Should Taylor Swift's "Out of The Woods" Be Upgraded to Official Single?
It is a new common practise in the music world to release "iTunes Countdown Singles". Basically, it's a move to get the most sales out of an artist's upcoming new "era" and build the hype. In the case of Taylor Swift, her new album “1989" is out on October 27th, and Big Machine Records/Universal think the best strategy to follow is to make a few tracks available for purchase on iTunes prior album release. These so-called "iTunes Countdown Singles" most of the times are songs that won’t be used as official singles as the “era” progresses. Some fans/music critics feel it’s upsetting that these tracks won’t be used as official singles just for the fact that labels feel that as they have already been “promoted and released in a way" they aren't eligible for official singles anymore. Sure there are a few exceptions, but the before-mentioned is undoubtedly the rule that applies. And this makes us cast a question about Taylor's new song "Out of the Woods".
The 80’s-inspired electronic jam, co-written by Fun.’s Jack Antonoff, is the first "iTunes Countdown Singles" from "1989” and Taylor released it on Tuesday (Oct. 14). The song has been positively received by fans and especially by music critics who are praising Taylor's bold "style change" (but still Taylor Swift-sounding) in this song. Music Times wrote that Taylor’s latest song “oozes slow moving power pop potential and taps into a whole new set of ears: “…”This song is a totally new offering from Swift and one that may actually appeal to a large untapped audience for her: the indie rock snobs.”. On the other hand, Taylor Swift fans immediately made "Out of the Woods" a hit. It reached #1 on iTunes the same day of release.
So the question is: If fans are loving it, and music critics, besides loving it, are praising pop Taylor's sound evolution, why is Taylor not in the slightest considering making "Out of the Woods" the official follow-up to “Shake It Off”? The below tweet is going to sound a bit harsh to the "Out of the Woods" supporters.
To clarify, what is coming in the next few days is a new song that I think best represents #1989. It is NOT my next single. #ShakeItOff
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) October 9, 2014
When asked by fans on Twitter whether "Out of the Woods" could potentially be her next single, Taylor left things very clear. "Out of the Woods" is NOT her next single. Probably she was just trying to let clear that this was just an iTunes promo single for the fans, but her words could also be interpreted as "I have better songs on "1989" than this, you just hold on". So it feels like "Out of the Woods" won’t be an official single in the near future and potentially never (if the "iTunes Countdown Singles" rule that I wrote about in the beginning applies). But, do you think "Out of the Woods" should be an official single? Is Taylor's label making a mistake by marginalizing "Out of the Woods" - because maybe they think this “new” style for Taylor is too risky for the radios – and not making it the second single from “1989”?
Thoughts?
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