In drafting this article, I had to call my mom and ask, “How did you know albums were about to be released when you were younger?” I genuinely had no idea how artists promoted their albums pre-internet age sans the radio. She explained to me that it was promoted in the record stores, MTV and of course on the radio.
Of course, album releases have evolved over time and I feel especially #blessed to have grown up during the Twitter age. One of my favorite artists, Taylor Swift, recently released her seventh studio album, Lover. Taylor Swift, recently crowned artist of the decade by the American Music Awards, has defied what it means to be a woman in music during the streaming age of music. Taylor Swift started her career when she was fifteen years old and has since taken the music industry by storm. She is the first and only artist to sell over a million copies of her album four consecutive times during the first week of release. She is the eighth biggest music artist of all time, all before the age of thirty. In 2015, she pulled her entire discography off of the streaming giants -- Spotify and Apple Music-- in protest of unfair compensation to artists and their production teams for streaming revenues. Swift penned an open letter to AppleMusic in an effort to reach better compensation for all artists and was able to reach an agreement with the corporate giant. Before the release of her sixth studio album, reputation, she released all of her music on all streaming platforms. Recently, she has leveraged her success and stardom to have all artists of the Universal Music Group have the right to own all of their music. This came as her ten-year contract ended with Big Machine Records and she had the opportunity to sign the biggest music deal in history-- larger than that of even Michael Jackson.
Undoubtedly, Taylor Swift is one of the biggest-- if not the biggest-- name in music right now. How has she accomplished so much in her career? One of the answers for that is Twitter. Swift has cultivated the most unique relationship with her fans. She has a cult-like following, and much of the emphasis on her relationship with her fans stems from social media interaction. Twitter has been the singer’s go-to platform for many years for promoting her work and enriching her fan’s experience with her. How exactly has she been able to pull this off? Through coding of tweets the Monday after Lover’s release, I can shed some insight on the genius of T-Swizzle.
Methods
Twitter has created a feature with hashtags to include a personalized emoji with some hashtags, usually, it is paid-for content. #Lover and #LoverOutNow had their own emojis during the release month of the album. By pulling the tweets that used the #Lover, I was able to code and filter through about 700 tweets from Monday, August 26th, from 5:00 p.m. to 8 p.m. In my data, I hid tweets that were not in English. In addition to that, I created categories of data for the tweets that included Praise/Critique/Review, Song Specific tweets, Promotional tweets and tweets about the VMAs. After reading a tweet and deciding on the category(ies) it belonged to, I have been able to draw some conclusions from the data I have collected. Within the rest of this article, I will detail how Swift has found success in promoting her album via Twitter.
Song Interaction
How does an artist tell before they tour what songs their audience wants to hear the most? If they can’t hear the screams of adoration, how do they know what song will be a hit? For Taylor Swift, she has turned to Twitter to gauge her audiences’ response to her songs. This chart shows the most tweeted about songs off her new album, three days after its release. Fans really loved Cruel Summer and The Man, as illustrated in the chart. Personally, I am sure I added to the conversation at some point, also tweeting about these specific songs. This is not lost on Taylor at all-- and her fans know it. During her performance at the AMA’s, she debuted “The Man” for its first televised performance. Twitter erupted in praise shortly after.
Not only do fans get recognition from the Queen herself, but they also build comradery in the community. Several users expressing the same adoration for songs on the album, sharing their personal interpretations of the song(s), and bonding over the initial release excitement bring the Swiftie fandom closer together. This ability to bond as a community over specific songs creates an online community for the Taylor Swift fandom that is unlike any other.
Conversation Starter
Taylor Swift has a verified fan account, @TaylorNation13, that creates content for the sole purpose of promotion and fan content. Key to her success, she has an organization of fans and staff that run this account to recognize fans and their contributions to the fandom. In years past, fans noticed by this account have been to Secret Sessions (album listening parties with Swift herself before the album is released) and been invited into meet and greet sessions at her concerts. @TaylorNation13 is critical to defining the most involved fan experience for Swift, and this account really proved how essential it is to the Swift campaign during album releases.
Everyone in my office today is either asking my opinion on #Lover or congratulating me on @taylorswift13 tweeting my face. I guess you can say my reputation precedes me... @taylornation13
— Jenny (@reputayjen) August 26, 2019
As you can see from this tweet map, a ghastly number of conversations were initiated by @TaylorNation13. The fact that this account accumulates so much conversation allows other Twitter users to see Taylor Swift content, as hashtags like #Lover start to trend worldwide. The exposure to people that aren’t Swifties allows people to consume her music and hopefully enjoy it enough to continue listening.
Easter Eggs
My personal favorite of being a stan of Taylor is her extreme care in crafting Easter Eggs in EVERYTHING she does. An Easter Egg is a clue or hint or call-out/back to previous or forthcoming work. Swift has probably dropped over a thousand Easter Eggs in her career, making her fans ravenous to solve the puzzle she is constantly creating for them to solve. Swift also divides the time between album releases into “eras” with certain aesthetics and moods. During transitionary periods or the time between one album and the next, Swift will hint at what’s to come with Easter Eggs.
Fans dedicate themselves to Tumblr posts, Twitter threads, hour-long Youtube videos, and Instagram explore page posts to unveil the Easter Eggs they found and connected. The Easter Egg hunt keeps fans on their toes, making them hyper-aware of EVERYTHING Swift puts out. Fans will spend hours upon hours analyzing content, making sure they have seen anything there is to be seen. So when I was coding Tweets, I stumbled a fan finding an Easter Egg. I was #shook, as Swift’s favorite number is 13. It is the date of her birthday, the place holder for infamous songs on her albums, and something that carries a lot of significance for Swift and Swifties alike. This Easter Egg shows the pure craft of Taylor Swift to curate such a deep and recognizable brand for herself.
uhhhh i was today years old when I realized in paper rings it counts off “1 2 1 2 3 4!!!” because THEY ADD UP TO 13.
— krysty (@kkrystyy) August 26, 2019
I cannot. #Lover
Conclusion
Twitter is the backbone of the ultimate Taylor Swift fan experience. The use of the #Lover creates an online community for users to contribute to and celebrate the release of an amazing album. While these people aren’t necessarily arguing on anything about this hashtag, they are building a conversation around a cultural event that has now defined what 2019 has been like.