In this world, there's no way it pays off to critizise a successful artist like Swift, so hats off for Jim, who's putting his rep. on the line. It's still ok to disagree on taste.

Not that I'm an expert by any means, but I think Taylor Swift has developed her own style, managed cross-over appeal, built a huge fan base from a very young age (which is an unbelievable achievement these days!), she gets under the skin of her audience, which can be very hard to do with the younger segment (if my own teaching is any reliable measure on that.. Lol). And basically, I like the expressiveness in her voice (yea, "timber", "tone", and stuff like that).