Taylor Swift and Congressmen Eric Swalwell
Getting artist's consent for using their music is the easiest way to know you are not infringing on their trademark or copyright. This last October, for the first time ever in her career the renown pop artist, Taylor Swift, agreed to license one of her songs to congressmen Eric Swalwell. Eric Swalwell has been California's U.S. Representative for congressional district 15 since 2013. Swift allowed the campaign to use her song "Only the Young" for a political video. Although Eric Swalwell's campaign made the video, it is more of a statement towards the current political climate and promoting presidential candidate Joe Biden. The 1 minute and 45 second video shows clips of protests, police brutality, support for the LGBTQIA+ community, and Black lives Matter movement.
This video and the music sets a positive and uplifting tone to invoke change in our current political offices and bring minority groups to the spotlight. The video is also title "Only the Young" and her song is played throughout the video as part of the message. The lyrics correspond to the changing video clips and images. They also include recordings of young people commenting on the movements and a clip of the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The video has an overall positive message, but it is also outwardly criticizing the current president at the time Donald Trump. Below is the video from YouTube:
Taylor Swift has become more vocal about her political views since former President Trump was elected in 2016. This was an opportunity for her to support Joe Biden and Kamala Harris's campaign while speaking out about the issues minority groups face in the United States. She made a statement to V Magazine stating:
“The change we need most is to elect a president who recognizes that people of color deserve to feel safe and represented, that women deserve the right to choose what happens to their bodies, and that the LGBTQIA+ community deserves to be acknowledged and included. Everyone deserves a government that takes global health risks seriously and puts the lives of its people first. The only way we can begin to make things better is to choose leaders who are willing to face these issues and find ways to work through them."
Swift has been a very successful and popular artists with younger generations. The music and video content perfectly aligned with their message. This is a great example of a campaign finding a politically active musician and getting the proper licenses and approval for using her work.
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