Taylor Swift Accepts Woman of the Decade Award | Women In Music

I absolutely love this one, right? (Audience applauds) Phew! This is a kind of speech, not short. So I don't want this to slip and break because it's very important to me. - I have it. - Thank you so much. (Audience laughs) She is a great support, we all need someone like that. (laughs) I'm Taylor, good night. First I want to thank Billboard from the bottom of my heart for this honor, for... Wow, this is going great so far. (Audience laughs) Excellent, okay. I want to thank Billboard so much for giving me this honor, for naming me their Woman of the Decade.

So what does it mean to be the

woman

of this

decade

? Well, it means I've seen a lot. When this

decade

began I was 20 years old and had released my self-titled debut album when I was 16, and then the album that would become my breakout album, which was called Fearless. And I saw that there was a world of

music

and experiences beyond country

music

that I was very curious about. I watched pop stations send my songs Love Story and You Belong With Me to number one for the first time. And I saw that as a

woman

in this industry, some people will always have slight reservations about you.

If you deserve to be there, if your producer or co-writer is the reason for your success, or if it was a smart record label. It was not. (Audience laughs) I saw that people love to explain the success of a woman in the music industry, and I saw something in me change because of this realization. This was the decade in which I became a mirror for my detractors. What they decided I couldn't do is exactly what I did. - Wow! - Oh, I'll accept it. (applauding) Thank you! Anything they criticized about me became fodder for musical satire or inspirational anthems, and the best lyrical examples I can think of are songs like Mean, Shake It Off and Blank Space.

Basically, if people had something to say about me, I usually responded in my own way. And this reflection dictated more than just my lyrics. When Fearless won Album of the Year at the Grammys and I became the youngest solo artist to win the

award

, with that win came criticism and reactions in 2010 that I had never experienced before as a young new artist. Suddenly people had doubts about my singing voice: was it strong enough? did it have a bit of tone? Suddenly they weren't sure if I was the one writing the songs because sometimes in the past I'd had co-writers in the room.

At that moment I couldn't understand why this wave of harsh criticism had hit me so hard. I think a popular headline back then was, “A Swift Backlash,” which is clever, you gotta give it to them. (Audience laughs) And now I realize that this is exactly what happens to a woman in music if she achieves success or power beyond people's comfort level. Now I realize that good news comes with some kind of reaction. But I didn't know it then. So I decided that I would be the sole songwriter on my third album, Speak Now, and that I would tour constantly, work on my voice every day, and hone my stamina at a live show.

I decided I would be what they said I couldn't be. Little did I know then that very soon people would decide something else I wasn't doing well, and then the circle would go on and on and on and I would continue to accommodate, overcorrect, in an effort to appease my critics. Do they say I date too many in my 20s? Okay, I'll stop, I'll be single. During years. (Audience laughs) Now they're saying my album Red is full of too many breakup songs? Okay, okay, I'll do one about moving to New York and deciding that my life is actually more fun with just my friends.

Oh, are they saying my music is changing too much to stay country music? Alright. Well, here's a complete genre change and a pop album called 1989. - Wow! - Oh! (claps) Did you hear it? Sick! Now I'm showing you too many photos of me with my friends, okay, I can stop doing that too. Now am I actually a calculated manipulator instead of a smart business woman? Okay, I'll disappear from public view for years. Now they're casting me as a villain for you? Well, here's an album called Reputation and there are a lot of snakes everywhere. In the last 10 years I've seen how

women

in this industry are criticized and evaluated by each other and criticized for their bodies, their romantic lives, their fashion, or have you ever heard someone say about a male artist, I really like him? his songs but I don't know what it is, is there just something I don't like about it?

No! That criticism is reserved for us! But you know, I've learned that the difference between those who can continue creating in that climate usually comes down to this. Who lets that scrutiny break them and who just keeps making art? I've seen how one of my favorite artists of this decade, Lana Del Rey, was harshly criticized... Yes! (the man murmurs) Yes. (claps his hands) Thank you. We have similar tastes, I like it. She was criticized mercilessly early in her career and then slowly but surely she became, in my opinion, the most influential artist in pop. Her vocal style, her lyrics, her aesthetic, have been repeated and repurposed in every corner of music, and this year her incredible album is nominated for Album of the Year at the Grammys because she kept making art. .

And that example should inspire us all: the only way forward is to move forward. That we should not allow obstacles such as criticism to stop the creative forces that drive us. And I see that fire in the newest faces of our music industry whose work I absolutely love. I see it in Lizzo, Rosalia, Tayla Parx, Hayley Kiyoko, King Princess, Camila Cabello, Halsey, Megan Thee Stallion, Princess Nokia, Nina Nesbitt, Sigrid, Normani, H.E.R., Maggie Rogers, Becky G, Dua Lipa, Ella Mai, Billie Eilish. (audience applauds) And so many other amazing

women

who are making music right now.

Female artists in music have dominated this decade in growth, streaming, record and ticket sales, and critical acclaim. So why are we doing so well? Because we have to grow fast. We have to work very hard, we have to prove that we deserve it and we have to surpass our latest achievements. Women in music, on stage or behind the scenes, are not allowed to slip. We are held to a higher, sometimes impossible, standard of feeling. And it seems that my fellow artists have taken on this challenge and accepted it. It seems that the pressure that could have crushed us turned us into diamonds.

And what didn't kill us, actually made us stronger. But we have to continue to stand up for women in the recording studios, behind the mixing desk, in A and R meetings, because instead of fighting to be taken seriously in their fields, these women are still fighting to have not even the opportunity to be in the world of music. room. (Audience applauds) We now find ourselves completely immersed in a vast frontier that did not exist last decade, and that is the world of streaming. In music, we're always walking hand in hand with technology and sometimes that's so amazing, like when we can now just release a song we made yesterday.

I've spoken in the past about the future of the income stream for creators, songwriters and producers who are being left behind by these rapid changes. I still don't think record contracts or agreements with producers have completely caught up, and I hope that in the next decade we can continue to find the right solution for producers, songwriters and creators. It is not like this? (Audience applauds) Lately there has been a new change that has affected me personally and that I feel is a potentially damaging force in our industry, and as your resident loud person, I feel the need to mention it.

And that is the unregulated world of private capital that comes in and buys our music as if it were real estate. As if it were an app or a shoe line. This simply happened to me without my approval, consultation or consent. After I was denied the opportunity to purchase my music directly, my entire catalog was sold to Scooter Braun's Ithaca Holdings in a deal that I was told was financed by the Soros family, 23 Capital, and the Carlyle Group. However, to this day none of these investors have bothered to contact me or my team directly. Perform due diligence on your investment.

About your investment in me. To ask how I would feel about the new owner of my art. The music I wrote. The videos I created. Photos of me, my lyrics, my album designs. And of course, Scooter never contacted me or my team to discuss it before the sale or even when it was announced. Although I'm pretty sure he knew exactly how I would feel about it. And let me just say that the definition of toxic male privilege in our industry is what people say, but he has always been kind to me when I raise valid concerns about artists and their rights to own their music.

And of course he's kind to you. If you're in this room, you have something he needs. The fact is that private equity is what allowed this man to think, according to his own social media post, that he could buy me. But obviously I'm not going to go voluntarily. However, the most surprising thing was finding out that it would be the women in our industry who would have my back and show me the most vocal support in one of the most difficult times, and I will never, ever forget it. As usual. (applause) (applause) But in closing, I will say that in 10 years I have seen progress in our industry, in our awareness, our inclusivity, our ability to begin to call out injustice and misconduct.

I've seen the advent of social media, the way it can fuel the advancement of emerging artists, and I've seen fans become more engaged and supportive than ever. I've leaned on that support and it's kept me in a place where, no matter what, I always wanted to keep making music for them. She was on stage in New York City in 2014 accepting Billboard's Woman of the Year and was talking about the future of streaming. How we needed to ensure that the next generation of female artists, writers and producers were protected and fairly compensated. This was before my record deal with Universal last year, which would contractually guarantee that artists on their roster would be paid for any sunk sales of their Spotify shares.

So thanks for that. (Audience applauds) This speech I'm referring to was on my 25th birthday. I'm about to turn 30 tonight, wow! (applause) (applause) But my exact quote during the speech was: "I really feel like we have to keep trying to 'offer something to a younger generation of musicians,' because somewhere right now is your future Woman of the Year." She's probably sitting in a piano lesson or a girls' choir, "and today, right now, we have to take care of her." I have since learned that at that exact moment, an 11-year-old girl in California was actually taking piano lessons and was actually in a girls' choir.

And this year she has been named Woman of the Year at 17 years old, her name is Billie. (Audience applauds) And those are the stories we need to think about every day as we do our jobs within this industry. The ones where people's dreams come true and they get to create music and play it for people. The ones where fans feel a connection to the music that makes their day easier, their night more fun, their love feel more sacred, or their pain feel less isolating. Those of you all in this room are an example to someone in the next generation who loves the same thing we love.

Music. And no matter what else comes into the conversation, we'll always bring it back to the music. And as for me, lately I've been focusing less on doing what they say I can't do and more on doing what I want. (applauds) Thank you for a magnificent decade, happy, free, confusing, sometimes lonely but above all golden. It is my honor to be here tonight. I feel very lucky to be with you, thank you very much. (cheers) (applause)