wyomissing reflected their financial capacity to choose elite public education
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  Speaker 1: without private school tuition, which is a strategy common among
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  Speaker 1: affluent families who leverage property taxes and housing costs to
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  Speaker 1: access superior school So the area's unique position as the
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: Outlet Capital of the World, formerly trademarked in nineteen ninety one,
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  Speaker 1: brought an unexpected cosmopolitan influence to Swift's childhood, and the
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  Speaker 1: vf outlet village attracted visitors from hundreds of miles away,
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  Speaker 1: exposing young Taylor to diverse cultures and consumer behaviors that
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: would later inform her understanding of audience and marketing, and
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: lessons absorbed almost unconsciously in an environment where retail sophistication
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: met small town community bonds. So it's not like she,
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: you know, it's not like she was faking everything in
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: all of her songs. It's like she she definitely experienced
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: these things, but at like the highest of high levels,
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: you know. So within this environment, the Swift family orchestrated
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: a childhood designed to maximize creative development while maintaining academic excellence,
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: and Taylor's early years on the Christmas Tree Farm provided
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: a romanticized rule setting that would later feature prominently in
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: her public narrative, which we'll talk about later. Remember back
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: to school shopping as a kid, new notebooks, new routines,
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: new shoes maybe, or you just got your shoes duct
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: taped like mine. And I might not be in school anymore,
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: thank goodness, but I still love that feeling of starting fresh.
• 11:26
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• 11:33
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  Speaker 1: video and supporting the channel, and let's get back to it. So,
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: from age nine, Taylor began taking vocal and acting lessons
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: in New York City, a commitment requiring regular four hour
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: round trips that most families simply could not accommodate, and
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: she enrolled in Burke's Youth Theater Academy as well, performing
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: in productions of Greece, Annie, Bye Bye Birdie and the
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: Sound of Music. And these weren't casual after school activities,
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: but serious artistic training that require substantial investment on both
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: money and parental time, not to mention Taylor Swift's own time.
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: That's a lot for a kid to do. And Andreas
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: Swift the I'd say, she's up there with Chris Jenner.
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: I'd say she's like, as we're getting into this, Andrea
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: and Scott are like above Chris Jenner level momager, Like
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: it's absolutely insane. But anyway, Andreas Swift became the archetypal
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: stage mother through the resources that transformed the stereotype, because
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: rather than desperately pushing for opportunities, she could strategically select
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: and fund the best options available. They were trying to
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: use the most of what they had and the most
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: of what Taylor wanted. Holy So the family's approach to
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: Taylor's education revealed their priorities and capabilities. Starting at the
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: Alvernia Montessori School for preschool in kindergarten, then moving to
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: the private Windcroft School for elementary education, and the Swifts
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: invested in individualized learning environments that encourage creative expressions. Well.
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: Taylor's teacher, Barbara colvec recalled that she was quote always
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: writing poetry, always, even in music class, even when she shouldn't,
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: And rather than discouraging this behavior, the family's resources allowed
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: them to find educational environments that just nurtured it, which is,
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: you know, a beautiful thing for a child to be
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: able to have this outlet of creativity. I mean, like,
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: I'm sure lots of parents, if they, you know, had
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: the means, would love to let their kid pursue what
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: they what they were really passionate about. So I think
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: that's great that, you know, she obviously loves writing and
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: is quite good at it based off of, you know,
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: the billions of dollars. So I don't think it's inherently
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: wrong for the parents to, you know, let her nurture
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: that skill. So the Swift family's approach to Taylor's musical
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: development demonstrated a sophisticated understanding of the industry rather than
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: naive ambition. Because at age eleven, Taylor had already identified
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: that singing the national anthem was quote the best way
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: to get in front of a large group of people
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: if you don't have a record deal unquote, a strategic
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: insight that led to performances at Philadelphia seventy six Ers games,
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: Detroit Piston's games, and eventually a Thanksgiving Day performance at
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: Ford Fields. So these weren't lucky breaks, but calculated opportunities
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: pursued with the patients that financial security could afford. I
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: do think there is a certain amount of luck in this,
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: for sure, But I mean, you know, luck comes a
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: little easier when you have a giant check book. But
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: the pivotal moment came with the family's first exploratory trip
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: to Nashville in the spring of two thousand and one.
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: While eleven year old Taylor knocked on doors along music
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: Row with demo CDs and karaoke covers, Andrea waited in
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: the car with young Austin, a scene that might appear
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: quaint but represented extraordinary privilege. Again, because most families cannot
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: afford exploratory trips to distant cities, and can't take time
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: off work for speculative ventures, and can't risk rejection without consequences,
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: so the Swifts could afford to fail to learn and
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: to try again and again. There's nothing wrong with that.
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: I'm just I'm just saying what's going on. So when
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: this initial rejection came, every label on music Row turned
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: down Young Taylor Swift, but the family didn't retreat, but
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: intensified their investment, and they hired computer repairmen and local
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: musician Ronnie Kremer to teach Taylor guitar and with twice
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: weekly lessons at their Wyomissing home, and they brought in
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: talent manager Dan Dimtrow in two thousand and three, and
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: we will get into that because that was an absolute
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: shit storm that really blew this thing wide open. And
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: they facilitated a development deal with RCA Records at the
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: age of thirteen. Taylor was the age of thirteen, and
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: each step required not just money, but the cultural capital
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: to navigate these relationships and the financial security to walk
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: away from unfavorable terms. Whereas, like most artists usually just
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: take that deal, especially in this time this time period,
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: it's like you weren't really like reading contracts. You kind
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: of had to take whatever deal was thrown at you.
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: Artists gets screwed. In the industry. But when you come
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: from an affluent family, you can walk away from certain
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: deals to get a better deal. It's it's just again,
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: it just comes from a point of privilege. So the
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: family's two thousand and four relocation to Nashville represented perhaps
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: the clearest demonstration of how wealth enables artistic careers, because
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: Scott Swift didn't simply support his daughter's dreams with encouragement.
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: He transferred his entire Merrill Lynch business operation to Tennessee,
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: maintaining his income while repositioning the family for Taylor's success.
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: This guy put everything into his daughter, which is like, oh,
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: that's so sweet. He really believes in her. But as
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: we'll see, he saw his daughter as a meal ticket
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: and it's kind of gross. And again we'll get more
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: into it, but it's just like, good dude, Like it
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: seems as though Taylor really wanted this, so that's good
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: at least, But my god, the pressure on a little
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: kid is insane. Like to have that kind of pressure
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: on you as a thirteen year old, it's gonna talk
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: with your head a bit. But they would purchase a
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: lakefront home in Hendersonville, deliberately choosing a suburb that would
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: reduce pressure while maintaining proximity to music row. And this
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: wasn't a desperate gamble, but a calculated investment by a
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: financial professional who understood risk management, because that was Scott's
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: literal job. So the culmination of these investments came with
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: Big Machine Records because when Scott Borchetta was launching his
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: new label and needed investors, Scott Swift wrote a check
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: for three hundred grand to purchase around three to five
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: percent stake in the company, and this company would release
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: his first daughter's album. So, I mean, it's in the writing.
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: He bought his daughter an album release, essentially banking on
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: that it would be successful and hopefully the company would sell, etc.
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: And it will eventually. It is very smart financier, but
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: again it feels icky because it's like all this pressure
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: on this girl. It's not luck at this point. She's
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: just having her career bought for her with Obviously she
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: has talent, like that's obvious. You have to have some
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: sort of talent to be any sort of musician. But
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: it came at a cost. And most of these deals
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: always come at a certain cost. I mean, we see
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: so many specifically music artists suffer from these type of
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: deals because they have to like sell their soul, whereas
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: Taylor kind of had it bought for her because this
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: wasn't just financial support, it was venture capital investment that
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: aligned the family's interest with the label's success, if that
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: makes sense. So when Big Machines sold to Scooter Braun
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: in twenty nineteen for three hundred million dollars, that three
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: to five percent stake that Scott has was worth fifteen
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: point one million dollars. So his investment in his daughter's
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: label really paid off, And it just demonstrated that Scott
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: Swift's investment was both paternal support and shrewd business calculation.
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: And Andrew Swift's transformation into full time momager represented another
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: form of privilege, because most parents cannot abandon careers to
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: support their children's ambitions, and can't spend years driving to
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: performances and meetings, and can't dedicate themselves entirely to one
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: child's success without severe financial consequences. But Andrew's marketing expertise
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: became instrumental in Taylor's early career, from developing her MySpace
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: presence to crafting the narrative of a young girl with
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: a guitar and a dream, which was a narrative that
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: carefully obscured the financial machinery making it possible. And perhaps
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: most significantly, the Swift's family resources provided something invaluable in
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: the entertainment industry, and that was time. That's something that
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: industry you lack very much of, but they had it.
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: They had it honed in because when RCA Records wanted
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: to keep Taylor in development until age eight eighteen, the
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: family could afford to walk away. And when songwriting wasn't
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: progressing quickly enough, they could invest in weekly sessions with
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: accomplished Nashville writer Liz Rose. And when Taylor needed to
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: finish high school while pursuing music, they could afford Aaron
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: Academy's homeschooling program that allowed her to complete two years
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: of coursework in twelve months. So this patient's extended to
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: artistic development. And while many young artists face pressure to
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: accept any opportunity that's presented to them, Taylor could be
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: selective and she could spend years writing songs that captured
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: authentic teenage experiences because she didn't need immediate income, and
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: she could insist on creative control because her family's financial
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: stability removed desperation from any negotiations, and she could build
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: genuine expertise because resources were available for the best teachers, collaborators,
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: and experiences. So the contrast with typical aspiring musicians is
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: very very Starks can't afford years of voice lessons, can't
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: relocate their families for career opportunities, and they can't turn
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: down record deals that offer poor terms, and they can't
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: have parents who abandoned their own careers to provide full
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: time support. So like Taylor Shaw's family was like fully
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: invested in her and again, like for the millionth time,
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: it's not a bad thing. It's just there. And I
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: think the only thing that's like odd, that's a little
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: fishy is that the narrative was fed that this was
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: not the case. Essentially, it's just like, no, you need
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: to believe this thing because this makes it seem like
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: I'm someone else, but actually it was like this, And
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: I personally would prefer somebody who just owns this then
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: pretends to be this. So that's my thing with this
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: whole thing, that there's nothing wrong with being born into
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: a privileged situation and your parents like believing in you
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: and being able to support that. That's awesome. It's the
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: narrative that's a little bit fish. She may But does
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: that make Taylor Swift a bad person at this point? No,
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: I don't think so, because she's a literal child at
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: this point, and her father and her mother are being
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: so strategic with her life that she's being groomed into
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: believing that this is what she has to do. So
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: at this point, you know, there's a little sympathy for
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: me for that, because it's like, my god, the pressure
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: on this little girl is like immense, but let's continue. So,
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: the Swift family's investment in Taylor's career before age sixteen
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: likely exceeded what many American families earn in a decade,
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: if not two, and it's estimated to be in the
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: millions before she reached any sort of stardom. So, like
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: I was saying, Taylor Swift's origin story reveals how modern
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: entertainment success often requires not just talent, but substantial financial resources,
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: business sophistication, and family support systems that can sustain years
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: of development without any sort of return. And while her
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: musical gifts and work ethic were undoubtedly real, like you
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: cannot falter for that she has an insane work ethic
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: for like a child. All those things flourished within a
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: carefully constructed greenhouse of privilege that protected her from the
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: economic pressures that derail most artist's career before they even begin.
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: So understanding this foundation does not diminish Taylor Swift's achievements,
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: but rather just illuminates the hidden architecture of success in
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: America's entertainment industry, which is an architecture built on capital
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: connections and the compound advantages of wealth that transforms dreams
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: into clear dynasties. That's what she's built. She's built a dynasty.
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: So the period from two thousand and six to twenty
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: twelve represents the most carefully orchestrated career launch in modern
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: music history. In my opinion, it's like impressive but also
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: very scary because what appeared to be the organic rise
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: of a talented teenager was actually a masterclass in strategic positioning,
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: media manipulation, and systemic construction of a public persona designed
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: for maximum commercial appeal, and every element, like from single
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: selection to award show surprises, was calculated with precision of
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: a political campaign. Just transforming a affluent teenager into America's
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: Sweetheart while obscuring the sophisticated machinery that made it all possible.
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: And we got a glimpse into this from a leaked
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: email from two thousand and five from Taylor Swift's father,
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: and this was sparked from a lawsuit against Daniel Dimtrow,
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: which was a music industry manager who previously worked with
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: Britney Spears, but sued Taylor Swift and her parents in
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: two thousand and seven claiming he was owed commissions for
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: launching her career between two thousand and three and two
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: thousand and five when she was thirteen fifteen years old.
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: And we mentioned him earlier. He was her manager for
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: a period time. And the lawsuit it's it's very long.
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: It's like seventy pages. But I read it and I
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: here's the key stuff. Okay, cause I'm not going to
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: read theol thank you can read it yourself if you want.
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: I don't care. But essentially his argument was that he
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: secured Taylor's first development deal with RCA Records and negotiated
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: her Sony ATV publishing deal, making her the youngest songwriter
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: at fourteen, and arranged the Abercombie and Fitch Rising Star campaign,
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: which was like a forty thousand dollars deal, and he
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: also set up meetings with major Nashville labels including Warner Brothers,
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: Capital and Universal, and introduced her to Scott Borchetta, which
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: is the future Big Machine Records founder, and negotiated initial
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: terms for both Big Machine Records deal and CAAA Talent
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: Agency representation. And basically the contract dispute was that Dimtro
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: had signed a management agreement entitling him to twenty percent commission,
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: which is standard for the industry. It's between ten to
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: twenty percent for management, and Taylor's parents signed a separate
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: guarantee promising to ensure Taylor fulfilled the contract. But because
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: Taylor was a minor, the contract needed court approval, which
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: was never obtained, So in July of two thousand and five,
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: just weeks before the Big Machine deal was signed, Scott
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: Swift terminated Dimtro and Taylor formally disaffirmed or denied the
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: contract in August of two thousand and five as a minor,
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: and Dimtro claims he was paid less than ten thousand
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: dollars total for two and a half years of work,
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: which it is extremely low given the numbers we have
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: already talked about and based off of the twenty percent
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: he's supposed to get. But eventually this lawsuit was eventually
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: settled out of court for an undisclosed amount, suggesting some
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: merit to Dimtro's claims despite the technical validity of a
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: minor disaffirming a contract. For those of you who are
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: who were just like, what the fuck are you saying
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: right now? It doesn't make any sense to me. I'll
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: break it down all right. So Dimtro's contract as a
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: manager was valid when signed. So Taylor, at the age
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: of thirteen or fourteen, and her parents signed a legitimate
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: management agreement with Dimtro in April of two thousand and four.
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: But Scott, being like the I don't know chess financier
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: master that he is or asshole to be honest, was
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: very strategic in the timing, allegedly because in August of
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: two thousand and five, when Taylor was still fifteen years old,
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: she formally disaffirmed or canceled the contract, and notably, just
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: weeks after that, Dimtro had negotiated deals with Big Machine
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: Records and CAA, so once disaffirmed, once Taylor said this
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: contract's over, the contract became completely void. Meaning Taylor had
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: no legal obligation to pay Dimtro his twenty percent commission
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: on the massive deals he negotiate. And while this is
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: completely legally valid, the move raises ethical questions because Dimtro
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: worked for two and a half years developing Taylor's career,
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: and he negotiated the very deals that launched her career,
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: but the family waited until right after he'd done the work,
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: then used Taylor's minor status to avoid paying him altogether.
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: So her father had signed a separate guarantee promising to
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: ensure the contract was honored. And why this all matters
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: is because this wasn't a case of protecting a naive
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: child from exploitation. That wasn't it at all. The Swift
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: family actively just sought out Dimtro's expertise, used his industry connections,
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: and extracted his knowledge, and Scott Swift even demanded detail
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: business plans days before he terminated him, then leveraged a
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: legal technicality to avoid paying him hundreds of thousands of
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: dollars in commission. So it was basically a giant way
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: to get a lot of help, get somebody to do
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: all of the work, and then cut them out before
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: they could get paid, and it's it's shady as fulk
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: and I've heard about this happening in this industry. It
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: would be like me having an agent, them getting me
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: a deal with a brand or something, and then me
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: firing them right before I signed the contract to make
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: that money, where they are owed to like ten percent
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: of that deal, which I can't do because I'm an adult.
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: But they use Taylor as like a get out of
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: jail free card or get out of paying your manager
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: any sort of money. You know, Taylor's a child at
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: this point, it's not her fault, but you see the
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: shady business dealings of her father coming in and you're like,
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: this is evil. What is happening right now? It's just
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: a textbook example of using wealth and legal sophistication to
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: outmaneuver someone who had legitimately contributed to their success, in
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: this case Taylor's success. And then we have Scott's email.
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: So there was a leaked email from Scott Swift in
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: two thousand and five to Dan, the manager who got fired,
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: but this was before he got fired, and it is
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: the most unhinged, creepy, weird, eye opening email I've ever
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: seen in my life. It is so long. I'm going
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: to read some of it and they give you some points,
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: but it's so long, like we'd be here for a
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: really long time. But really paints a picture into who
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: her father is and then who she was taught how
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: to do business by. All right, so it starts with this.
• 32:23
  Speaker 2: Dad, bear with me, I need to vent have actually
• 32:26
  Speaker 2: entered this into the Ripley's Longest Email contest. Got your
• 32:29
  Speaker 2: email and not sure how to respond. I can respond
• 32:32
  Speaker 2: as a friend, I can respond as a brother, as
• 32:34
  Speaker 2: a dad or Taylor's dad. I know one thing, no
• 32:36
  Speaker 2: one is going to go and Taylor in becoming successful
• 32:39
  Speaker 2: more than I will. I am your banker. Nothing drives
• 32:42
  Speaker 2: that more than your experience with SOI and I am
• 32:46
  Speaker 2: your and Taylor's biggest fan. I will sell a shitload
• 32:49
  Speaker 2: of t shirts. My goal in this email is for
• 32:52
  Speaker 2: you to have a better perspective of how much I do,
• 32:54
  Speaker 2: how much I have bankrolled you two, and how much
• 32:57
  Speaker 2: I have to deal with on the home front. I
• 33:00
  Speaker 2: am one of Taylor's custodians and I while you spend
• 33:03
  Speaker 2: more time with Andrea, I want you to understand why
• 33:06
  Speaker 2: I should be kept up to date with what is
• 33:08
  Speaker 2: going on. We are getting to a very important time
• 33:11
  Speaker 2: in Taylor's career. I sent a very positive email to you,
• 33:13
  Speaker 2: and you bared your soul to me, so I will
• 33:15
  Speaker 2: let you in on what my world is all about.
• 33:18
  Speaker 2: Save this email. Someday you'll be a dad and you
• 33:21
  Speaker 2: will appreciate it. Doesn't matter how much you have accomplished
• 33:24
  Speaker 2: in your life. When you come home, you are a dad,
• 33:26
  Speaker 2: a husband. And when Disney Trash is Dad's don't laugh.
• 33:30
  Speaker 2: You are going to be in Dad's union. And no
• 33:32
  Speaker 2: matter how well you do with Britt or Tay, Britney spears,
• 33:36
  Speaker 2: you are a dad and your wife and kids will
• 33:38
  Speaker 2: put you in your place. The good news is that
• 33:41
  Speaker 2: your kids are all that matters. The rest is all crap,
• 33:43
  Speaker 2: so you put up with it. Britney's kids won't care
• 33:46
  Speaker 2: how great her career was. It's life. I am currently
• 33:50
  Speaker 2: on email restriction from Andrea because I forwarded the Today
• 33:53
  Speaker 2: Show jab that Chuck sent to me Trouble in.
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: The home Front. He the whole email, hates his Why
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: Scott does not like Andrea. They're divorced now, which makes sense. Also,
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: just like the most controlling, weird thing ever, I know,
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: I'm gonna keep reading.
• 34:07
  Speaker 2: I'm not allowed to send Dan an email unless Andrea
• 34:10
  Speaker 2: proves it first. Can you even comprehend that? Welcome to
• 34:13
  Speaker 2: my world? Send it to her, mention it to Taylor,
• 34:16
  Speaker 2: and there will be a divorce here.
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: That's foreshadowing that already happened.
• 34:20
  Speaker 2: Now, I'm glad I sent you that email to you,
• 34:22
  Speaker 2: I can give you a better idea of what your
• 34:25
  Speaker 2: banker's life is like.
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: And he keeps saying banker. He's basically saying that he
• 34:29
  Speaker 1: controls all financials, which is weird and telling.
• 34:33
  Speaker 2: Thank God, over the years, I do not pay attention
• 34:36
  Speaker 2: to Andrea's rules. I'll explain later. Don't laugh, You'll be
• 34:39
  Speaker 2: there in the future. If you wonder about an email
• 34:42
  Speaker 2: I send you, please call me. Don't involve Taylor and Andrea,
• 34:45
  Speaker 2: just call me. Andrea thinks I talk to you every
• 34:47
  Speaker 2: day and bother you every day.
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: I don't.
• 34:49
  Speaker 2: But I do something positive for Taylor in you every day.
• 34:52
  Speaker 2: I'm not quite the idiot that Andrea portrays me to be.
• 34:55
  Speaker 2: Keep in mind that I manage two hundred and seventy
• 34:57
  Speaker 2: million dollars, but more importantly, two hundred and forty nine
• 35:01
  Speaker 2: relationships with families at Merrill and terrible market. My client's
• 35:04
  Speaker 2: average seventeen point four percent in a market when the
• 35:07
  Speaker 2: rest of the complex average three to eight percent. I
• 35:09
  Speaker 2: am in the top one percent of all brokers at
• 35:11
  Speaker 2: the most prestigious firm in the business, where we manage
• 35:14
  Speaker 2: in staff. I manage my clients' lives their money. I
• 35:17
  Speaker 2: have moved my family to Nashville, cleaned out two houses,
• 35:20
  Speaker 2: sold one handle all the mail, make all the dress changes,
• 35:23
  Speaker 2: changed all the restrictions on the cars, boats, et cetera.
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: Guys, he's so, he's so rich and controlling, and it's
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: giving like it's giving this, it's giving. Do what I say,
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: I have money, Shut the fuck up, like that's what
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: this cemail was giving.
• 35:41
  Speaker 2: And it is so scary. It continues on to say,
• 35:44
  Speaker 2: one of the reasons I do so well with my
• 35:45
  Speaker 2: clients is that I do plan. I do look at
• 35:48
  Speaker 2: different scenarios. I always have a better plan than that
• 35:50
  Speaker 2: their attorney or accountant, because I do talk and ask questions,
• 35:54
  Speaker 2: and I notice things, and I'm crazy and pay all bills.
• 35:58
  Speaker 2: Welcome to my world.
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: Don't laugh, dude, he keeps saying, don't laugh. It's actually wild.
• 36:03
  Speaker 2: You are going to be there on top of that
• 36:05
  Speaker 2: you and Andrew. I have no idea how much time
• 36:07
  Speaker 2: I have quietly and sometimes not so quietly, stayed on
• 36:10
  Speaker 2: top of Taylor's career while I'm trying to balance all
• 36:13
  Speaker 2: the other stuff. It keeps going. And it's why it's
• 36:16
  Speaker 2: just like brag light threatening, victim blaming.
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: It's like so weird, but it's just like it's just
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: a giant eye opener into the world in which surrounded
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: Taylor Swift while she was being brought up. And I
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: don't know whether to feel bad or to be like
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: when you became an adult, like was this was it
• 36:41
  Speaker 1: okay with you? Then at that point, like it's just
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: all I don't know. It feels weird and you can
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: think whatever you want. But what I know is that
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: Scott Swift, I don't want to get sued, is ultimate
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: datager to the nth degree. To I don't it's an
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: key degree for me. But anyway, I do want to
• 37:03
  Speaker 1: get into the curation of Taylor's career. Let's stop talking
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: about Scott Swift at this point, so let's dive into
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: the strategy from the start of singles selection. For example,
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: the selection of Tim McGraw as Swift's debut single represents
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: one of the most calculated decisions in modern country music history,
• 37:21
  Speaker 1: because what appeared to be a sweet teenage love song
• 37:24
  Speaker 1: was actually a very sophisticated industry chess move that demonstrated
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: Scott Borshetta and Big Machine Records understanding of how to
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: penetrate Nashville's establishment while appealing to the mainstream audiences because
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: the genius of Tim McGraw lay in its multi layered
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: strategic positioning. Because my name in the song after country
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: music's reigning superstar, Swift, immediately signaled her respect for Nashville's hierarchy,
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: while creating an instant connection point for McGraw's massive fan base,
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: including me loved Tim McGraw or loved him I don't
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: listen to him too much now but at the time
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: loved him. But the title alone guaranteed radio programmers would
• 38:00
  Speaker 1: pay attention because no DJ could ignore a song that
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: mentioned one of their format's biggest stars. And when McGraw
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: himself endorsed the track, calling it cool despite initial reservations
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: about being referenced by a teenager, it provided invaluable third
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: party validation. And more importantly, the song served as a
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: trojan horse for Swift's crossover ambitions because while structurally country
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: with its acoustic guitar foundation and narrative storytelling, Tim McGraw
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: incorporated pop elements that would later prove crucial because the
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: syncopated rhythm patterns borrowed from hip hop, the melodic sensibilities
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: of contemporary pop, and production techniques that translated seamlessly to
• 38:39
  Speaker 1: mainstream radio. So like the first single that's coming out,
• 38:42
  Speaker 1: it's just already like perfectly curated. It's like Taylor's playing
• 38:48
  Speaker 1: chess and she is winning at all fronts and it's impressive.
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: It's just like it's not bad by any degree. It's
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: just really smart, and music critics later identified it as
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: a blueprint for Swift's Jean a blending approach, with Rolling
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: Stone ranking at number eleven on their one hundred Greatest
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: Debut Singles of All Time, which is crazy, She's a
• 39:08
  Speaker 1: child at this point. Very impressive, and specifically for demonstrating
• 39:13
  Speaker 1: how country artists could master crossover appeal. So the promotion
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: of Tim mcgrab revealed that Swift team's understanding that success
• 39:19
  Speaker 1: in country music required personal relationships, not just great songs,
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: and throughout the summer of two thousand and six, Swift
• 39:27
  Speaker 1: and Andrea spent months personally delivering promotional copies to country
• 39:31
  Speaker 1: radio stations across America, a strategy that transformed what could
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: have been a routine promotional campaign into an intensive networking operation.
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: So this wasn't simply an artist dedication. It was relationship
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: building infrastructure, and each radio visit created personal connections between Swift,
• 39:49
  Speaker 1: her mother, and program directors who would provide crucial for
• 39:53
  Speaker 1: future releases. And the strategy acknowledged country radio's gatekeeping role
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: while positioning Swift as respectful of traditional industry hierarchies. So
• 40:02
  Speaker 1: by the time Tim McGraw peaked at number six on
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: Hot Country Songs, Swift had established personal relationships with hundreds
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: of radio professionals who felt invested in her success. And
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: I think that's kind of where the underdog story started
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: to come up, you know, whereas like you look behind
• 40:18
  Speaker 1: the scenes and it's like, oh man, they were I mean,
• 40:20
  Speaker 1: her parents were just pushing for her to get this
• 40:24
  Speaker 1: shit done and like like driving her to all these
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: different places. It's admirable, but it's also like nobody else
• 40:30
  Speaker 1: could do that, And the crossover potential became evident when
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: the song reached number forty on the Billboard Hot one hundred,
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: impressive for a country debut, but more importantly, proof that
• 40:40
  Speaker 1: Swift's appeal extended beyond traditional country demographics, and this performance
• 40:45
  Speaker 1: validated Big Machines investment while providing data that would inform
• 40:48
  Speaker 1: strategic decisions driving her next album. So, while country music
• 40:52
  Speaker 1: remained focused on traditional promotion channels, Swift was simultaneously building
• 40:57
  Speaker 1: what would become the template for artist fan relationship in
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: the digital age, and her extensive use of MySpace represented
• 41:04
  Speaker 1: perhaps the first systemic deployment of social media by country artists,
• 41:09
  Speaker 1: sharing daily blogs and song information that created unprecedented intimacy
• 41:14
  Speaker 1: between artist and audience. She's like not og, but you know,
• 41:18
  Speaker 1: like like YouTuber at that point, like an artist meets
• 41:21
  Speaker 1: YouTuber just or TikToker or whatever. She's like utilizing this
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: platform to gain success in the traditional media space. And
• 41:29
  Speaker 1: this digital strategy just proved transformative for country music demographics.
• 41:33
  Speaker 1: So Swift's online presence attracted teenagers and young adults who
• 41:37
  Speaker 1: had been systemically excluded from country radio's target demographics. So
• 41:41
  Speaker 1: her ability to circumvent traditional gatekeepers and speak directly to
• 41:46
  Speaker 1: fans created a fan base that felt personally connected to
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: her success, a relationship dynamic that would prove crucial as
• 41:53
  Speaker 1: her career evolved, and the MySpace strategy also provided invaluable
• 41:58
  Speaker 1: data about her audience and said informed future creative and
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: marketing decisions, because, unlike traditional country artists who relied on
• 42:05
  Speaker 1: radio research and sales figures, Swift could monitor fan engagement
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: in real time, understanding which songs resonated both strongly and
• 42:13
  Speaker 1: which personal details generated the highest response rates. And that's
• 42:17
  Speaker 1: not something that's like uncommon.
• 42:20
  Speaker 2: You know.
• 42:21
  Speaker 1: I'll put a poll out to you guys, being like,
• 42:22
  Speaker 1: what videos do you like to see best? And you
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: guys will be like, we like the True Crime ones,
• 42:26
  Speaker 1: or we like Taylor Swift Deep Dives or whatever. And
• 42:30
  Speaker 1: that's very valuable information for me because then it shows
• 42:33
  Speaker 1: me what my audience, what you guys like, the differences
• 42:37
  Speaker 1: with creators like online, with doing this not necessarily trying
• 42:41
  Speaker 1: to sell you something. I'm just I just want to
• 42:44
  Speaker 1: make what I want to make. And I decided to
• 42:47
  Speaker 1: make this video like three days ago. There's no agenda,
• 42:49
  Speaker 1: and I don't know what I'm going to do tomorrow.
• 42:51
  Speaker 1: But I'm my own boss. I can decide to do
• 42:53
  Speaker 1: whatever I want. I don't care what people think. And
• 42:56
  Speaker 1: the cage around artists, music artists and actors and all
• 43:01
  Speaker 1: this stuff is that they're kind of they have to
• 43:04
  Speaker 1: be subservient to their audiences to on another level, they
• 43:09
  Speaker 1: have to provide people with this very original content that
• 43:15
  Speaker 1: needs to be extremely relatable, otherwise people won't like it.
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: And it's a balance that I would never want to
• 43:22
  Speaker 1: touch because I like just being my own boss and
• 43:25
  Speaker 1: I like posting whatever I want, and I think it's
• 43:27
  Speaker 1: a very chill environment, whereas the traditional mainstream space it's scary,
• 43:32
  Speaker 1: like Hollywood's a scary place. But let's keep going. I'm digressing,
• 43:36
  Speaker 1: of course. So the strategic genre evolution released November eleventh,
• 43:40
  Speaker 1: two thousand and eight, with Fearless, and it represented the
• 43:43
  Speaker 1: culmination of a carefully planned crossover strategy that had been
• 43:47
  Speaker 1: in development since Swift's debut, because, rather than abandoning country music,
• 43:51
  Speaker 1: Swift and her team engineered a gradual genre evolution that
• 43:55
  Speaker 1: maintained her country credibility while systemically incorporating mainstream pop elements
• 44:00
  Speaker 1: that would broaden her appeal. When you think of Taylor Swift,
• 44:03
  Speaker 1: it's just like she is quite literally, like the most
• 44:07
  Speaker 1: broadly appealing artist in history. I don't think she's there's
• 44:11
  Speaker 1: no niche for her. She's kind of like it covers
• 44:14
  Speaker 1: all of these different basses. And again it's just like
• 44:17
  Speaker 1: a it's it's it's genius. So this album's strategic positioning
• 44:22
  Speaker 1: was immediately evident in its radio success, and Love Story
• 44:25
  Speaker 1: became the first country song to top the Pop Songs charts,
• 44:29
  Speaker 1: while You Belong with Me became the first country song
• 44:32
  Speaker 1: to top billboards All Genre Radio Songs chart. And these
• 44:35
  Speaker 1: were by no mean accidents, but the results of careful
• 44:38
  Speaker 1: production choices that created songs functional across multiple radio formats
• 44:42
  Speaker 1: while maintaining enough country signifiers to avoid alienating Nashville. Basically,
• 44:48
  Speaker 1: does that make sense? So this crossover strategy just proved
• 44:51
  Speaker 1: extraordinarily successful commercially, and Fearless spent eleven weeks atop the
• 44:56
  Speaker 1: Billboard two hundred, becoming the best selling album of two
• 45:00
  Speaker 1: thousand and nine and making eighteen year old Taylor Swift
• 45:03
  Speaker 1: the youngest artist ever to achieve that distinction. So she
• 45:06
  Speaker 1: was already like like breaking glass ceilings out the gate,
• 45:10
  Speaker 1: which again like is it's it's amazing, like that is
• 45:12
  Speaker 1: that is you cannot argue that that isn't extremely impressive,
• 45:18
  Speaker 1: And more significantly, the album's success demonstrated that country artists
• 45:21
  Speaker 1: could achieve mainstream dominance without sacrificing their core identity, and
• 45:25
  Speaker 1: this is a lesson that would reshape industry thinking about
• 45:28
  Speaker 1: genre boundaries. And then there was the girl next Door persona,
• 45:32
  Speaker 1: because central to Taylor Swift's crossover appeal was the careful
• 45:35
  Speaker 1: construction of her public persona as the relatable girl next door,
• 45:40
  Speaker 1: an image that appeared organic but was actually the result
• 45:44
  Speaker 1: of sophisticated image management. And this persona strategically emphasized ordinariness
• 45:51
  Speaker 1: while obscuring the extraordinary privilege that had enabled her career,
• 45:57
  Speaker 1: creating identification with fans who saw their own teenage experiences
• 46:01
  Speaker 1: reflected in her songs. And I'm not saying that she
• 46:04
  Speaker 1: didn't have her own experience as a teenager. She obviously did.
• 46:07
  Speaker 1: Her teenage years were probably a bit scarring honestly looking
• 46:11
  Speaker 1: back at all of this information, but probably extremely different
• 46:15
  Speaker 1: to a majority of America, Canada, whoever, the world's teenagers.
• 46:21
  Speaker 1: But does that make her a bad person, No, She's
• 46:26
  Speaker 1: just trying to be relatable and make that dough like
• 46:29
  Speaker 1: people feel the need to defend her in all this way.
• 46:32
  Speaker 1: It's like, no, she came from privilege, Like you can't.
• 46:34
  Speaker 1: You literally cannot argue that is that inherently bad? No?
• 46:38
  Speaker 1: No is like lying lightly to your audience bad. I think,
• 46:44
  Speaker 1: So is it bad that I said that? I don't know.
• 46:49
  Speaker 1: But again, it's like she was a kid and she's
• 46:53
  Speaker 1: been taught this from day one from her parents, that
• 46:56
  Speaker 1: you need to like utilize money and strategy in order
• 47:02
  Speaker 1: to be successful in life, and that means that you
• 47:05
  Speaker 1: need to leave some morals behind. That seemed to be that,
• 47:09
  Speaker 1: and I think that's when people come in, and especially
• 47:11
  Speaker 1: on TikTok lately, where the people are like, there's no
• 47:13
  Speaker 1: ethical billionaires and you know, we'll get into it later.
• 47:18
  Speaker 1: But obviously you can give to charity, you can do
• 47:19
  Speaker 1: all these things, and I know she does all that stuff,
• 47:22
  Speaker 1: but you have to realize that you cannot get to
• 47:28
  Speaker 1: that level without sacrificing some truth. Let's just leave it
• 47:33
  Speaker 1: at that. So the authenticity of this persona was carefully
• 47:36
  Speaker 1: managed through strategic disclosure of personal details, and Swift's willingness
• 47:41
  Speaker 1: to discuss her relationships and teenage experiences created an impression
• 47:46
  Speaker 1: of transparency while actually revealing only carefully selected information designed
• 47:51
  Speaker 1: to reinforce her relatability. So her songs function as controlled vulnerability,
• 47:57
  Speaker 1: sharing enough personal details to createmacy while maintaining the privacy
• 48:02
  Speaker 1: necessary for strategic image management. And the Girl next Door
• 48:06
  Speaker 1: persona also provided strategic protection from any sort of criticism,
• 48:10
  Speaker 1: because when you're like this broad, mass appealing person you
• 48:14
  Speaker 1: can't pick on very niche things or very big issues,
• 48:19
  Speaker 1: otherwise that'll compromise your career. That could compromise your career
• 48:23
  Speaker 1: in some way. So she needs to maintain this broad,
• 48:28
  Speaker 1: mass appealing persona, which you know, you get to a
• 48:31
  Speaker 1: certain degree. I mean, even digital creators just want to
• 48:35
  Speaker 1: focus on what they're doing, whether you're a comedian, whether
• 48:38
  Speaker 1: you're doing certain things. It's like, well, I don't focus
• 48:41
  Speaker 1: on this problem or politics or this kind of thing,
• 48:44
  Speaker 1: So I am not allowed to be held accountable for
• 48:48
  Speaker 1: talking about those things. And that is up to you.
• 48:51
  Speaker 1: That's up to you and whatever moral compass that you have.
• 48:54
  Speaker 1: So whether your millions or billions of dollars matter more
• 48:58
  Speaker 1: than speaking on issues, that's up to you. Does that
• 49:01
  Speaker 1: make you a bad person, that's up to you. You know,
• 49:04
  Speaker 1: I don't know, but again, like in talking about the
• 49:08
  Speaker 1: government and Jeffrey Epstein all these things, I do think
• 49:11
  Speaker 1: it's important, and I do think like, do I think
• 49:14
  Speaker 1: I can make a huge difference. No, But I think
• 49:18
  Speaker 1: it's important, you know. I think it's important to talk
• 49:20
  Speaker 1: about things that I think are important. And I think
• 49:24
  Speaker 1: that's where people have issue where it's just like where
• 49:27
  Speaker 1: we look back at her history and it's like she
• 49:29
  Speaker 1: clearly knows that she she has a whole massive team
• 49:34
  Speaker 1: around her. That's like, you don't talk about this because
• 49:37
  Speaker 1: the ticket sales won't be as good, you know. It's
• 49:40
  Speaker 1: just like you have to be able to see that.
• 49:43
  Speaker 1: It just comes down to morality essentially. So when industry
• 49:46
  Speaker 1: observers question her vocal abilities or songwriting credits, her youth
• 49:50
  Speaker 1: and relatability generated defensive reactions from fans, who interpreted criticism
• 49:55
  Speaker 1: as attacks on their own experiences. I think, and this
• 49:59
  Speaker 1: created a defensive infrastructure around Swift's career very early on
• 50:04
  Speaker 1: that will proved invaluable as she navigated increasingly complex media scrutiny.
• 50:09
  Speaker 1: Let's move on to two thousand and nine, because because
• 50:11
  Speaker 1: in two thousand and nine there was the MTV VMA's incident.
• 50:14
  Speaker 2: I'm really happy for you.
• 50:15
  Speaker 1: I'll let you finish so September thirteenth, two thousand and
• 50:18
  Speaker 1: nine MTV video of Music Awards where Kanye West interrupted
• 50:22
  Speaker 1: Swift's acceptant speech for you Belong with Me. It's got
• 50:26
  Speaker 1: classic like top ten pop culture moments, and it represents
• 50:31
  Speaker 1: perhaps the most strategically valuable moment in Taylor Swift's career,
• 50:35
  Speaker 1: because while the incident appeared spontaneous, the aftermath revealed sophisticated
• 50:40
  Speaker 1: crisis management that transformed a potentially damaging situation into a
• 50:45
  Speaker 1: career defining moment that elevated Swift's mainstream profile exponentially. So
• 50:50
  Speaker 1: the immediate response demonstrated advanced media management because Swift's reaction,
• 50:55
  Speaker 1: appearing shocked and very gracious rather than angry, which you know,
• 50:59
  Speaker 1: kudos to her, generated widespread sympathy while positioning her as
• 51:03
  Speaker 1: the victim of West's inappropriate behavior, which is, you know,
• 51:06
  Speaker 1: there's no there's nothing crazy about that. That's just the case.
• 51:10
  Speaker 1: But this whole incident created a narrative framework that cast
• 51:14
  Speaker 1: Swift as the wronged, innocent, generating protective instincts among viewers
• 51:19
  Speaker 1: who might not have previously been familiar with her. Music,
• 51:22
  Speaker 1: and more strategically, the incident proved Swift with a mainstream
• 51:26
  Speaker 1: cultural moment that transcended music industry boundaries, and even President
• 51:30
  Speaker 1: Obama's criticism of west behavior elevated the incident into national
• 51:34
  Speaker 1: conversation about respect, race, and celebrity behavior that kept Swift
• 51:39
  Speaker 1: in the headlines for weeks. And So I'm not saying
• 51:42
  Speaker 1: that this is Swift planned this and all that stuff.
• 51:45
  Speaker 1: I don't think it was. It was just like a
• 51:46
  Speaker 1: moment that happened that was just like for her career,
• 51:49
  Speaker 1: and I think she handled it very well and there's
• 51:51
  Speaker 1: nothing there's nothing inherently wrong with that. She just knows
• 51:53
  Speaker 1: how to make anything into money basically, and again, nothing
• 51:58
  Speaker 1: wrong with that. And the long term impact proved transformative
• 52:02
  Speaker 1: because the incident generated an enormous sympathy that insulated Swift
• 52:06
  Speaker 1: from criticism during her most vulnerable career period, which was
• 52:09
  Speaker 1: her transition from teenage country star to mainstream pop artist.
• 52:13
  Speaker 1: So it just created a narrative of victimization that would
• 52:17
  Speaker 1: inform how media and fans interpret future controversies. And I'm
• 52:21
  Speaker 1: not saying she wasn't a victim in this case. I
• 52:23
  Speaker 1: do believe she was, and I do believe it was
• 52:25
  Speaker 1: extremely inappropriate of him to do that, But it's just
• 52:28
  Speaker 1: like all these little pieces falling into place for her
• 52:31
  Speaker 1: career to skyrocket. Am I saying that her career couldn't
• 52:33
  Speaker 1: have skyrocketed if this incident didn't happen. Absolutely not, that's
• 52:36
  Speaker 1: a really dumb to say. But it also just provided
• 52:39
  Speaker 1: a template for crisis management that Swift's team would deploy
• 52:42
  Speaker 1: repeatedly throughout her career, as we will see. So from
• 52:45
  Speaker 1: the beginning of her career, Swift demonstrated unusual awareness of
• 52:48
  Speaker 1: music industry economics, particularly regarding publishing rights and songwriting credits,
• 52:53
  Speaker 1: because her two thousand and four Sony ATV publishing deal
• 52:56
  Speaker 1: made her the youngest songwriter in the company's history. But
• 52:59
  Speaker 1: more importantly, it provided her with education about the financial
• 53:03
  Speaker 1: structures underlying music careers that most artists don't understand until
• 53:07
  Speaker 1: much much later in their career, if at all, and
• 53:09
  Speaker 1: this early education proved crucial as Swift's career developed, and
• 53:13
  Speaker 1: unlike many young artists who focused primarily on recording and performing,
• 53:17
  Speaker 1: Swift understood the songwriting generated the most reliable long term
• 53:22
  Speaker 1: income streams, so her insistent on writing or co writing
• 53:26
  Speaker 1: every track on her debut album wasn't just artistic preference,
• 53:30
  Speaker 1: but strategic business positioning that would prove extraordinarily valuable as
• 53:34
  Speaker 1: her catalog gained value and like kudos, And I thought,
• 53:38
  Speaker 1: obviously that came from her parents too, and everything she
• 53:40
  Speaker 1: learned as a kid. It's like, if you write all
• 53:42
  Speaker 1: the songs, you make money on all the songs. Like
• 53:44
  Speaker 1: that's just how it goes. And to learn that at
• 53:46
  Speaker 1: a young age and to be able to do that
• 53:49
  Speaker 1: is very impressive. So again I'm just like, you know,
• 53:52
  Speaker 1: hats off for her to be able to do that
• 53:54
  Speaker 1: and to know that and have the wherewithal, And then
• 53:56
  Speaker 1: again it comes from privilege and like being able to
• 53:58
  Speaker 1: be taught that by your parents who are rich and
• 54:03
  Speaker 1: very attuned to the industry. And the publishing awareness also
• 54:07
  Speaker 1: informed her approach to collaborations, and Swift's co writing relationships
• 54:11
  Speaker 1: with established Nashville professionals like Liz Rose weren't just creative partnerships,
• 54:16
  Speaker 1: but educational opportunities that taught her industry's best practices while
• 54:20
  Speaker 1: establishing relationships with experienced music business professionals, and these collaborations
• 54:25
  Speaker 1: provided mentorship that accelerated her business education while creating songs
• 54:29
  Speaker 1: that benefited from both her authentic teenage perspective and professional
• 54:34
  Speaker 1: songwriting expertise. And Taylor's approach to merchandising revealed sophisticated understanding
• 54:39
  Speaker 1: of fan psychology and brand development that went far beyond
• 54:44
  Speaker 1: typical country music marketing or just any marketing for that matter,
• 54:48
  Speaker 1: and her merchandise strategy emphasized personal connection over generic branding,
• 54:53
  Speaker 1: creating products that felt like personal communication from Swift to
• 54:56
  Speaker 1: individual fans rather than mass market commodities, which just makes sense.
• 55:01
  Speaker 1: And the merchandising approach also demonstrated strategic thinking about fan
• 55:05
  Speaker 1: relationship management. So rather than simply selling T shirts or CDs,
• 55:11
  Speaker 1: Swift graded products that reinforced fan identity and community membership,
• 55:16
  Speaker 1: which again nothing wrong with that. She's like creating this
• 55:21
  Speaker 1: little world, which I totally get because like I do
• 55:25
  Speaker 1: feel like I meet you guys out in public and stuff,
• 55:28
  Speaker 1: and it's so fun to like share fun things like
• 55:31
  Speaker 1: I have like Pete, you know, and I'm like, here's
• 55:33
  Speaker 1: a Pete for you, and we can like do and
• 55:35
  Speaker 1: it's just like fun. It's like this fun thing. So
• 55:37
  Speaker 1: like I get on a certain level, but it's just
• 55:40
  Speaker 1: I'm not even on I'm here and she's like like
• 55:45
  Speaker 1: eight thousand, hundred million miles up there.
• 55:48
  Speaker 2: You know.
• 55:49
  Speaker 1: It's just like the forty chess and I'm just like
• 55:53
  Speaker 1: a let's punch some dragons. I don't know. And it's
• 55:56
  Speaker 1: also like I feel in my career right now, it's
• 56:01
  Speaker 1: all optional and it's important that it's an option and
• 56:05
  Speaker 1: not that it's not an option. For Taylor, I think
• 56:08
  Speaker 1: it completely is. But the psychology behind what she does
• 56:13
  Speaker 1: and seeing all the Easter eggs and seeing red thread
• 56:16
  Speaker 1: that goes with the marketing, with all the merchandise and
• 56:19
  Speaker 1: all the stuff, It's like, how could you not if
• 56:21
  Speaker 1: you're a fan, how could you not get this? Because
• 56:23
  Speaker 1: that if you got that, then you then that means
• 56:25
  Speaker 1: you have this, and then you have the whole collection.
• 56:27
  Speaker 1: It's just like it's on a level that is like
• 56:31
  Speaker 1: I can't even comprehend it. But the merchandising philosophy would
• 56:34
  Speaker 1: prove particularly valuable as the music industry faced declining physical sales,
• 56:38
  Speaker 1: and Swift's ability to create emotional connections through non music
• 56:42
  Speaker 1: products provided revenue diversification that insulated her from industry wide
• 56:46
  Speaker 1: economic pressures while reinforcing fan loyalty through tangible representations of
• 56:52
  Speaker 1: their relationship with her music.
• 56:54
  Speaker 2: And I think Taylor.
• 56:55
  Speaker 1: Swift's most significant innovation during this period was her systemic
• 57:00
  Speaker 1: cultivation of parasocial relationships with fans that went far beyond
• 57:05
  Speaker 1: traditional artistic fan dynamics. My life just turned on. It's
• 57:08
  Speaker 1: Taylor Swift in the room with me. What's happening? I mean, no,
• 57:11
  Speaker 1: ill Will. I'm just saying, like, how boss, babe?
• 57:13
  Speaker 2: You I right now?
• 57:14
  Speaker 1: I'm sorry. But she scaled these relationships with her fans
• 57:18
  Speaker 1: to accommodate millions of followers while still treating everyone like friends.
• 57:23
  Speaker 1: And it's a contradiction that required sophisticated emotional management systems.
• 57:27
  Speaker 1: So the fan cultivation strategy utilized multiple channels to create
• 57:31
  Speaker 1: different types of intimacy. So there was social media that
• 57:35
  Speaker 1: provided daily communication that created the impression of an ongoing relationship,
• 57:39
  Speaker 1: while secret messages hidden in album liner notes rewarded detailed
• 57:43
  Speaker 1: the tension with insider information. And these techniques just create
• 57:47
  Speaker 1: a multi layered engagement that reward different levels of fan
• 57:51
  Speaker 1: investment while making casual listeners feel welcomed into the community.
• 57:55
  Speaker 1: She's like building this whole world for her fan base.
• 57:59
  Speaker 1: That's like from an outsider looking in and you're like, Okay,
• 58:02
  Speaker 1: but I get that it's like fun, Like it's a
• 58:05
  Speaker 1: She's created a very fun universe, and I don't think
• 58:10
  Speaker 1: that's bad in any way. She just is like the
• 58:13
  Speaker 1: Queen of capitalization, like capitalizing in every single facet of
• 58:19
  Speaker 1: her life. And it's like wow, what. But fans who
• 58:24
  Speaker 1: invested time into coding messages, analyzing lyrics, and participating in
• 58:28
  Speaker 1: onlike communities developed emotional stakes and Swift's success that translated
• 58:32
  Speaker 1: into reliable purchasing behavior and organic marketing through word of
• 58:36
  Speaker 1: mouth promotion, and the result was a self sustaining promotional
• 58:40
  Speaker 1: ecosystem that reduced marketing costs while creating more authentic promotion
• 58:44
  Speaker 1: that traditional advertising just can't Achieave. So this fan relationship
• 58:49
  Speaker 1: infrastructure would prove crucial as Taylor Swift's career evolved, and
• 58:53
  Speaker 1: the deep emotional connections established during this period created a
• 58:57
  Speaker 1: fan base willing to follow her through genre transitions, industry controversies,
• 59:02
  Speaker 1: and personal evolution that might have alienated more casually engaged audiences,
• 59:08
  Speaker 1: especially living in the cancel culture that we do live
• 59:11
  Speaker 1: in right now. She is like, by far the most
• 59:14
  Speaker 1: devoted fan base in history. I like nobody even comes close.
• 59:21
  Speaker 1: And it's to a degree where it's like, so what,
• 59:25
  Speaker 1: I don't know, like not that anybody needs to be canceled,
• 59:28
  Speaker 1: but like what would it take like or like where's
• 59:32
  Speaker 1: where's the line? I guess I think that line is
• 59:36
  Speaker 1: blurred for Taylor Swift, for a lot of people, and
• 59:40
  Speaker 1: and it just makes me think back to you know,
• 59:43
  Speaker 1: what media presents itself as and what you're willing to
• 59:47
  Speaker 1: believe and like not read into and all this stuff.
• 59:49
  Speaker 1: I think it's important for people to take everything they
• 59:53
  Speaker 1: see and hear with the grain of salt. Even me
• 59:55
  Speaker 1: right now, I hope that you go and do your
• 59:58
  Speaker 1: own research and every everything and you make your own opinions.
• 1:00:02
  Speaker 1: I'm just a stupid YouTuber, what do I know. So
• 1:00:04
  Speaker 1: by twenty twelve, Swift had created not just a fan base,
• 1:00:07
  Speaker 1: but a cultural movement organized around personal identification with her
• 1:00:10
  Speaker 1: music and public persona, a foundation that would support increasingly
• 1:00:14
  Speaker 1: ambitious career moves into the decade to follow. So, as
• 1:00:18
  Speaker 1: we know, Taylor Swift has engineered a revolutionary business model
• 1:00:22
  Speaker 1: that transforms personal relationships into a multi billion dollar empire,
• 1:00:26
  Speaker 1: generating an estimated two billion dollars in revenue directly attributable
• 1:00:31
  Speaker 1: to relationship inspired content, while fundamentally reshaping how celebrity romance
• 1:00:36
  Speaker 1: drives commercial success. And since two thousand and eight, Swift
• 1:00:39
  Speaker 1: has systematically monetized seventeen years of high profile relationships through
• 1:00:44
  Speaker 1: strategic album releases, calculated media manipulation, and sophisticated narrative control
• 1:00:50
  Speaker 1: that has redefined the entertainment industry's approach to personal branding
• 1:00:55
  Speaker 1: and the calculated timeline of love and profit. Swift's relationship
• 1:00:59
  Speaker 1: strategy again with her two thousand and eight breakup with
• 1:01:02
  Speaker 1: Joe Jonahs via a twenty seven second phone call, a
• 1:01:06
  Speaker 1: detail she leveraged across multiple media appearances, just as her
• 1:01:10
  Speaker 1: album Fearless launched conveniently in November two thousand and eight.
• 1:01:14
  Speaker 1: But this basically established her template, and that's transform personal
• 1:01:20
  Speaker 1: pain into commercial gold. And I'm just going to preface
• 1:01:25
  Speaker 1: this by saying, she's an artist. What you do when
• 1:01:29
  Speaker 1: you're an artist is take personal life experiences and then
• 1:01:32
  Speaker 1: put them into your art. I get that I make
• 1:01:36
  Speaker 1: comedy sketches about my just unhinged family. That's what I
• 1:01:40
  Speaker 1: built my career on because that's what I experienced, and
• 1:01:42
  Speaker 1: that I put it over here. You know, that's fine,
• 1:01:46
  Speaker 1: that's fine. It's just it is. It is the timing.
• 1:01:49
  Speaker 1: You literally cannot argue the timing of all those stuff.
• 1:01:54
  Speaker 1: How it's like the ultimate capitalization of breakups. And it's
• 1:02:02
  Speaker 1: you know, it is what it is. Whatever. You know,
• 1:02:04
  Speaker 1: it's fine, and it's not like it's a mystery. Like
• 1:02:06
  Speaker 1: I think every Tea Swizzle fan knows more than me
• 1:02:10
  Speaker 1: in this in this capacity, and it doesn't matter to
• 1:02:14
  Speaker 1: them whatsoever. I just think it's so interesting from like
• 1:02:17
  Speaker 1: just a marketing perspective. How like the mind of Taylor
• 1:02:22
  Speaker 1: Swift works, and this pattern continued with remarkable consistency across
• 1:02:27
  Speaker 1: her early relationships, because her brief romance with Taylor Latner
• 1:02:30
  Speaker 1: in two thousand and nine created the Taylor Squared phenomenon,
• 1:02:34
  Speaker 1: generating cross demographic appeal between her country audience and his
• 1:02:38
  Speaker 1: Twilight fan base aka me, Okay, I loved Twilight. I
• 1:02:42
  Speaker 1: loved Twilight. Okay, I was there. I was like, Okay,
• 1:02:44
  Speaker 1: this is cool, this is cute. And when John Mayer
• 1:02:47
  Speaker 1: ended their controversial relationship in February of twenty ten, Swift
• 1:02:51
  Speaker 1: channeled the experience into Dear John, a scathing seven minute
• 1:02:55
  Speaker 1: track that mayor later called cheap songwriting and that miliated
• 1:03:00
  Speaker 1: him out and controversy that helped Speak Now sell around
• 1:03:06
  Speaker 1: half a million copies a little bit more in the
• 1:03:08
  Speaker 1: first week, and the Jake Gillenhall relationship from October twenty
• 1:03:12
  Speaker 1: ten to January twenty eleven provided Swift's most enduring commercial asset,
• 1:03:17
  Speaker 1: and their three month romance generated all too well, which
• 1:03:20
  Speaker 1: became a cultural phenomenon when she released the ten minute
• 1:03:24
  Speaker 1: version in twenty twenty one, accumulating over one billion Spotify
• 1:03:29
  Speaker 1: streams what if it is That number and winning a
• 1:03:32
  Speaker 1: Grammy for its accompanying short film. So the strategic re release
• 1:03:36
  Speaker 1: demonstrated Swift's ability to monetize past relationships multiple times and
• 1:03:42
  Speaker 1: read Taylor's version earned one point five six million equivalent
• 1:03:47
  Speaker 1: album units in six months versus three hundred and fifty
• 1:03:50
  Speaker 1: one thousand for the original, and her twenty twelve fleing
• 1:03:53
  Speaker 1: with Connor Kennedy I Don't even Know Who that is?
• 1:03:56
  Speaker 1: Who Is brought American Royalty associations, while her relationship with
• 1:04:00
  Speaker 1: Harry Styles that same year created the Haler phenomenon, inspiring
• 1:04:04
  Speaker 1: multiple tracks. On nineteen eighty nine, her best selling album
• 1:04:08
  Speaker 1: with fourteen point three million copies sold worldwide Crazy Dude.
• 1:04:12
  Speaker 1: So this evolution continued through her longest public relationship with
• 1:04:15
  Speaker 1: Calvin Harris from March twenty fifteen to June twenty sixteen,
• 1:04:20
  Speaker 1: during which she secretly co wrote his hit This Is
• 1:04:23
  Speaker 1: What You Came For under the pseudonym Nils Joeberg, and
• 1:04:27
  Speaker 1: the controversial revelation of her involvement post breakup demonstrated her
• 1:04:32
  Speaker 1: hit making power even when anonymous girl can write song,
• 1:04:35
  Speaker 1: and Tom Hidlston's three month Hittleswift romance in twenty sixteen
• 1:04:40
  Speaker 1: served as what fans later called a getaway car relationship,
• 1:04:44
  Speaker 1: providing maximum media coverage during her reputational crisis with Kim
• 1:04:48
  Speaker 1: Kardashian and Kanye West, with the infamous is Tank Top
• 1:04:53
  Speaker 1: photos dominating news cycles precisely when Swift needed distraction from
• 1:04:57
  Speaker 1: negative press and the privacy pivot and creative collaboration Joe
• 1:05:02
  Speaker 1: Alwyn represented Swift's strategic pivot to privacy from September twenty
• 1:05:07
  Speaker 1: sixteen to April twenty twenty three, and this six and
• 1:05:10
  Speaker 1: a half year relationship coincided with her most critically acclaimed work,
• 1:05:14
  Speaker 1: with Alwyn co writing songs under the pseudonym William Bowery
• 1:05:18
  Speaker 1: across multiple albums, even winning a Grammy for Folklore, and
• 1:05:22
  Speaker 1: the privacy strategy itself became marketable content in Lavender. Hayes
• 1:05:27
  Speaker 1: from Midnights explicitly addressed protecting their relationship from public scrutiny,
• 1:05:31
  Speaker 1: which fair enough, and their breakup timing in April twenty
• 1:05:35
  Speaker 1: twenty three, just as the Aras tour launched, appeared strategically
• 1:05:40
  Speaker 1: collaborated to maximize tour emotional residents, which you know, it
• 1:05:44
  Speaker 1: all seems like, no, it just just happened like that.
• 1:05:48
  Speaker 1: It's like, at this point, guys, guys, let's just be real.
• 1:05:53
  Speaker 1: And that brings us to Travis kelce Okay, the thing
• 1:05:57
  Speaker 1: that everyone's talking about right now, because Travis Kelcey's a
• 1:06:00
  Speaker 1: in September of twenty twenty three initiated Swift's most financially
• 1:06:04
  Speaker 1: lucrative relationship era, and their romance has generated over one
• 1:06:10
  Speaker 1: billion dollars in equivalent brand value for the NFL and
• 1:06:14
  Speaker 1: increased female viewership by at least nine percent and help
• 1:06:18
  Speaker 1: drive Chief games to their highest ratings since twenty fifteen.
• 1:06:22
  Speaker 1: And the recent Super Bowl broadcast featuring Swift drew one
• 1:06:26
  Speaker 1: hundred and twenty three point seven million viewers, the highest
• 1:06:31
  Speaker 1: since the nineteen sixty nine Moon landing, with twenty percent
• 1:06:36
  Speaker 1: of viewers reporting that they rooted for the Chiefs because
• 1:06:41
  Speaker 1: of the Swift Kelsey relationship, which is uncomprehensible. It's actually insane,
• 1:06:47
  Speaker 1: like to have that amount of influence, like she I
• 1:06:51
  Speaker 1: don't even know, like she could just like get on
• 1:06:53
  Speaker 1: TV and be like, you guys need to do this,
• 1:06:55
  Speaker 1: and then she could. I think she could dig over
• 1:06:57
  Speaker 1: the world. Like it's actually crazy. It's impressive. It is impressive.
• 1:07:02
  Speaker 1: And I'm also not saying that any of her relationships
• 1:07:04
  Speaker 1: weren't legitimate. I think I think that they were. She
• 1:07:08
  Speaker 1: just knew how to capitalize on them. Ending you know,
• 1:07:12
  Speaker 1: because we all love screaming about idiot duds. Who doesn't
• 1:07:16
  Speaker 1: you know, I totally get that. And the thing that's
• 1:07:18
  Speaker 1: like swirling around TikTok obviously, and like the big controversy
• 1:07:23
  Speaker 1: is that the album rollout, her newest album rollout was
• 1:07:27
  Speaker 1: her she got engaged like two weeks ago orright now
• 1:07:30
  Speaker 1: posting this like three weeks ago, and she posted about
• 1:07:34
  Speaker 1: the engagement two weeks after and that was during her
• 1:07:37
  Speaker 1: album rollout, which, as we see, because it's a pattern.
• 1:07:41
  Speaker 1: It is during a big relationship thing in her life,
• 1:07:46
  Speaker 1: and also the NFL season is coming up. Also, Travis
• 1:07:50
  Speaker 1: Kelcey is coming out with an American Eagle line as well,
• 1:07:54
  Speaker 1: So it all just kind of perfectly lines up, and
• 1:07:56
  Speaker 1: that is by design. You cannot you literally you cannot
• 1:08:01
  Speaker 1: argue that it is a strategic marketing thing, which is fine,
• 1:08:05
  Speaker 1: but it's just like, ah, when it feels so manufactured,
• 1:08:10
  Speaker 1: I just I have a hard time but being like,
• 1:08:13
  Speaker 1: I don't know, emotionally involved, because I know that it's
• 1:08:16
  Speaker 1: just a ploy basically. Like I'm not saying the relationship
• 1:08:19
  Speaker 1: isn't real. I think it seems pretty real, you know.
• 1:08:22
  Speaker 1: And I hope that they have love and that all
• 1:08:25
  Speaker 1: this business doesn't affect them too much. But I mean
• 1:08:28
  Speaker 1: they're profiting off of it exponentially in more ways than one.
• 1:08:33
  Speaker 1: So yeah, it's like there's a lot of stuff on TikTok,
• 1:08:38
  Speaker 1: and it's interesting to see each side. It's hard to
• 1:08:41
  Speaker 1: argue that it's not just all a big marketing thing,
• 1:08:44
  Speaker 1: and the timing is a bit suspicious basically, But I digress.
• 1:08:48
  Speaker 1: So she's just like monetizing heartbreak through strategic disclosure. Wow, Okay, yeah,
• 1:08:54
  Speaker 1: fair enough. Swift business model transforms emotional experiences into diversified
• 1:08:59
  Speaker 1: revenue stream and her relationship inspired songs consistently outperform other
• 1:09:04
  Speaker 1: tracks like Cruel Summer has accumulated two point six billion
• 1:09:08
  Speaker 1: Spotify streams, while relationship albums generate premium tour demand, and
• 1:09:13
  Speaker 1: the Eras tour, heavily featuring relationship narratives across all eras,
• 1:09:17
  Speaker 1: has grossed two point zero seven seven billion dollars in
• 1:09:21
  Speaker 1: ticket sales alone. That is an insane number, with Swift
• 1:09:26
  Speaker 1: netting an estimated five to six million per show, so
• 1:09:30
  Speaker 1: the monetization extends beyond direct sales through sophisticated easter egg
• 1:09:34
  Speaker 1: marketing that cultivates fans theories and maintains engagement between releases
• 1:09:38
  Speaker 1: and Swift's strategic song placements ensure relationship tracks become lead
• 1:09:43
  Speaker 1: singles and tour highlights, and her re recording strategy allows
• 1:09:47
  Speaker 1: multiple monetization cycles as well. With All Too Well, a
• 1:09:51
  Speaker 1: ten minute version dominated consumption with sixty two percent of
• 1:09:56
  Speaker 1: streams and seventy eight percent of downloads for the re
• 1:09:58
  Speaker 1: released album and concert merchandise tied to the relationship themes
• 1:10:02
  Speaker 1: generates additional revenue with the aras tour alone, producing an
• 1:10:06
  Speaker 1: estimated two hundred million in merchandise sales, again, which is
• 1:10:10
  Speaker 1: just these numbers are crazy. An album release timing follows
• 1:10:15
  Speaker 1: predictable pattern tied to relationship cycles because major breakups consistently
• 1:10:20
  Speaker 1: precede album launches. Jillenhall's breakup preceded, Red Styles preceded nineteen
• 1:10:25
  Speaker 1: eighty nine, Harris and Hilston preceded reputation, and Alwin preceded
• 1:10:30
  Speaker 1: the Tortured Poets Department, Chess test test, test tests, and
• 1:10:34
  Speaker 1: strategic timing maximizes emotional authenticity while ensuring peak commercial performance.
• 1:10:39
  Speaker 1: So Swift's team coordinates relationship announcements with tour schedules, award shows,
• 1:10:44
  Speaker 1: and promotional cycles to maintain constant media presence, and this
• 1:10:48
  Speaker 1: Travis Kelcey phenomenon reshapes sports entertainment all together because the
• 1:10:53
  Speaker 1: Kelsey relationship represents Swift's most sophisticated cross industry value creation.
• 1:10:58
  Speaker 1: Because since Swift's first Chief's Get attendance, the NFL has
• 1:11:01
  Speaker 1: experienced unpress attented growth in female viewership, with Teamgirls showing
• 1:11:06
  Speaker 1: a fifty three percent spike from season average and women
• 1:11:09
  Speaker 1: eighteen to forty nine increasing sixty three percent during Swift
• 1:11:13
  Speaker 1: attended games, and Kelsey jerseysales spiked four hundred percent after
• 1:11:18
  Speaker 1: Swift's first appearance, while his Instagram following increased by two
• 1:11:22
  Speaker 1: and a half million, and the Chief franchise gained three
• 1:11:25
  Speaker 1: hundred and thirty one point five million dollars in equivalent
• 1:11:28
  Speaker 1: brand value, with secondary market ticket prices jumping one hundred
• 1:11:32
  Speaker 1: and seventy five percent on stub Hub. She's like a
• 1:11:35
  Speaker 1: superpower for the NFL, and I assume unintentionally she's just
• 1:11:41
  Speaker 1: with the guy, but her influence is absolutely insane. But
• 1:11:45
  Speaker 1: the relationship's authenticity remains debated, and that's kind of what
• 1:11:49
  Speaker 1: came from this whole idea of making this video, because
• 1:11:52
  Speaker 1: it's like it's all manufactured and then everybody's like, she
• 1:11:55
  Speaker 1: just wants to love, and I think I think it's
• 1:11:57
  Speaker 1: a mix of both. I think it's love, but then
• 1:12:00
  Speaker 1: there's strategy in it as well. You can't argue that
• 1:12:04
  Speaker 1: because there's conspiracy theorists which I don't even think it's conspiracy,
• 1:12:07
  Speaker 1: citing suspicious timing with both the Eras Tour and NFL season.
• 1:12:11
  Speaker 1: Because the mutual benefits are undeniable, Swift gained access to
• 1:12:16
  Speaker 1: a massive new demographic while the NFL achieved its long
• 1:12:19
  Speaker 1: sought female audience expansion and the Las Vegas Super Bowl
• 1:12:22
  Speaker 1: generated five hundred to seven hundred million dollars in economic impact,
• 1:12:26
  Speaker 1: but the hotel rates two point six times higher than
• 1:12:28
  Speaker 1: the previous year's location. So who's who's behind this the glass?
• 1:12:32
  Speaker 1: You know, obviously Taylor Swift's a big part of it,
• 1:12:35
  Speaker 1: but was who was involved in all this? Because it
• 1:12:38
  Speaker 1: can't just be her? And that's when Tree Pain's premium
• 1:12:41
  Speaker 1: PR agency comes in, which is her publicist, And according
• 1:12:45
  Speaker 1: to NYC paparazzo Justin Stefman, Swift maintains quote unquote unspoken
• 1:12:51
  Speaker 1: deals with paparazzi ensuring she won't quote unquote won't walk
• 1:12:57
  Speaker 1: outside without perfect makeup and smile at every paparazzi to
• 1:13:01
  Speaker 1: make sure they are getting beautiful pictures. Unquip An industry
• 1:13:05
  Speaker 1: insiders confirmed that her twenty sixteen Tom Hiddleston beach photos
• 1:13:09
  Speaker 1: were staged to divert attention from the Kanye West controversy,
• 1:13:12
  Speaker 1: with the same agency capturing exclusive moments across multiple states,
• 1:13:17
  Speaker 1: and the legal infrastructure protecting this empire includes comprehensive NDAs
• 1:13:22
  Speaker 1: for all employees and associates, which is normal when you're
• 1:13:25
  Speaker 1: a public persona to have a bunch of NDAs for people.
• 1:13:28
  Speaker 1: I don't Jay can do whatever he wants. He's not
• 1:13:31
  Speaker 1: signed an NDA. Don't tell them, Jay, I'm just kidding
• 1:13:33
  Speaker 1: out of I don't even know what he would say.
• 1:13:35
  Speaker 1: You can say whatever you want. Uh, who wants a
• 1:13:38
  Speaker 1: compilation of Chris farts? She's on camera. Got lots of those,
• 1:13:43
  Speaker 1: but over four hundred trademark filings across sixteen jurisdictions and
• 1:13:47
  Speaker 1: strategic copyright protections. So Swift's team trades exclusive access with
• 1:13:52
  Speaker 1: outlets like People Magazine and Entertainment Tonight for a favorable
• 1:13:55
  Speaker 1: coverage while maintaining what journalists describe as America's most beloved
• 1:14:00
  Speaker 1: in media's most feared pr operation. So social media strategy
• 1:14:04
  Speaker 1: involves calculated platforms specific approaches from Instagram aesthetic curation to
• 1:14:10
  Speaker 1: TikTok Easter egg cultivation with complete social media clearing marking
• 1:14:15
  Speaker 1: era transitions, and each relationship aligns with specific album aesthetics
• 1:14:20
  Speaker 1: and business cycles, from color coordination to thematic consistency across platforms,
• 1:14:25
  Speaker 1: and relationship announcements typically occur six to twelve months before
• 1:14:29
  Speaker 1: album releases, while breakups frequently coincide with album completion, Award
• 1:14:33
  Speaker 1: show appearances, tour announcements, and documentary releases all coordinate with
• 1:14:38
  Speaker 1: relationship timeline to maximize commercial impact. And I didn't. I mean,
• 1:14:42
  Speaker 1: I knew it a little bit, but like looking into it,
• 1:14:44
  Speaker 1: I'm like my brain exploded, Like this is like again,
• 1:14:49
  Speaker 1: it's forty chess. Taylors was playing forty chess and we're
• 1:14:52
  Speaker 1: all playing checkers. Okay, That's that's what this video is about.
• 1:14:55
  Speaker 1: And at the end of the day, I mean, again,
• 1:14:57
  Speaker 1: you can hater or lover or whatever, and I'm like,
• 1:15:00
  Speaker 1: I'm kind of impartial. I guess I don't know. It's
• 1:15:05
  Speaker 1: like reading into her past. It's concerning to see who
• 1:15:10
  Speaker 1: raised her and what she was brought up in and
• 1:15:14
  Speaker 1: what she was nurtured into being. So it did that
• 1:15:19
  Speaker 1: father relationship transfer, like the father's business mentality transfer to her.
• 1:15:25
  Speaker 1: It seems as though it has. Does that mean she's
• 1:15:28
  Speaker 1: not a moral good person? I know, but that's not
• 1:15:31
  Speaker 1: for me to decide. I was just very curious about
• 1:15:34
  Speaker 1: this and there's so much into it, and I'm sure
• 1:15:36
  Speaker 1: there's swifties watching this video. Hopefully I'm not offending any
• 1:15:40
  Speaker 1: of you. It's by design, and it's okay to love
• 1:15:44
  Speaker 1: someone and to appreciate their artistry and to have fun
• 1:15:47
  Speaker 1: with Easter eggs and all that kind of stuff. There's
• 1:15:49
  Speaker 1: nothing wrong with that. I think what it is is
• 1:15:51
  Speaker 1: just being able to separate yourself from that, from artists,
• 1:15:55
  Speaker 1: from YouTubers, from celebrity and just you know, being able
• 1:16:02
  Speaker 1: to establish difference and not making somebody else's life impact yours,
• 1:16:06
  Speaker 1: especially when that someone's life is curated to the nth degree,
• 1:16:10
  Speaker 1: Like everything you see is exactly what you're supposed to see,
• 1:16:14
  Speaker 1: just like the government and politics and all this stuff
• 1:16:16
  Speaker 1: going on in the world. So it's kind of a
• 1:16:18
  Speaker 1: video about just approach the world and everything you consume
• 1:16:22
  Speaker 1: with a grainess basically. But Taylor Swift's relationship industrial Complex
• 1:16:28
  Speaker 1: just represents the ultimate convergence of personal narrative and commercial strategy,
• 1:16:34
  Speaker 1: generating billions through sophisticated curation of media cycles and fan
• 1:16:40
  Speaker 1: engagement and cross industry value creation, and by transforming those
• 1:16:43
  Speaker 1: genuine emotions into calculated content while maintaining perceived authenticity, Swift
• 1:16:49
  Speaker 1: has created an unprecedented business model where heartbreak consistency generates
• 1:16:55
  Speaker 1: profit and privacy becomes marketable mystery, and every single relation
• 1:17:00
  Speaker 1: relationship serves multiple strategic purposes. And this systemic approach is
• 1:17:04
  Speaker 1: not only revolutionized celebrity relationship coverage, but established a new
• 1:17:09
  Speaker 1: paradigm where personal life becomes intellectual property and emotional experiences
• 1:17:15
  Speaker 1: drive quarterly earnings, and love itself becomes a renewable commercial
• 1:17:21
  Speaker 1: resource worth billions to shareholders across multiple industries. I mean
• 1:17:26
  Speaker 1: there's also conflicts and origins a trace back to Swift's
• 1:17:30
  Speaker 1: twenty eighteen departure from Big Machine, where she had recorded
• 1:17:34
  Speaker 1: six albums that generated over four hundred million dollars in revenue.
• 1:17:38
  Speaker 1: But her decision to leave wasn't just a spontaneous artistic
• 1:17:42
  Speaker 1: liberation but a very calculated business maneuver after negotiations for
• 1:17:47
  Speaker 1: ownership of her master recordings failed and Scott Borchetta's refusal
• 1:17:52
  Speaker 1: to sell her the master's outright instead offering her the
• 1:17:56
  Speaker 1: ability to earn one album back for each new album
• 1:18:00
  Speaker 1: just represented standard industry practice that Swift strategically reframed as
• 1:18:05
  Speaker 1: unprecedented exploitation. So when Braun's like A Holdings acquired Big
• 1:18:10
  Speaker 1: Machine in June of twenty nineteen, Swift deployed a media
• 1:18:13
  Speaker 1: strategy that transformed a routine business transaction into a moral crusade,
• 1:18:19
  Speaker 1: and her tumbler post declaring she was sad and grossed
• 1:18:22
  Speaker 1: out generated eight hundred and fifty thousand likes within twenty
• 1:18:25
  Speaker 1: four hours and triggered a coordinated harassment campaign against Braun
• 1:18:29
  Speaker 1: that included death threats to his family, and the narrative
• 1:18:32
  Speaker 1: conveniently omitted that her father, Scott Swift, profited approximately fifteen
• 1:18:38
  Speaker 1: million dollars from his stake in the sale of the company,
• 1:18:42
  Speaker 1: a detail that very much complicated her victimization narrative. So
• 1:18:46
  Speaker 1: the re recording strategy, announced as Taylor's Version, represented a
• 1:18:50
  Speaker 1: genius level business warfare disguised as artistic reclamation, and by
• 1:18:56
  Speaker 1: re recording her first six albums, Swift created competings that
• 1:19:00
  Speaker 1: devalued Bronze three hundred million dollar investment while generating new
• 1:19:04
  Speaker 1: revenue streams estimated five hundred million dollars. So this strategy,
• 1:19:09
  Speaker 1: without a doubt, weaponized her fan base as loyalty, with
• 1:19:13
  Speaker 1: Swifties organizing boycotts of the original recordings and streaming parties
• 1:19:17
  Speaker 1: for the new versions that manipulated chart positions and licensing values.
• 1:19:22
  Speaker 1: Sorry the cameras went out and now it's a different day,
• 1:19:25
  Speaker 1: and I cut my bangs. But let's get let's get
• 1:19:28
  Speaker 1: right back into it. And Taylor Swift's business empire extends
• 1:19:31
  Speaker 1: far beyond music sales into a sophisticated network of companies,
• 1:19:35
  Speaker 1: real estate holdings, and investment vehicles that generate well through
• 1:19:39
  Speaker 1: multiple interconnected streams, and her touring operation has revolutionized concert economics,
• 1:19:46
  Speaker 1: as we've seen with the Eras Tour official growth of
• 1:19:49
  Speaker 1: two billion dollars two billion, seventy seven million some mod
• 1:19:55
  Speaker 1: whatever around two point two billion, representing ticket sales from
• 1:20:00
  Speaker 1: one hundred and forty nine shows to over ten million attendees,
• 1:20:04
  Speaker 1: making it history's highest grossing tour, which is wild and
• 1:20:08
  Speaker 1: the tour's pricing strategy involved face value ranging from forty
• 1:20:12
  Speaker 1: nine dollars to four hundred and ninety nine dollars, with
• 1:20:15
  Speaker 1: Swift notably refusing dynamic pricing. However, limited supply drove resale
• 1:20:21
  Speaker 1: prices to average thirty eight one hundred dollars per ticket
• 1:20:25
  Speaker 1: according to ticket iq data from July twenty twenty three,
• 1:20:29
  Speaker 1: which was a two thousand, three hundred and twenty one
• 1:20:32
  Speaker 1: percent increase from her twenty eighteen tour. That is on
• 1:20:38
  Speaker 1: that is mind blowing. That is mind boggling. And the
• 1:20:42
  Speaker 1: verified fan presale system while collecting extensive user data for
• 1:20:47
  Speaker 1: marketing purposes, which a lot of people do.
• 1:20:50
  Speaker 2: I know this.
• 1:20:50
  Speaker 1: A lot of people made a big deal, but they're like,
• 1:20:52
  Speaker 1: they're collecting our data and everything, but it is it
• 1:20:55
  Speaker 1: is just common practice in the industry. But they also
• 1:20:58
  Speaker 1: faced genuine technical challenges. Three point five million people registered
• 1:21:02
  Speaker 1: amid bot traffic at three times normal level, and whether
• 1:21:06
  Speaker 1: the system primarily served anti fraud purposes or for data
• 1:21:10
  Speaker 1: collection remains debatable, because the big thing was that they're
• 1:21:14
  Speaker 1: collecting data on who who spends the most money and
• 1:21:18
  Speaker 1: then they target those specific fans. And then there's her
• 1:21:22
  Speaker 1: real estate portfolio, which is verified at over one hundred
• 1:21:25
  Speaker 1: and fifty million dollars. Dude, I can't get over these
• 1:21:29
  Speaker 1: numbers by multiple sources, including Forbes and Wall Street Journal,
• 1:21:33
  Speaker 1: with holdings in Nashville, Beverly Hills, Rhode Island, and New
• 1:21:36
  Speaker 1: York's Tribeca. And regarding aviation, Swift currently owns one day
• 1:21:41
  Speaker 1: Salt Falcon seven X valued at fifty four million dollars,
• 1:21:46
  Speaker 1: and she did have two at one time, but she
• 1:21:48
  Speaker 1: got a lot of flak for that, So she did
• 1:21:51
  Speaker 1: sell one of her day Salt Falcon nine hundreds in
• 1:21:54
  Speaker 1: January of twenty twenty four, and the eight two hundred
• 1:21:57
  Speaker 1: and ninety three tons of CO two emissions figure from
• 1:22:00
  Speaker 1: Yard Digital Marketing's July twenty twenty two reports covered only
• 1:22:05
  Speaker 1: January through July nineteenth, not even the full years. And
• 1:22:10
  Speaker 1: that's what everybody's like really pissed about, is that her
• 1:22:13
  Speaker 1: CO two emissions are like more than over one thousand
• 1:22:17
  Speaker 1: people in a year's time. But Swift's representatives dispute this attribution,
• 1:22:22
  Speaker 1: stating the jets are loaned out regularly and that attributing
• 1:22:26
  Speaker 1: all flights to her is blatantly incorrect, So do with
• 1:22:31
  Speaker 1: that what you will. And the merchandise empire generated one
• 1:22:34
  Speaker 1: hundred and thirty two million dollars from just fifty three
• 1:22:37
  Speaker 1: US eras tour shows in twenty twenty three, according to Billboard,
• 1:22:41
  Speaker 1: with total tour merchandise reaching five hundred million dollars across
• 1:22:45
  Speaker 1: twenty twenty three and twenty twenty four, almost a billion,
• 1:22:49
  Speaker 1: like half half a billion dollars. That's crazy. And her
• 1:22:53
  Speaker 1: trademark portfolio is extremely extensive and verified, with over three
• 1:22:58
  Speaker 1: hundred US applications through TAS Rights Management, LLC, and four
• 1:23:03
  Speaker 1: hundred and thirty eight listings across sixteen jurisdictions in WIPO's database,
• 1:23:09
  Speaker 1: including confirmed trademarks such as Swift, miss and a girl
• 1:23:13
  Speaker 1: named Girl. And this represents very aggressive but legal intellectual
• 1:23:19
  Speaker 1: property protection standard among major entertainment brands. But she definitely
• 1:23:25
  Speaker 1: has like the most aggressive way of doing it, for sure.
• 1:23:29
  Speaker 1: But you know she has the right to do that.
• 1:23:31
  Speaker 1: And Taylor Swift's industry influence operates through documented legal actions
• 1:23:36
  Speaker 1: and media management strategies like in twenty seventeen, HBO writer
• 1:23:41
  Speaker 1: Eric Eedelstein claimed in a now deleted tweet that quote
• 1:23:46
  Speaker 1: Taylor's team would threaten to blacklist publications if they wrote
• 1:23:51
  Speaker 1: anything negative about her, unquote, and blacklisting is basically like
• 1:23:55
  Speaker 1: you are shunned from the industry. And this single anecdote,
• 1:24:00
  Speaker 1: while concerning, extremely concerning if true, does not constitute proof
• 1:24:06
  Speaker 1: of industry wide blacklisting. It's just something that's out there
• 1:24:10
  Speaker 1: that people love to speculate, but you know it's not proven.
• 1:24:13
  Speaker 1: And Taylor Swift's political evolution followed a specific timeline that
• 1:24:18
  Speaker 1: has generated speculation about her motivations because after maintaining political
• 1:24:22
  Speaker 1: silence throughout her entire career. She interestingly first endorsed political
• 1:24:28
  Speaker 1: candidates on October seventh, twenty eighteen, and some observers have
• 1:24:33
  Speaker 1: speculated this timing represents very calculated branding, which, as we've
• 1:24:37
  Speaker 1: seen through her whole career, is what she does. It's
• 1:24:40
  Speaker 1: what she was raised to do, noting it coincided with
• 1:24:45
  Speaker 1: shifting cultural expectations for celebrity activism, and we saw this
• 1:24:50
  Speaker 1: with a ton of celebrities. It's just like, Oh, that's
• 1:24:53
  Speaker 1: the popular thing to do right now, let me do that,
• 1:24:56
  Speaker 1: And it was like it came off disingenuine from a
• 1:24:58
  Speaker 1: lot of different people. I I haven't seen Taylor like
• 1:25:01
  Speaker 1: speak on it necessarily. I did see, you know, the
• 1:25:04
  Speaker 1: clip from her from her Americana documentary. I don't know
• 1:25:07
  Speaker 1: if she's spoken on it too much more. And I
• 1:25:09
  Speaker 1: think that's the issue with people. It's like she speaks
• 1:25:11
  Speaker 1: on it and then it's just never never heard from again.
• 1:25:14
  Speaker 1: It's just like it was just a thing that was
• 1:25:16
  Speaker 1: there that seemed like really good at the time, but
• 1:25:19
  Speaker 1: it's just not heard of anymore. So I think that's
• 1:25:20
  Speaker 1: people's issue with it. Because Swift stated in her twenty
• 1:25:23
  Speaker 1: twenty documentary and Miss Americana that personal factors influenced her silence,
• 1:25:28
  Speaker 1: so that was kind of her thing, like, that's why
• 1:25:30
  Speaker 1: I haven't spoken about it because I am having stuff
• 1:25:33
  Speaker 1: in my personal life where I don't want to speak
• 1:25:35
  Speaker 1: about politics, which whatever, you know, it's it's not for
• 1:25:39
  Speaker 1: me to say I don't know. And while Swift's business
• 1:25:42
  Speaker 1: practices maybe warrant scrutiny, and you could do that on
• 1:25:46
  Speaker 1: your own time, I'm not telling you what to think.
• 1:25:49
  Speaker 1: Her documented charitable giving represents substantial positive impact. She has
• 1:25:54
  Speaker 1: donated millions to disaster relief efforts, including a million to
• 1:25:58
  Speaker 1: Louisiana fled relief into sixteen, a million to Tennessee tornado
• 1:26:02
  Speaker 1: relief in twenty twenty, and five million for Hurricane Milton
• 1:26:05
  Speaker 1: and Helen relief in twenty twenty four. And her education
• 1:26:09
  Speaker 1: focused philanthropy includes four million dollars to the Country Music
• 1:26:12
  Speaker 1: Hall of Fame for the Taylor Swift Education Center, also
• 1:26:16
  Speaker 1: fifty thousand dollars to NYC's public schools, and funding for
• 1:26:20
  Speaker 1: literacy programs across the United States. And Swift has also
• 1:26:24
  Speaker 1: quietly paid off student loans for multiple fans, donated one
• 1:26:28
  Speaker 1: hundred and thirteen thousand dollars to Tennessee Equality Project to
• 1:26:31
  Speaker 1: fight anti LGBTQ legislation, and also gave one hundred thousand
• 1:26:35
  Speaker 1: dollars to the family of a woman killed in Kansas
• 1:26:37
  Speaker 1: City chief Super Bowl parade. And during the COVID nineteen pandemics,
• 1:26:41
  Speaker 1: she sent direct payments to numerous fans struggling financially, though
• 1:26:46
  Speaker 1: exact totals remain undisclosed, and she also donated to food
• 1:26:49
  Speaker 1: banks in every city on her tour stops, with Feeding
• 1:26:53
  Speaker 1: America confirming she quote made a significant donation unquote at
• 1:26:57
  Speaker 1: each location and that's all amazing, like in incredible. But
• 1:27:03
  Speaker 1: critics note her charitable giving, while substantial in absolute terms,
• 1:27:09
  Speaker 1: represents a small fraction of her one point six billion
• 1:27:12
  Speaker 1: dollar net worth, and the lack of formal foundation or
• 1:27:16
  Speaker 1: transparent giving structure makes it impossible to assess what percentage
• 1:27:20
  Speaker 1: of her wealth goes to philanthropy, and a lot of
• 1:27:23
  Speaker 1: donations align conspicuously with album releases or controversy management. When
• 1:27:31
  Speaker 1: you look at the time, it's like, oh, and that
• 1:27:34
  Speaker 1: just raises questions about whether philanthropy serves dual purposes of
• 1:27:38
  Speaker 1: genuine aid and reputation. Management. But nevertheless, her contributions have
• 1:27:43
  Speaker 1: provided tangible help to thousands of individuals and organizations, demonstrating
• 1:27:49
  Speaker 1: that the Swift Empire does direct some resources towards social
• 1:27:53
  Speaker 1: benefit beyond pure profit maximization. And I think that's wonderful.
• 1:27:58
  Speaker 1: It's really hard to look at the left berdies and
• 1:28:00
  Speaker 1: people that make a bunch of money and be like, well,
• 1:28:02
  Speaker 1: they're not spending enough, and it's like, well, I guess
• 1:28:05
  Speaker 1: we don't really know how much they're spending on it.
• 1:28:07
  Speaker 1: It's like we know what's in the public eye, and
• 1:28:09
  Speaker 1: maybe that is calculated because it's and it's hard. That's
• 1:28:13
  Speaker 1: the hard part of all this is like when you
• 1:28:15
  Speaker 1: look from day one, how her whole life is calculated.
• 1:28:18
  Speaker 1: It's like it's hard not to look at every single
• 1:28:21
  Speaker 1: aspect of her life and everything you see in the
• 1:28:23
  Speaker 1: media about her and not assume that an e it's
• 1:28:26
  Speaker 1: hard to not assume that that is also calculated. And
• 1:28:29
  Speaker 1: it's not just her or if it's her team telling
• 1:28:33
  Speaker 1: her she needs to donate to these people, you know,
• 1:28:35
  Speaker 1: it's that's I think that's what people struggle with, is
• 1:28:37
  Speaker 1: what I'm trying to say. I am not saying she's
• 1:28:40
  Speaker 1: a bad person. I think that is absolutely very selfless
• 1:28:44
  Speaker 1: and wonderful that she can give to so many different people.
• 1:28:47
  Speaker 1: That's like one of the things is the most important
• 1:28:50
  Speaker 1: thing to me is giving back. And I was raised
• 1:28:52
  Speaker 1: on those values and I hope that that's the case
• 1:28:55
  Speaker 1: for most people. And I could talk about this on
• 1:28:58
  Speaker 1: and on and on, but I that's like one of
• 1:28:59
  Speaker 1: the biggest arguments I hear. It's like, she has so
• 1:29:02
  Speaker 1: much money, she should be giving more money. And maybe
• 1:29:05
  Speaker 1: you're right. I don't know what the actual number is.
• 1:29:08
  Speaker 1: And I mean, let's.
• 1:29:09
  Speaker 2: Talk about it in the comments down below.
• 1:29:11
  Speaker 1: I'm curious to hear what you guys have to say.
• 1:29:12
  Speaker 1: But all in all, Swift has perfected the industrialization of intimacy,
• 1:29:18
  Speaker 1: transforming parasocial relationships from incidental fan behavior into deliberately engineered
• 1:29:25
  Speaker 1: profit center and her systemic cultivation of one sided emotional
• 1:29:29
  Speaker 1: bonds generates not just revenue, but also a defensive army
• 1:29:34
  Speaker 1: program to interpret any sort of criticism into a personal
• 1:29:38
  Speaker 1: attack and creating what psychologists describe as weaponized parasocial dependency.
• 1:29:44
  Speaker 1: I think that's also an argument that I'm hearing a
• 1:29:46
  Speaker 1: lot on social media. It's just like, you know, you
• 1:29:49
  Speaker 1: have your regular fans that are just like, I love
• 1:29:51
  Speaker 1: her music, it's awesome, and I think she's really cool,
• 1:29:54
  Speaker 1: and you know, she gives back all the step cool.
• 1:29:56
  Speaker 1: And then you have the far other side of the coin,
• 1:29:59
  Speaker 1: where it's just like everything that happens in her life
• 1:30:04
  Speaker 1: that affects your life in a way, and it's not good.
• 1:30:08
  Speaker 1: That's not good, that's not healthy. I wouldn't want that
• 1:30:11
  Speaker 1: for anybody that follows me, or for anybody that follows
• 1:30:13
  Speaker 1: I don't even know, Adele, I don't know. I'm trying
• 1:30:15
  Speaker 1: to think of artists raight out, like there needs to
• 1:30:18
  Speaker 1: be balance, and therapists even report increasing numbers of young
• 1:30:21
  Speaker 1: patients whose self worth depends entirely on Swift's approval and
• 1:30:26
  Speaker 1: who experience genuine grief when she changes musical directions, and
• 1:30:30
  Speaker 1: who spend money they don't have pursuing concert tickets and merchandise.
• 1:30:36
  Speaker 1: So the parasocial relationships Swift cultivates becomes a substitute for
• 1:30:41
  Speaker 1: real human connection, creating a generation more comfortable with analyzing
• 1:30:46
  Speaker 1: Instagram posts than developing real life relationships. And I think
• 1:30:51
  Speaker 1: I think that's where I'm coming from there. It's just
• 1:30:53
  Speaker 1: like I think we can all agree that that's not good,
• 1:30:56
  Speaker 1: Like why I wouldn't want my kid like putting their
• 1:30:59
  Speaker 1: whole worth into one person that they do not know
• 1:31:02
  Speaker 1: at all and whose life is strictly curated to be
• 1:31:07
  Speaker 1: exactly what you want them to see the best. You know,
• 1:31:09
  Speaker 1: Taylor Swift is a real person, and there's Taylor Swift,
• 1:31:13
  Speaker 1: and then there's public Taylor Swift and we know her,
• 1:31:15
  Speaker 1: and then this Taylor Swift. You know, hopefully she's a
• 1:31:18
  Speaker 1: wonderful person and she has a nice life behind the
• 1:31:22
  Speaker 1: camera and everything. But when you're raised up in this industry,
• 1:31:26
  Speaker 1: I think you just have to be this person over here,
• 1:31:29
  Speaker 1: and you can't take that person like seriously in you know,
• 1:31:33
  Speaker 1: like completely seriously, like you need to have some wiggle
• 1:31:36
  Speaker 1: room there where it's like, well, you know, she is
• 1:31:38
  Speaker 1: a performer. So anyway, I'm ranting a lot. So the
• 1:31:41
  Speaker 1: transformation of Swift's personal life into corporate product represents the
• 1:31:45
  Speaker 1: capitalization of the human experience, and every relationship, friendship and
• 1:31:50
  Speaker 1: family interaction becomes potential content. And I mean we see
• 1:31:54
  Speaker 1: that with everyday digital content with creators and with family channels.
• 1:32:00
  Speaker 1: Go gos really don't want to get me started. It's just
• 1:32:03
  Speaker 1: when does it end, you know, in in Unfolding this life,
• 1:32:08
  Speaker 1: it's like there's not a lot that's just for her,
• 1:32:10
  Speaker 1: it seems. And that's sad, honestly, because even former associates
• 1:32:14
  Speaker 1: describe contracts requiring approval for any public discussion of their
• 1:32:18
  Speaker 1: time with Taylor Swift, which just transforms human relationships into
• 1:32:23
  Speaker 1: intellectual property disputes, and it feels it's just inhuman. So
• 1:32:28
  Speaker 1: separating the artist from the business mogul reveals Taylor Swift
• 1:32:33
  Speaker 1: as perhaps the most sophisticated corporate executive in entertainment history.
• 1:32:38
  Speaker 1: And as Taylor's influence expands and her model evolves, we're
• 1:32:43
  Speaker 1: witnessing a transformation in how artists balance personal narrative with
• 1:32:48
  Speaker 1: commercial success. The Swift paradigm demonstrates that audiences increasingly value authenticity,
• 1:32:56
  Speaker 1: or at least its careful presentation, in their entertain meant
• 1:33:00
  Speaker 1: and artists now navigate between genuine self expression and strategic
• 1:33:06
  Speaker 1: brand management, between sharing their stories and protecting their privacy,
• 1:33:10
  Speaker 1: and between connecting with fans and maintaining professional boundaries. So
• 1:33:15
  Speaker 1: the question isn't whether Taylor Swift is a successful business woman.
• 1:33:18
  Speaker 1: That's undeniable. She is quite literally the most successful businesswoman
• 1:33:23
  Speaker 1: to ever exist. The question is how we, as consumers
• 1:33:27
  Speaker 1: and citizens want to engage with this new model of celebrity.
• 1:33:32
  Speaker 1: Taylor has shown that personal narratives can both be artistically
• 1:33:36
  Speaker 1: meaningful and commercially valuable, and she's proven that artists can
• 1:33:41
  Speaker 1: reclaim control of their work and build lasting empires as well.
• 1:33:45
  Speaker 1: And she's demonstrated that female artists can dominate industries traditionally
• 1:33:49
  Speaker 1: controlled by male executives, which like, fuck yeah, I'd love
• 1:33:53
  Speaker 1: to hear it. But this success also invites reflection. So
• 1:33:57
  Speaker 1: when does strategic storytelling cross into manipulation? And how do
• 1:34:03
  Speaker 1: we balance admiration for business savvy with concern for authentic
• 1:34:08
  Speaker 1: human connection? And can artists maintain genuine relationships while building
• 1:34:13
  Speaker 1: billion dollar brands? And these aren't just questions with easy answers.
• 1:34:17
  Speaker 1: That's like the furthest thing from it. I think they're
• 1:34:20
  Speaker 1: very hard answers, but they're worth asking as we navigate
• 1:34:24
  Speaker 1: an era where lines between art, commerce, and personal life
• 1:34:29
  Speaker 1: continue to blur, and in examining Taylor Swift's unprecedented success,
• 1:34:34
  Speaker 1: we see both the possibilities and the tensions of modern entertainment,
• 1:34:39
  Speaker 1: and our story reflects broader questions about authenticity, capitalism, and
• 1:34:44
  Speaker 1: connection in this digital age, and questions that extend far
• 1:34:49
  Speaker 1: beyond one artist's career to touch on how we all
• 1:34:51
  Speaker 1: navigate public and private selves in an increasingly documented world.
• 1:34:57
  Speaker 1: So whether we view Taylor Swift as a visionary who
• 1:35:02
  Speaker 1: democratized artist ownership and is it all around just girl
• 1:35:06
  Speaker 1: boss or as a master manipulator of parasocial relationships may
• 1:35:15
  Speaker 1: ultimately matter less than understanding the cultural moment that Taylor
• 1:35:19
  Speaker 1: Swift represents. And maybe the most important lesson from the
• 1:35:22
  Speaker 1: Taylor Swift phenomenon isn't about her at all, but maybe
• 1:35:28
  Speaker 1: it's about us. You know, what do we value, what
• 1:35:31
  Speaker 1: do we consume, and what's the kind of relationship we
• 1:35:34
  Speaker 1: want between art, celebrity, media and commerce in this really
• 1:35:41
  Speaker 1: fucked up day and age. I think that's where this
• 1:35:45
  Speaker 1: is all coming from. And this is a really long
• 1:35:47
  Speaker 1: video to get to this point, and I've been yapping
• 1:35:50
  Speaker 1: a lot, But do with that what you will. And
• 1:35:54
  Speaker 1: like I said, watch my content with a grain of salt.
• 1:35:57
  Speaker 1: Listening to celebrities and and artists and politicians just just
• 1:36:03
  Speaker 1: you can take it all in, but you yourself need
• 1:36:06
  Speaker 1: to make your own decisions and you don't put your
• 1:36:08
  Speaker 1: worth and someone else, and don't put all your eggs
• 1:36:12
  Speaker 1: in one basket, as my mom would say, because it's
• 1:36:15
  Speaker 1: important to be your own self and to find your
• 1:36:18
  Speaker 1: own self. And you can absolutely enjoy somebody's content, somebody's music,
• 1:36:24
  Speaker 1: as somebody's presence even But when it comes to putting
• 1:36:27
  Speaker 1: your whole self worth in it, I think I think
• 1:36:29
  Speaker 1: that's where the issue lies. I think it needs to
• 1:36:33
  Speaker 1: be a part of your life and not your entire life,
• 1:36:36
  Speaker 1: you know. So yeah, uh, Taylor Swift, can I have
• 1:36:39
  Speaker 1: ten bucks? I'm just kidding, just kidding.
• 1:36:42
  Speaker 2: I'm just kidding.
• 1:36:43
  Speaker 1: Anyway, I'm gonna go. Hopefully you guys enjoyed this video.
• 1:36:45
  Speaker 1: I appreciate you. Buy