Taylor Swift‘s new album, The Life of a Showgirl, is surprisingly not getting the glowing reception that her previous albums have gotten, with some Reddit users describing it as “underwhelming,” “forgettable,” “disappointing,” “overhyped,” “boring,” and “terrible,” among other things. And she has also angered fans with the strategic multiple releases for the album…
Swifties and non-Swifties alike are slamming the 35-year-old “Anti-Hero” hitmaker as “greedy” and “disrespectful” for the way she rolled out the album, as she has offered a dizzying array of different vinyl and CD versions to encourage die-hard fans to buy them all to access every single piece of exclusive content.
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Taylor Swift Releases Multiple Versions Of Her New Album
This isn't the first time the newly-engaged "Lavender Haze" singer has released multiple limited-edition vinyls with their own unique spins – but fans are especially frustrated this time because they're not as impressed with the 12-track The Life of a Showgirl album as they thought they would be.
A total of 24 different variants had been available for pre-order ahead of its official release, with the vinyls coming in different colors and featuring different artwork on the cover.
To sweeten the deal – or to squeeze more money out of fans, whichever way you look at it – each vinyl also included exclusive extras, such as a unique handwritten poem by Taylor that wasn't available anywhere else.
The Grammy winner also told her fans that she was releasing four additional CDs, each containing different exclusive acoustic tracks and extras that aren't included on the standard album. CD 1 includes acoustic versions of "Opalite" and "Ruin the Friendship." CD 2 features acoustic versions of "Wi$h Li$t" and "The Life of a Showgirl."
CD 3 offers acoustic renditions of "The Fate of Ophelia" and "Eldest Daughter." And CD 4 contains an acoustic version of "Elizabeth Taylor" plus Taylor's original songwriting voice memo. It's certainly a clever marketing trick, but one which her fans didn't think Taylor, a literal billionaire, needed!
Taylor Swift Slammed On X
"I feel comfortable saying this is one of the most [expletive] disgusting and anti-art practices any artist could make and it's terrible that the one doing it is one of the most popular artists in the world. The utter greediness is just shameful. This shouldn't be acceptable," slammed one fan on X.
"This is disrespectful to the fans," the same fan wrote in another message. "They're available for 24 hours and then never again, somehow the world will get through this catastrophe," quipped a second, as a third joked: "Taylor Swift is going to start selling mystery boxes like Labubus with a chance of getting rare tracks in them."
"It's honestly heartbreaking to see art reduced to pure profit like this. When someone with that much influence chooses greed, it sets such a toxic precedent," wrote a fourth disappointed fan. "I can't with her greed anymore," criticized a fifth, adding: "She's milking the fans for more money because apparently being a billionaire isn't enough."
"She's incredibly greedy and rips off her fans it would seem. This whole marketing strategy sucked," commented a sixth fan. "Well how do you think she became a billionaire? There are no ethical billionaires for a reason," added a seventh, as an eighth asked: "At a certain point it's just when will it be enough money babe? Exactly one day after the initial release you want them all to pull the credit cards back out for you?"
A ninth chimed in: "It's the music equivalent of 'in-app purchases;' an exercise in seeing how much money you can squeeze out of consumers using the same item."
