In the two upcoming posts I want to refer to two cases, which aren’t hot news any more, but which prove how traditional players in the music industry have problems with handling the new rules of surviving in an internet-driven digital age.

The first case is about the popular country singer Taylor Swift. Last September she was still the darling of the general public after she was rudely interrupted by Kanye West during the VMAs (MTV’s video awards). However, more recently she made a bad impression during the Grammys by embarrassingly singing out of tune. The story spread like wildfire on the internet. The Washington Post posted a sampling of Twitter comments about her performance.

@Borowitz Report Satan Chooses Taylor Swift Performance as Ringtone

@questlove dear kanye im sorry

@Borowitz Report: God Hoping Taylor Swift Does Not Thank Him

@jfdulac Wifey, listening to Taylor on the #Grammys: “She couldn’t even get into the chamber choir at my high school singing like that.”

@Borowitz Report T-Pain Hired to Autotune Taylor Swift at 2011

@idolator How suitable: that guy from #americanidol introduces @taylorswift13, who ” we have to say ” sounds a little pitchy, dawg.

@harvilla taylor swift’s career singing on live television should’ve gotten an “in memorium” nod

@Kiarri Last year the big battle was between Rihanna & C Brown. This year the fight was between Taylor Swift & pitch.

@jjjrrr Dear Taylor Swift, the music store called, you left your pitch on the counter with your lip gloss

@jeffstearns Taylor Swift? More like Francis Scott Off-Key, am I right?

@feliciapollack Taylor Swift can’t sing. She sounds like she’s playing “Rock Band” in her basement.

@JenRBoyd Oh boy. Taylor Swift’s pitch is flatter than a pancake tonight. Bless her heart

@ianfrancisbush I am starting a disaster relief fund to get Taylor Swift a chromatic tuner.

As Lefsetz writes in his analysis, the abominable performance didn’t get much attention in the mainstream media, but the story spread quickly on Facebook and Twitter. Some even say that it might ruin her career. Taylor Swift is a product of traditional music business: a young girl who is surrounded by a team making marketing plans in a meeting room. As Lefsetz puts it in his typical style:

So you can sit in your marketing meeting, calculate how you’re going to placate radio, but there’s a shitstorm blowing somewhere you’re not even paying attention. (…) Yes, as oldsters decry Twitter as a waste of time, a place where those with no life delineate what they ate for breakfast, these same supposed peons are ripping their clients a new asshole.

In the digital world, authenticity is key. You can’t fake anything and you must deliver when you are on stage. Taylor Swift underdelivered and the public formed its opinion. People have always had their opinions, but until recently they would only say it to their family sitting in the living room. Nowadays they post their opinion on Twitter or Facebook and they reach an audience of a couple of 100 people. Those people maybe even didn’t see the show, but watch the YouTube movie and further spread the story amoung their audience.

Exactly that is the power of new media such as Facebook and Twitter, and it is a power that may be underestimated by most traditional music business people, who carefully construct a tv and radio image for a young, unexperienced artist like Taylor Swift. Don’t understand me wrong: clear thinking about your image and shaping a thorough communication strategy is also very important in new media. But be aware of the fact that this image must be authentic. You must be able to keep it consistent in all circumstances, since there could be someone with a camera standing behind every corner, ready to upload your faux pas to YouTube. Show your vulnerability, be real, and don’t grow faster than you are capable of. That is probably the lesson that we should learn from the Taylor Swift story.