Taylor Swift’s return to TikTok includes an in-app experience for ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ with ‘first-of-its-kind’ features
Just two weeks ago, Taylor Swift's music was not (officially) on TikTok.
Now, ByteDanceThe app, which she owns, appears to be becoming a key part of the marketing campaign for the superstar artist's latest album. The poet group was tortured (TTPD), released today (April 19).
TikTok has launched an in-app experience for Taylor Swift's new album that it says includes many “firsts” where Swift fans can “dive into the album with playlists to create” as well as challenges to unlock exclusive artwork for their profile.
Of course, it's not uncommon for artists to use TikTok as part of their new album promotion campaign. What makes this announcement interesting is that it comes more than a week since Swift's music came out. started to appear again on this platform.
Before last week and since February/March, Swift's music had been absent from TikTok, along with music from other platforms. Popular music group-affiliated stars, such as Drake, Ariana Grande, and Camila Cabello, whose music continues to be (officially) not on TikTok.
That's due to Universal Music Group's ongoing licensing dispute with TikTok over the app's compensation for artists and musicians as well as concerns about TikTok's use of AI.
On March 1, more categories 4 million songs became unlicensed for use on TikTok, joining UMG's catalog of more than 3 million recordings, whose license on TikTok expired (to date without renewal) on February 1.
Swift has both a recording and publishing deal with UMG. by UMG Republic Records is Swift's trademark in the US and her signed an agreement with Global music publishing group in 2020.
However, as we explained last week, at this point Swift is very famous in the music industry for her unusual control over her own music.
Like Hollywood reporter record, Swift has owned the publishing rights to her songs since 2019; meanwhile, Diversity speculate that TikTok may have “reached a separate deal with Swift” because she owns many of her own master recordings.
Since joining TikTok in 2021, Taylor Swift has gained more traction 25.3 million fans and has earned over 223.7 million likes on her content.
TikTok reports that hashtags related to the singer “continue to attract high levels of engagement,” with the hashtag #SwiftTok increasing over 2.4 million Video creators and #TaylorsVersion earn more 2 million video.
MBW pointed out in this Response column published a few days ago that Ariana Grande Eternal Sunshinereleased in March via UMG's Republic Records, did not appear on TikTok and still ranked No. 1 on the charts Billboard 200. It also reached number 1 in the UK, Australia, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Belgium, New Zealand and Canada.
According to TikTok, through the new Taylor Swift in-app experience, fans also have the opportunity to be featured in the Fan Spotlight carousel using the hashtag #THETORTUREDPOETSDEPARTMENT.
App users can explore Taylor Swift's in-app experiences by unlocking “special entry points,” such as a fan-specific TTPD icon on the 'For You' Feed or by searching for Taylor Swift on TikTok – where the inspiration for the animated Tortured Poets Band appeared.
The in-app experience appears to use TikTok's 'Add to Music App' feature.
The tool was launched in the UK and US in November and allows TikTok users to save the songs they discover through TikTok on streaming services where they listen to music, including Spotify And Apple Music.
In February, this feature saw mass deployment additional 163 countries. Last month, TikTok's 'Add to Music App' feature expanded to Brazil and Indonesia, where Spotify rival TikTok Music is located.
Elsewhere, on April 18, 2024, Taylor FastHer new album became the most pre-saved album in the Countdown Page Spotify history.
Fans who pre-save albums on Spotify will receive push notifications when they are released and Spotify automatically add the album to their library on release date.
Spotify says on average almost 70% number of users who pre-saved an album will listen to it in the first week. Starting last Monday (April 15), Taylor Fast Revealing details from the new album exclusive with Spotify.Music business worldwide
