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12th Dec 2015
Taylor Swift isn’t one of the biggest pop stars in the world for nothing. Alongside her talent for writing a catchy tune, she’s also a savvy businesswoman who knows how to market herself as a brand. However, her latest move is being met with a few raised eyebrows. Mashable reports that Swift has set abut trademarking a series of phrases and words, including, you guessed it, 1989.
Alongside 1989, Swift applied to trademark five phrases – ‘Swiftmas,’ ‘Blank Space,’ ‘And I’ll Write Your Name,’ ‘A Girl Named Girl.’ For background, ‘A Girl Named A Girl’ is said to be the title of the book Swift wrote when she was 14, and fans have gone into a mini-tizzy, hoping that this signals her intent to release the project.
The singer filed multiple trademarks to protect each phrase for different uses, such as merchandising or performances. The ‘1989’ trademark applications seek to protect a stylised form of the number sequence, meaning that it would only protect any references to her album title – not technically the year itself. Contrary to a few articles that suggest Swift has now gone “mad with power,” (a?legit?headline floating around), we can’t see the fuss around her wanting to protect the digits that represent her body of work.
This was?originally spotted by Tantalizing Trademarks, and it’s not the first time she’s applied for trademarks on seemingly common phrases. She locked down the rights to ‘This Sick Beat’ back in January – a phrase she definitely didn’t invent – resulting in a few collective groans. No one can blame the star for trademarking song titles, but the cynics are out in force, citing the move as pure commercialism on Swift’s part.
But some might say that she’s earned the right to do whatever she likes in this regard. The 26-year-old has amassed a phenomenal level of success, and that didn’t come without hard work and dedication. Swift is inclined to get a lot of shade even on the back of her achievements, but she shouldn’t. She’s inspiring thousands of fans around the world and even amidst all the madness, she’s stayed true to herself – not an easy thing to do. Lest we forget, she is forever doing lovely things for her fans, and she has made quite a few dreams come true as a result.
Now, if you’ll excuse us, we’re off to start preparing for our Swiftmas celebrations…
Via Mashable