Elon Musk seeks assistance from Taylor Swift, one of the most renowned musicians globally, in order to salvage X, formerly known as Twitter. The platform has been grappling with a multitude of controversies and disastrous business decisions. Amidst the excitement among Swift's devoted fans, known as "Swifties," for the upcoming release of 1989 (Taylor's Version) on October 27th, the ninth anniversary of the original album, Musk made a rather desperate plea on Wednesday.
Swift has been building suspense by engaging her fans in solving puzzles that unveil the titles of the vault tracks featured on the re-recorded album. On Tuesday, she shared these titles on social media, along with the back cover images. Musk responded transparently with an imploring message on X, urging Swift to post her music or concert videos directly on the platform. However, Musk failed to provide a compelling reason for Swift, given her immense success as a musician, to do so.
Considering Swift's astronomical album and concert sales, her dominance in the streaming industry, and her iconic status, she hardly requires any further promotion, especially on a website that drove advertisers away due to the impulsive actions of its billionaire owner, who became fixated on combating the so-called "woke mind virus." Nonetheless, the release of new music or videos from Swift would undeniably result in a temporary surge of engagement for X, even though this idea was conceived long after the meticulously planned rollout of her superstardom, serving Musk's personal interests.
Regardless, Musk should be aware that his recommendation is nothing more than a desperate measure. In June, the National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) and its members filed a lawsuit against X, accusing the platform of infringing copyright on over 1,700 songs. David Israelite, the president of NMPA, stated that "Twitter stands alone as the largest social media platform that has completely refused to license the millions of songs on its service." This legal conflict predates Musk's acquisition, as Twitter is the last major social media platform without a music licensing agreement. X has filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit.
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