Taylor Swift exposes the dark side of music criticism

This is the Weekend Edition of Bloomberg Opinion Today, a roundup of the most popular stories Bloomberg Opinion publishes each week based on [Bloomberg]( This is the Weekend Edition of Bloomberg Opinion Today, a roundup of the most popular stories Bloomberg Opinion publishes each week based on web readership. [Taylor Swift Is Proof That How We Critique Music Is Broken]( — Jessica Karl Photographer: David Gray/AFP/Getty Images The way we digest new music needs to be fixed. Within less than 24 hours of Taylor Swift’s release of The Tortured Poets Department and her [surprise anthology](, the internet was flooded with an inescapable number of reviews. In the New York Times, Lindsay Zoladz [said]( Swift’s 11th LP is “sprawling and often self-indulgent” and “full of detailed, referential lyrics that her fans will delight in decoding.” But as a longtime admirer of Swift, I have to ask: Where’s the “delight” in staying up until dawn to finish listening to an album as if it’s a college paper we’re cramming to complete by the morning? And it’s not only the professionals causing the shift. Review culture goes far beyond opinions from music critics now. In the age of half-baked hot takes on online forums, anyone with a smartphone can word-vomit their thoughts into the ether. Many hope they get picked up by the algorithm. To avoid spoilers, fans (or just curious listeners) either have to shun media entirely or digest new music immediately — which is like inhaling a whole cheeseburger in one bite. There’s no chance to savor it. No time to even taste it. And quite frankly, it’s exhausting. Read the [whole thing]( for free. [Google’s Sundar Pichai Has No Time for an Employee Rebellion]( — Dave Lee [Adidas Found Its Next Samba. Watch Out, Nike.]( — Andrea Felsted [Trump’s Trial Is the Reality Show He Never Wanted]( — Timothy L. O’Brien [The Second Cold War Is Escalating Faster Than the First]( — Niall Ferguson [Barcelona Is Throwing Tourists Under the Bus]( — Tyler Cowen [How a Fading Japan Regained Its Superpowers]( — Gearoid Reidy [Caitlin Clark’s $28 Million Nike Deal Should Worry the WNBA]( — Adam Minter [The Bird Flu Outbreak Is Alarming. And the Government Is Stumbling.]( — Lisa Jarvis [How JPMorgan’s Cash Call Beat Bank of America]( — Paul J. Davies More From Bloomberg Opinion Here’s what we’ve been listening to and watching this week. - The economy’s booming. Why doesn’t it feel like it? Nir Kaissar [does the math](. - If you have [seasonal allergies]( — and even if you don’t — listen up: It’s going to get worse. Ale Lampietti explains (and has solutions!). - Get your extra fix of Matt Levine with the latest episode of [Money Stuff: The Podcast](. Follow Us Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can’t find anywhere else. [Learn more](. Want to sponsor this newsletter? [Get in touch here](. You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Opinion Today newsletter. If a friend forwarded you this message, [sign up here]( to get it in your inbox. [Unsubscribe]( [Bloomberg.com]( [Contact Us]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10022 [Ads Powered By Liveintent]( [Ad Choices](