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What’s the best way to respond when customers, former fans, or anyone else criticizes your work? Taylor Swift just provided a perfect script for what to say. It’s a great example for any entrepreneur, business leader, or creator to follow. Swift’s 12th album, The Life of a Showgirl, released 10 days ago, is unquestionably a commercial success. It broke streaming records on Spotify with more than five million pre-saves, as just one example. But that doesn’t mean that everyone loves it. The reaction from music critics has been lukewarm and the reaction from fans is decidedly mixed, with some saying they adore the album and others saying they can’t stand it. One brand strategist declared on Instagram that the album was “flopping,” in a post that’s been seen more than 1.4 million times, according to Newsweek. Swift, of course, is a very seasoned performer who has always written her own rules and has a finely tuned sense of how to communicate with her fans. So the mixed reactions don’t seem to faze her at all. During an interview for Apple Music, she explained how she feels about the negative reactions. But if you’re pressed for time, ET posted a video report less than three minutes long. It explains the controversy and includes clips of Swift’s pitch perfect response. Here’s some of what she did right. 1. She thanked her critics I do this too, with most negative feedback I get from readers or audience members. As Swift well knows, the fact that someone takes the trouble to give an opinion about your work means they care enough to pay attention to you. And in today’s attention economy, that is a gift. Subscribe to the Daily newsletter.Fast Company's trending stories delivered to you every day Privacy Policy | Fast Company Newsletters “The rule of show business is, if it’s the first week of my album release and you are saying either my name or my album title, you’re helping,” she said. “I have a lot of respect for people’s subjective opinions on art.” She’s right, of course. The fact that people’s opinions of this album are divided could bring new listeners because people who normally aren’t interested in her music may become curious to hear the songs and form their own opinions. 2. She put the focus on her fans This is something Swift does extraordinarily well and it’s one reason for her outsize success. And so, she very wisely made the criticism about them, rather than about her. “Our goal as entertainers is to be a mirror,” she said. “What you’re going through in your life is going to affect whether you relate to the music that I’m putting out at any given moment.” She added that she loves it when fans tell her they used to love one of her albums and, based on the events in their own lives, come to favor another. It was a very clever comment. It invited people to consider how their own feelings or preferences might affect their opinions. And it gave them permission to change their minds in the future. 3. She said she had done her best work Whatever fans or critics may say about Showgirl, Swift made it clear that she herself is happy with it. “When I’m making my music, I know what I made. I know I adore it,” she said. And she did something very, very clever. She slyly pointed out that getting criticism is fitting given the nature of this particular album. The title track describes the bittersweet life of a performer: “I make my money being pretty and witty.” But also: “I paid my dues, with every bruise I knew what to expect.” And so, she told Zane Lowe, “On the theme of what the showgirl is, all of this is part of it.” —Minda Zetlin This article originally appeared on Fast Company’s sister publication, Inc. Inc. is the voice of the American entrepreneur. We inspire, inform, and document the most fascinating people in business: the risk-takers, the innovators, and the ultra-driven go-getters that represent the most dynamic force in the American economy.
