Taylor Swift's Label Lashes Out at Critics of Grammy Performance

The CEO of Taylor Swift's label Big Machine Records, Scott Borchetta, has spoken out in support of his Album of the Year-winning star and defended her Grammy night duet with Stevie Nicks, which has taken a lot of criticism for being off-key. "Maybe she's not the best technical singer, but she's probably the best emotional singer because everybody else who gets up there and is technically perfect, people don't seem to want more of it," Borchetta told The Tennessean. He added to the AP, "This is not American Idol. This is not a competition of getting up and seeing who can sing the highest note. This is about a true artist and writer and communicator. It's not about that technically perfect performance."

Look back at Swift's big Grammy night in photos.

While Swift's performance of her Valentine's Day single "Today Was a Fairytale," "Rihannon" and "You Belong With Me" was just a footnote to her four Grammy wins, Borchetta's comments have returned the less-than-stellar medley to the spotlight — and resulted in an angry response from American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson.

"I think [the critics] are missing the whole voice of a generation that is happening right in front of them. Maybe they are jealous or can't understand that," Borchetta said, "but obviously the people that she talks to are engaged with her. No one is perfect on any given day. Maybe in that moment we didn't have the best night, but in the same breath, maybe we did," referring to Fearless' Album of the Year win.

Check out all of Rolling Stone's Grammy coverage.

While no one is going to confuse Swift's vocal talents for Celine Dion's, Borchetta might have a point when he calls Swift the voice of her generation, as the 20-year-old singer is outselling all her peers — and pretty much everyone else in the music industry — and the Album of the Year win for Fearless, with Swift being the youngest ever to win the award, seems to validate Swift's impact. "The facts say she is the undisputed best communicator that we've got," Borchetta told The Tennessean. "When she says something, when she sings something, when she feels something, it affects more people than anybody else."

Check out photos of Taylor's swift rise to stardom.

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Song Stories

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

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