The best country music news and Nashville gossip at your fingertips. Helping you keep up with your favorite Nashville superstars and country music celebrities since 2008. Read today what you'll be talking about tomorrow.
When you're as flat out famous as Taylor Swift, I can't imagine she'd be easy to shop for. I mean the girl can just got out and buy whatever she wants. So you've got to get pretty creative. And that's just what her mom did.
Taylor's mom, Andrea Swift, took creativity up a notch when she went out and purchased custom labeled cat carriers for Taylor's precious cats. They came embrodiered with each cat's "official" names. For those that don't know...Taylor's cats are her pride and joy and each are named after television characters - Meredith Grey from Grey's Anatomy and Olivia Benson from Law & Order.
Taylor's caption kind of summed it all up:
Not that giving Christmas presents is a competition, but this year, my mom won.
Man...even Taylor's cats will never go out of style.
Follow me on Twitter for more music stuff! @AshleyAHelene
Taylor Swift enjoyed a holiday stroll with her family in NYC the day after she and her little brother opened a gift early...and she found out he was gifted a nerf gun that he used to take a shot at her. You know...normal things.
And for the most part the stroll was normal too. It was like any of us going out with our families for a stroll....but then I realized she has about a million photographers documenting it and a trail of fans following her.
So...she's not quite like us after all. But hey...what a beautiful family! And it's so nice to see them spending time together for the holidays.
P.S. Is it just me or is Taylor's brother Austin (on the left) turning into a total babe?!
Follow me on Twitter for more music stuff! @AshleyAHelene
For the last week I've had strep throat. I feel so bad for always just thinking of it as a bad sore throat whenever my kids came down with it growing up because OMG! I literally thought I was going to die.
And no, I'm not exaggerating in the least. I honestly thought for the first two days that I was sick that my husband was going to come home from work to find me dead in a pool of my own Nyquil-filled ... well you get the point. It was THAT bad.
But I'm on the mend now that I'm pumped full of antibiotics, so let's get to some news, shall we?
Like did you see that Taylor Swift was photographed kissing her best friend Karlie Kloss at a concert last week?
Or maybe she wasn't. The photos are pretty dark and grainy, but it sure looks like she was laying a big fat wet one on the Victoria's Secret model.
Hell, can you blame Taylor if she was mackin' on the model? I mean Karlie's hot. There's also video of the two and this GIF of them sharing an up-close-and-personal conversation.
Naturally, people are now wondering if maybe the two are more than just best friends. Well go ahead and wonder all you like, just make sure you don't ask Taylor's rep to comment on the pair's relationship status.
The New York Daily News made the mistake of doing that very thing, and let's just say the question went over like a 100-pound lead balloon.
"It's sad that on the day it's announced Taylor has three Grammy nominations for 'Shake It Off,' I have to shake off this crap," she told the Daily News with maybe a little more disgust than was necessary.
Come on, Taylor getting multiple award nominations, even Grammy Award nominations, is nothing new. Taylor possibly being caught making out in public with her freakishly similar best friend? Now that's a new and interesting twist in the singer's usually extremely boring dating story.
This is Taylor Swift we're talking about. The girl has built a very large part of her career on her past relationships, so you'd think her rep would be used to these sorts of questions by now. Of course, I'm a blogger and these sorts of entertaining stories are like candy to me. Being Taylor's rep during these sorts of entertaining stories? Probably like being stuck with Bill Murray in your own little Groundhog Day, but with more email and no sappy Hollywood ending in sight. So pretty much hell on Earth.
Guess I should cut her some slack.
As for Taylor and Karlie, neither of them seems too concerned that people think they're possibly a couple and neither one has bothered to comment. So good on them.
UPDATE: Taylor tweeted this this morning:
As my 25th birthday present from the media, I'd like for you to stop accusing all my friends of dating me. #thirsty.
Taylor Swift gave the Angels of Victoria's Secret a run for their money on the runway as she performed for the 2nd year in a row at their Annual Fashion Show(which won't actually air until the 9th of December on CBS) and it's safe to say she's officially grown up.
Two things that should be taken notice: She looks good. Real Good. And she actually has more clothes on than half the girls in country music videos these days. Something to think about....
Also, before you jump to boob job speculation, you should know Victoria Secret push up bras are really good at their job.
Follow me on Twitter for more music stuff! @AshleyAHelene
Taylor Swift is sometimes better known for her romantic relationships than her singing career, but the singer and sometimes actress knows how to build her brand. Worth an estimated $18 million in 2008, but she increased her net worth to nearly $70 million by 2014. While most of her money comes from her singing and record deals, she knows that diversity is the key to personal success. In addition to working as a clothing designer and releasing her own perfume, she also found success as a spokesperson. Swift most recently announced plans to diversify even further with her own smartphone app.
American Express Unstaged Taylor Swift Blank Space Experience App
Though it might have a long name, the American Express Unstaged Taylor Swift Blank Space Experience App became an instant hit with her fans. The film follows the story that she revealed in her "Blank Space" music video. That video showcased the singer lounging and running around a large mansion. The new app lets users download the simple game and gain access to that same mansion. As they run around in the free app, they can hidden objects in each room.
Earning Money on a Free App
Many of the top apps today charge a small fee for downloading. Users pay anywhere from $.99 to $9.99 or more to download the app and play or use it. Other apps offer the initial download for free and then charge money in the game to make money. Some free apps also run annoying advertisements that take players out of the game. Swift found a new way to make money with her app. American Express paid her a set amount of money to add her name to the app, and the company receives free advertising every time someone downloads and plays the game.
Outside of the Recording Studio
Outside of the recording studio, Swift works hard to diversify her brand and show that she's more than just another singer. She now lends her name to two different perfumes released by the Elizabeth Arden brand and serves as a model for Cover Girl. Swift also worked out a deal with Target that let the retail chain carry an exclusive version of one of her albums. Some of the companies she served as a spokesperson for include Keds, Sony, Walgreens and Papa John's Pizza.
In the Public
Technology expert Ehsan Bayat wasn't a big fan of Swift's new app, but he did find that the app would appeal to fans of the singer. Bayat also believes that this app will give Swift a taste of what she could do with more time and a better design team beside her. The singer has a legion of devoted fans who come to her concerts, buy her CDs and download her music, and those fans will buy products that she endorses and puts her name on the packaging.
The American Express Unstaged Taylor Swift Blank Space Experience App is the first app that the singer lent her name to, but given the reaction of her fans, it won't be her last. It was one of the top downloads on its release day and continued picking up fans in the following days. Swift may eventually find herself joining the ranks of celebrities making big income off smartphone apps.
Just days after Garth called YouTube the devil for the way they compensate artists, music bigwigs are now starting to jump on the YouTube-is-bad bandwagon by asking that their music be removed from the video streaming site.
According to Mashable, Irving Azoff, founder of Global Music Rights, has asked YouTube to remove songs from his clients, including Pharrell Williams, John Lennon and the Eagles.
Unfortunately, I have a feeling this is just the start.
Now Sony is questioning the whole "freemium" music streaming system and will probably be the next to start yanking music from the various music sites.
You know, it probably won't be a popular opinion, but I have a hard time feeling sorry for the record labels and artists fighting this fight. To me it just makes them all sound so dang money hungry. Maybe when Taylor Swift isn't able to pay 17 million dollars cash for her vacation homes I'll be a little more sympathetic.
It is almost impossible to keep up with all the wonderful things Taylor Swift is doing for her fans. Every morning I wake up thinking she can't top herself and everyone morning she proves me wrong. This particular event might top the cake though.
Taylor Swift is a fan of Christmas. She's also a fan of her fans. So combining the two equals a really amazing event. Yup...Taylor Swift is buying Christmas gifts for her fans. Straight up sending them personalized gifts straight to their homes. But she ran into a little problem when buying a gift for one of her littlest fans. One of the gifts was so big she wasn't sure how she would ship it. So....she decided to take matters into her own hands and ship the gift herself. Yeah....that's right. She physically drove the gift to the fan's house.
The fan was little Leyton, an absolutely adorable lil guy. And his mother is Stephanie. An equally big Taylor Swift fan.
It all started a couple months ago when Taylor commented a pretty touching comment on Stephanie's Instagram photo of Leyton. THEN it got really good when Stephanie was invited to a Secret Sesson and Taylor baked cookies just for Leyton...and now it's just out of control with Taylor going to the grand daddy of all toy stores and hooking Leyton up with play car and other fun gifts and personally delivering them Santa Claus style. Talk about memories that will last a lifetime!
But, see...Taylor is doing this for so many people. Her heart is just that genuine and she has so much to give and just loves seeing the happiness on every single fan's face and honestly....what other artist does that?!
Side note: Stephanie is one of the most genuinely nicest people I know and her love for her son is evident on so many levels. Her love for Taylor is also VERY evident so this simply could not have happened to better people and I think my respect level for Taylor has now officially gone through the roof knowing she did this for Stephanie and Leyton. It makes me want to go out and do something nice for someone and pay it forward!
Cheers to the holiday season!
Follow me on Twitter for more music stuff! @AshleyAHelene
Rascal Flatts held out for a while before putting their album "Rewind" on the service, but did eventually give in and start streaming it. Broadway asked Rascal Flatts' Joe Don Rooney whether Flatts might remove their music in the future from the site. His answer may surprise you.
"Spotify is one of those things for us it's been a pretty good mechanism to have people listen to our older stuff and then also the newer stuff," he said.
"We're just at a place where right now we're not moving or anything right now, we're just kind of staying where we're at."
Despite seeming to be on Spotify's side, the singer says he understands the other side of the argument and thinks that the better experience for fans is to actually buy the whole album. Check out JDR arguing both sides of the topic below.
Some people are calling this a diss, I'm just thinking that Aretha Franklin has no time for your damn Taylor Swift questions.
The Queen of Soul, the original diva herself, Aretha Franklin, recently chatted with the Wall Street Journal about her new album, "Aretha Franklin Sings the Great Diva Classics." During the conversation, the interviewer asked Franklin about some of the current women of music, including Taylor Swift.
Aretha's thoughts on Taylor? "Great gowns, beautiful gowns."
Nice enough. However, because she didn't gush about the recently-turned-pop singer, people are now claiming she snubbed Taylor.
Whatever. The woman is 72 years old and has been in the music biz longer than most people have been alive, she doesn't have time for none of this nonsense.
But hey, people should at least be glad she said something nice about Taylor and her choice of clothing. When asked about Anaconda singer Nicki Minaj, the 72-year-old had nothing nice to say. In fact, she didn't have anything at all to say about her.
"Hmmm. I'm going to pass on that one," she said.
Now that can probably be classified as "throwing shade."
Looks like even though Jason Aldean holds some Spotify records, he is cutting ties with the music streaming service. This news come right after the news that ol' Tay Tay has had enough of people not reaping the benefits of their hard work that they put into the album and apparently Jason agrees. His music will come off the streaming service this week. I tend to fall into the whole "finally some big names are taking a stand for something worthwhile that can help the industry" category, but there is a fair share of people that are going to burn it down (excuse the pun) when they find out their playlists are missing a couple or so artists.
Which artist do you think is next to take their music off Spotify?!
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