Todd Rundgren has declared that Taylor Swift ruined music, and the music world is still adjusting its headphones. The 78-year-old is midway through his D***** If I Do Tour, so the verdict arrived with a full setlist. Swift, meanwhile, broke two Spotify records with the deluxe edition of her 2025 album and collected the inaugural Artist-Director Award at the 2026 MTV VMAs. Rundgren says music is ruined, and the streaming counter has politely declined to agree.

While Swift collects streams by the millions, Rundgren has a verdict on her legacy, and it arrives with a fancy word.

Todd Rundgren believes Taylor Swift ruined music, and he made the case plainly. He was asked which artist he would target with a record made to mock someone. His answer was instant, and it was Swift.

"To me, Taylor Swift is the apotheosis of mediocrity," he said in an interview with Vulture.

He added, "There's an argument to be made that she ruined music. It's an understandable phenomenon." 

Rundgren also has a theory for why the biggest artists are now female, and it involves video games. In the 1990s, he told Vulture, boys shifted spending from music to games, so labels chased young girls with allowances. He has done this before, producing 'Meat Loaf's 'Bat Out of H***' to tease Bruce Springsteen. He also said Swift does nothing great except grow her hair, while praising Lady Gaga as a real musician.

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While Rundgren critiques from the road, Swift has a surprisingly effective method for handling critics, and it involves a dictionary.

Taylor Swift approaches criticism like a professor grading a pop quiz, and Todd Rundgren just handed in his paper. In a Grammy Museum Icon Sessions interview, she said mocking critics back is sometimes really fun, especially with words they must look up before they can complain about her. The plan is simple and rude, since nobody wins an argument while reaching for a dictionary. She also skips online comments, which removes the audience.

Criticism also doubles as a writing prompt. Songs like 'Blank Space' and 'Anti-Hero' took the media's version of her and sold it back with a chorus. She reminds herself that she chose this life every day, and after two decades, hurt feelings are hard to find. Music may be ruined, but nobody told the charts.

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What are your thoughts on Todd Rundgren's verdict and Swift's dictionary comebacks? Let us know in the comments.