Billy Joel Defends NYC Tourism Rep Taylor Swift: 'You Snoots. Let Her In'

"That's what New York is all about," says Joel's controversial new title Swift

When Taylor Swift was named ambassador of tourism of the City of New York last month, the reaction was, well, fast. Critics questioned how the 24-year-old singer-songwriter could know about the city, since she only lived there for over a year, was born in Pennsylvania and launched his career in Nashville. But she has a companion star pop native of Long Island Billy Joel, in his corner. "I see the New York press goes, 'Taylor Swift will be the new representative of New York?'" Said the US singer today. "You snoots. The let her in. That's what New York is all. I say, 'Welcome.'"

Joel also praised Swift's talents as a composer. "She gets a lot of garbage, perhaps because it is very popular among young girls," he continued. "But I like what you're projecting. I respect what you're doing."

Swift made the announcement of his new controversial position during an episode of Good Morning America. "I'm still learning, but I'm so excited about this city when I love something, I'm very vocal about it," Swift said. "New York was a huge landscape of what became the album. It has affected my life in a way I am not even aware of everything."

The singer was so inspired by his new hometown, she even kickstarted her new album 1989 with the upbeat song "Welcome to New York".

"I started the album with" Welcome to New York "because New York has been an important landscape and location for the story of my life in the last two years," Swift said in a statement. "It's like an electric city, and went to move there with that optimism with open eyes. I saw New York as a place of unlimited possibilities potential, and you can hear that is reflected in this music and in this song."

Swift also caused a media stir earlier this month when he abruptly withdrew its entire catalog streaming service Spotify. "Music is changing so quickly, and the outlook for the music industry itself is changing so rapidly, that everything new, like Spotify, it seems to me a bit like a grand experiment" Swift said in an interview with Yahoo. "And I'm not willing to contribute my life's work to an experiment that I do not feel quite compensates writers, producers, artists and creators of this music. And I just do not agree with perpetuating the perception that music has no value and should be free. "