LOS ANGELES — Taylor Swift's label is coming to her defense after widespread criticism about the singer's vocals during a duet with Stevie Nicks at Sunday's Grammy Awards.
"She is the voice of this generation. She speaks directly to (her fans), and they speak directly back to her," said Scott Borchetta, CEO of Big Machine Records, in an interview with the Associated Press. "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."
Borchetta said the criticism of Swift, who won four Grammys at the 52nd annual ceremony, has been "over the top."
"It's that classic thing that critics do of building something up and then wanting to tear it down," he said of the shots taken at his prized artist, who on Sunday became the youngest artist to ever win the coveted album of the year honor.
Borchetta explained that Swift was forced to deal with a technical issue that impacted her performance.
"We had a volume problem in the ear. So, she was concerned that she wasn't able to hear everything in the mix," he said. "That's just part of live TV. ... So you're going to have difficulties on occasion. Unfortunately, on one of the biggest stages, we did have a technical issue. She couldn't hear herself like she had in rehearsal."
Borchetta said he isn't worried about what the critics have to say. He even proposed that they join some of Swift's countless fans at one of the singer's sold-out Fearless tour stops.
"Am I going to ask them to turn their heads, no, I don't need them to," said the music exec. "If you haven't seen her live performance, you're welcome to come out as my guest to a Taylor Swift show and experience the whole thing, because it's amazing. You can see her in her element. There's a reason tickets are selling like they are."
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