And I’m Mr. Bulldops

The video above is from Taylor Swift’s new album “Life of a Showgirl.”

Or is it? It’s hard to tell sometimes if something is just an AI sound alike, or if it’s the real thing. I notice that in this video, even though it definitely sounds exactly like her album, there’s a telltale sign that it’s AI–they pronounce “Swifty” as “Schwifty.”

Were you fooled? Don’t blame yourself. These are confusing times.

Today, 34% of music uploaded to Spotify is AI generated, and the other 66 percent is presumably Taylor Swift music.

While her eras tour is the most successful in history, as AI becomes a more intrusive presence in our lives, AI still threatens to drown out Taylor Swift–especially since her music is so devoid of soul and personality, it’s easily replicated, as demonstrated in the video above.

That’s why–and I’m sure Taylor Swift would agree–its important for music lovers to find music at live events.

Now, the average ticket price to a Taylor Swift concert is $200–but don’t worry. You can also pay $4,000 if you want a personal experience.

Or, you can go to an open mic for free and find the extraordinarily talented person in your neighborhood who is about to take off. You’ll have a good long time of being able to hear them at local shows for $5, $10, $20 and if they really do well at home, maybe $25 for a big, spectacular show.

But when you let corporations dictate the music you listen to, you can never be sure that they aren’t manipulating you for the purposes of propping up a corporate agenda.

Don’t you worry about Taylor Swift, though. Even after you abandon the internet, and are no longer subject to nonstop advertising and promotion that forces her songs into a familiar, nostalgic place in your brain, and after you come to hear other musicians really pushing the envelope, this woman made her fortune as a songwriter. As a Showgirl. She doesn’t rely on pleasing corporations –she bought her music! She is a rebel. She is purely an artist through and through, superior to all other musicians, for there can be no other explanation for her sustained popularity. I’m sure $200 a pop will still seem reasonable for her IMMENSE talent.

This isn’t about abandoning Taylor Swift. Heaven forbid. This is about chucking AI and letting humans come to the fore.

Surely you do not doubt that Taylor Swift can compete, when faced with starving artists who show up to work even when they are literally starving, just because they believe in the transformative power of honest, truthful music?

It’s time we set Taylor free from social media, and see how she does in the wild. For she is a human being, who was not meant to make music in technological captivity.  We must see how her music thrives when her competition is not robots.

You wouldn’t deny Taylor Swift the ability to grow to her greatest capacity, would you? So long as we find out music online, Taylor Swift’s popularity is threatened by AI.

Abandon the internet. Find your music live. And then decide for yourself if you’d rather go see a powerhouse local for $5 or see someone you can’t distinguish from AI for $200.

If AI is amazing as we are led to believe, then Taylor will have no problem squashing the mere human beings she now has to compete with. After all, she is still preferred over robots–no matter how they are gaining on her.

Free Taylor from her technological captivity. Make her compete on an open mic stage for your attention.