Taylor Swift’s new album, entitled “The Tortured Poets Department“, was released on April 19. It was all over social media, and her community was abuzz with excitement. But it wasn’t just her music that caused a sensation; it was also the way she orchestrated her marketing campaign that captivated her fans and impressed industry professionals.
It can’t be said often enough: Taylor Swift has a remarkable sense of social media. To promote her album, she used Instagram and Threads. The activation involved refreshing the artist’s Instagram profile to reveal a countdown to the album’s release. In addition, the use of some hashtags on Threads triggered a “shiny” effect and heart animations, adding a playful element to the anticipation of the album.
But that’s not all! The artist also had the opportunity to collaborate with two music streaming giants: Spotify and Apple Music.
Let’s start with the Swedish giant. In partnership with Spotify, a library installation was set up in Los Angeles from April 16 to 18. The library featured a collection of poems selected to represent the universe of the new album, offering fans a chance to immerse themselves in the artist’s new “era”.
Apple Music was also a key player in her teaser campaign. A series of games was launched on the streaming platform to celebrate April 13, the date associated with Taylor Swift. Fans were invited to search for one word per day in the lyrics of her songs across one of her five new playlists on the platform. The complete message thus revealed on April 18 the phrase “We hereby conduct this post mortem”: a new Easter Egg for fans to solve.
What’s more, her recent arrangement with TikTok, which brought back Taylor Swift’s exclusive music catalog to the platform despite a disagreement with Universal Music Group, once again demonstrates her privileged position in the industry. But this collaboration with TikTok goes even further against UMG’s position! Indeed, on the day of the album’s release, TikTok launched an exclusive experience in the app, related to the album, with playlists encouraging video creation, challenges to unlock exclusive artwork, video carousels with the hashtag #THETORTUREDPOETSDEPARTMENT, and personalized sharing icons!
Adding to her list of partnerships with major social platforms was YouTube, with which Taylor Swift also collaborated for the release of the music video of the album’s first single, “Fortnight (feat Post Malone)”. To tease the release of the music video, Taylor Swift and YouTube set up QR codes on giant billboards to be scanned in several cities around the world. Each poster featured a QR code that unlocked a YouTube Short containing a clue – one letter each – that fans had to collectively decode. The ultimate revelation was the phrase “For a fortnight”. This activation launched the #ForAFortnightChallenge on YouTube Shorts, sharing 14 life snippets from fans, consisting of using the track to boost it before its official release.
With notable previous partnerships, such as the one with Google for the release of “1989 (Taylor’s Version)”, Taylor Swift continues to prove her expertise in digital marketing and her ability to captivate her audience across diverse platforms.
The proof is in the pudding: with this new album, Taylor Swift has broken several records on the various streaming platforms:
- Just one day before the album’s official release, “The Tortured Poets Department” became the most pre-saved album countdown page in Spotify history.
- “The Tortured Poets Department” became the only album in Spotify history to surpass one billion streams in a single week.
- The project also broke the record for Spotify’s most listened-to album in a single day, with over 300 million cumulative listens in the first 24 hours of availability.
- Apple Music also announced that “The Tortured Poets Department” had broken its record for the most streamed pop album of all time in its first day, shortly after the album’s release.
All this just underscores Taylor Swift’s supremacy in the music industry. Her strategic partnerships with social media and streaming giants testify to her influence and power on the global music scene.
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