An Honest Review of Taylor Swift's New Album, "The Tortured Poet's Department"
By now, I've expected almost everyone to have streamed Taylor Swift's new album: The Tortured Poet's Department. Thanks to Swifties, and those curious to see if the album was about ex Joe Alwyn or ex Matty Healy (hint: both). TTPD broke Spotify's streaming record in less than 12 hours. And then, two hours after the album released, she dropped a second installment...The girl never sleeps.
With 14 total albums, The Tortured Poet's Department is a bit of a stylistic shift from her previous release, Midnights. We're introduced to a heartbroken Swift, one who embodies vengeance and yearning through synth beats and biting lyrics. Her two features include Post Malone, on "Fortnight", and Florence and The Machine, on "Florida!!!" You can listen to the album here:
Produced alongside her go-to squad, Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dressner, Swift continues to challenge herself as an artist despite having conquered every accolade. While some songs lay flat (and maybe this has something to do with Antonoff's production methods), others shine as instantaneous classics amongst Swift's already impressive, groundbreaking discography.
The key takeaways from Taylor's insight on her past few years is that Matty Healy had a much bigger impact on Swift's story than we thought. We learn that Joe Alwyn cheated on Taylor in Orlando, Florida, and that's why the state is mentioned so often throughout. And, furthermore, we learn that she still hates Kim Kardashian.
While this may not be the best album in her extensive collection, there are a handful of gems that stand out. With 31 songs total, The Tortured Poet's Department can seem a bit redundant at times...and other times, Swift's voice is often drowned out by stylistic beat choices and synths that don't make much sense.
The fire for Swift burns bright throughout the world, but it's important to note that she's constantly churning out music. To be in creator-mode 24/7 means that not every song is going to be their best work...It's statistically impossible, but Taylor will fare well nonetheless.
This isn't your average album review, so I won't delve into every song and lyric that may mean something...but here's your essential rundown:
Popdust Hits: "Florida!!!", "But Daddy I Love Him", "Who's Afraid Of Little Old Me", "My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys"
Popdust Misses: "Down Bad", "The Tortured Poets Department", "I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)", "loml"
Songs About Joe Alwyn: "Florida!!!", "So Long, London", "loml", "I Can Do It With A Broken Heart", "How Did It End?"
Songs About Matty Healy: "The Tortured Poets Department", "Guilty As Sin?", "Down Bad", "Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus", "The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived", "I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)"
Songs About Travis Kelce: "So High School", "The Alchemy"
Songs About Kim Kardashian: "thanK you aIMee"
Actually, Spotify Does Pay Their Artists
After Universal Music Group, the largest record label in the industry, took all their artists' music off TikTok after failure to reach an agreement on AI usage of their artists and safety...people are now more than ever looking into how artists are treated on platforms where their music is the main focus. For TikTok, it's detrimental- they tried to punish UMG, and now they're paying the price.
At the 2024 Grammy Awards this Sunday, there were tons of controversial moments: should Taylor have brought Lana Del Rey onstage, should this person have won, what was that person wearing? But one of the more subtle digs was taken by host Trevor Noah, who commented on the UMG-TikTok battle by including another well-known streaming platform,
"Shame on you, TikTok, for ripping off artists. How dare you do that? That’s Spotify’s job!”
Without artists and their music, there would be no streaming platform to be had...and Spotify knows that, which is why they've been tracking their royalty payments to the music industry though their Loud & Clear report. The Loud & Clear report comes out every March and shows exactly how Spotify pays it back. According to their site,
"Nearly 70% of that revenue is paid back as royalties to rights holders, who then pay the artists and songwriters, based on the agreed terms."
This means that whatever Spotify is making from these artists and labels, and their music, they're making sure it gets back to them. It should be a mutually beneficial experience: one where both the artist and their representation trust that their work will be valued and protected (and thus, properly compensated), and where the platform also gains traffic from an artist's fans.
Today, Spotify announced that they've paid labels over $9 billion to give us a glimpse of their Loud & Clear report. In an exclusive statement to Popdust, a Spotify spokesperson states,
"Spotify paid record labels and publishers – which represent artists and songwriters – more money than ever in 2023: $9B+. That figure has nearly tripled over the past six years, and represents a big part of the $48B+ Spotify has paid since its founding."