Cher vs. Madonna. Mariah Carey vs. Jennifer Lopez. Taylor Swift vs. Katy Perry. Nicki Minaj vs. most any female rapper. These feuds, and many other infamous rivalries, within the female music industry may seem entertaining to the masses. These fights, however, may be less about personal competition and more about manufactured rivalries created by fans and the industry.
We live in a society where, especially on social media, we are obsessed with drama and a good rivalry. From sports to pop culture to politics, people love a good fight. This doesn’t stop when it comes to the music industry, especially if it makes money for record labels.
When it comes to the music industry, sales, profit and awards are the only things they care about. The only way to make more of these is to play the game of having no friends. This is what creates competition amongst artists. When it comes to female artists, however, it’s less about the competition and more about the “catfights” in the name of capitalism.
In the early 2010s, the two biggest artists in pop were Katy Perry and Taylor Swift. In the early days of their career, they were photographed together getting along. Things took a sour twist, and one of pop’s most infamous feuds was created, resulting in “Bad Blood” and “Swish Swish.” These two songs combined have over a billion streams on Spotify.
These two songs alone can make a label anywhere from $1 million to $2 million. Having a major rivalry in the industry brings in a huge profit for record labels. It becomes a strategic money maneuver.
Having a public feud, though, doesn’t garner enough attention alone. Allowing the fans to participate is what draws them into not only free publicity, but also more record sales. It creates the money-making machine that the music industry designed for itself.
Putting out songs that appear as diss tracks, while leaving explanations just vague enough, is what allows for the creation of this free publicity online. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Swift said that “Bad Blood” was about another female in the industry. This is what created the media frenzy of her and Perry’s feud that lasted years.
The looming negative relationships with celebrities are what create the frenzy across social media about celebrity feuds. Most recently, Swift has found herself in another “feud” with Charli XCX. Fans rumored that Charli’s song “Sympathy is a Knife” and Swift’s song “Actually Romantic” are about their relationship.
These rumors are the kind of thing labels want fans talking about because it draws them to listen to the songs over and over, therefore making the label more money.
At the end of the day, in a world built on drama and dramatic parasocial relationships, these “feuds” aren’t going anywhere. As a society in which capitalist competition is already so prevalent, we should take a step back and realize that we are giving in to exactly what big greed labels want us to. Listening to music should be enjoyed without there needing to be a “catfight” between two artists.
Chase Borland is a junior studying journalism strategic communications at Ohio University. The views and opinions of this columnist do not necessarily reflect those of The Post. If you have any thoughts, questions or concerns then you can contact him at cb297222@ohio.edu.
