Recently, I accidentally admitted to liking Taylor 빠른, 스위프트 within the earshot of a friend who "likes all genres of 음악 except 상단, 맨 위로 40 bubblegum pop." When he heard me, he said she had "no talent whatsoever."

I think this comment, along with a lot of other hate she gets, is uncalled for. People saying she can't sing, refusing to believe she writes her own songs etc.- basically 연기 like she has no talent at all. Which isn't true. Just because something's not your taste doesn't mean it's bad. It just means it's not your taste.

-She can sing, I think. I will say that I think her success is 더 많이 based on her songwriting than her voice, but she's not some completely incompetent singer like some people think. Although she does lip sync sometimes, she can definitely sing live. There's no way her acoustic performances of older songs during the reputation tour are lip synced, for instance. Neither was her amazing tiny 책상, 데스크 concert, and even parts of her recent AMA performance were sung live. There's even this video on YouTube where she sings "King of My Heart" at someone's wedding, which is actually very good. People like to criticise her unedited voice of being off key. I don't think being a little off key equates to zero talent. She was, for instance, quite off key in this one particular "Out of the Woods" performance during the reputation tour. However I thought that performance was amazing. It was raw, visceral and imperfect. The offkey-ness just made it even 더 많이 powerful.

-She actually does write her own songs. I know, I know, pop stars don't write their own songs and I must be stupid to think this. At least, that's what people say. And guess what? Taylor 빠른, 스위프트 isn't even the only pop 별, 스타 who writes her own songs! But she is one of the most prolific. I know I don't need to repeat for the 13,000th time how involved she is in the songwriting process, how she wrote "Speak Now" 의해 herself, how songwriting is therapy to her, how she's written songs for other artists etc. because you're 팬 and 당신 already know all that. And her lyrics are actually pretty great. Tell me, how could 당신 possibly write "Long Live" (which she wrote 의해 herself) with no talent?

-She's overexposed. There's such a "mainstream is trash" mentality, especially among artists and self-professed "serious 음악 fans." People want to like lesser known artists to be cool. I bet if her songs were 의해 lesser known artists, people would like them more. Just as an example, I'm a singer/songwriter who's beginning to embark on a career as a recording artist. If I played a Taylor 빠른, 스위프트 song on the 기타 또는 피아노 and said it was mine, a lot of people I know- including my friend I mentioned before- would probably like it. They may go on about what a talented songwriter I am and say the song should be a hit. Why can't they get behind actual hits in the same way?

-She masquerades as a pop star. A lot of 당신 would probably disagree with this opinion, but I'm putting it out here anyway. I think she's disadvantaging herself letting her voice and 음악 be overproduced and putting out some in my opinion below average pop singles. I personally want to hear her raw unedited voice on her recordings, like in some of her performances. Also- and I think a lot of 팬 agree with this- her best songs are the album tracks. The quiet ones. The spectacular outpouring of emotions that she's so good at... but so many people only hear the radio singles and get mistaken as to what kind of artist she is. I bet my friend has never heard "All Too Well," for instance- and if he did, he'd probably be surprised it was her! My point is, she's an artist masquerading as a pop star- and it's not serving her in my opinion.

-People think she's "manufactured." If only they knew what a leader she is, what a strong woman. She's making her own career a lot 더 많이 than most pop stars.

-According to some people, 글쓰기 breakup songs about exes equates to having no talent. You're allowed an opinion, but that one is ridiculous. I get if someone would rather listen to 음악 dealing with other subject matter, but how does a song being about a breakup have anything to do with how good the song is? Let me remind 당신 how many classic songs there are about 사랑 and heartbreak... also, Taylor doesn't only write about breakups. She doesn't even only write about relationships. I would write a list of songs 의해 her that aren't, but it would take up too much 우주 in the 기사 and you're fans, so 당신 already know which of her songs aren't about breakups 또는 relationships. I bet a lot of 당신 could provide a 더 많이 extensive list than me anyway.

-She's still recent/current. People tend to not accept new 음악 straight away. Even The Beatles met a lot of this kind of criticism in their time. Older people at the time just didn't understand their music, but now they're an indisputable classic band. I think Taylor 빠른, 스위프트 has potential to become a classic artist.

I'll admit. I've hated on her before too. I don't anymore though. Ultimately, I've realised she's a deserving artist to stand behind. And I know a lot of 당신 will disagree but- I don't necessarily think she's the best 또는 most inventive songwriter in the world. However, I enjoy her songwriting. Her heartfelt outpouring of emotions does something for me. In my opinion that's what 음악 and songwriting is all about- and it's a shame so many people can't see that in Taylor Swift's music.