Abalone scouts for Easter eggs, equipped with eagle eyes.
Apple Music is releasing a new game on its streaming platform to commemorate April 13, the number named after Taylor Swift, and her 11th, scheduled to be released Thursday at midnight ET. It foretold the times.
Fans can search for one word in the lyrics a day through one of her five new playlists. The full message will be published on April 18th. Swift is getting in on the action, as well as custom voice memos on the platform.
On Saturday, Taylor Nation (Swift's marketing team) sent out a post that tagged Apple Music. In Taylor Nation's article, there was a glitch effect that directed Apple Music users to the song “Glitch,” and within the lyrics he had six capital letters hidden, revealing a secret word.
While the world is anticipating new music, Apple Music is in the process of getting all the relevant content ready.
let's meet at midnight
Fast forward to Thursday night, 11:59 p.m. The Apple Music team will be gathering in offices on both coasts of the United States to watch the hard work of Tortured Poets be exposed to the masses.
During every major album release, threads in the Slack channel light up when Apple Music employees talk about the release. As a new day begins, music labels release albums. The album will be streamed through the platform and combined with content that Apple has spent months cultivating. The process at this point is seamless, but everyone is working hard to ensure that the new artwork, lyrics, and of course the music is consumed without issue.
“We've done a lot of work in the past, and we've built a lot of trust and trust in our artist community,” said Rachel Newman, Apple Music's global editorial director. says. Every artist is different. Streaming services using Swift have a long history.
To celebrate the release of Swift's album Midnights, Apple Music has created three playlists from the Elas tour: “Quill Pen Songs,” “Fountain Pen Songs,” and “Glitter Pen Songs,” which reflect the way Swift categorizes her tracks. Created in collaboration with the singer.
Swift created a similar concept with “The Tortured Poets Division.” Two weeks before her release date, she created her five playlists associated with her five stages of heartbreak.
In November, Apple Music awarded Swift its 2023 Artist of the Year award, asked friends to record video messages about Swift's influence, and in December, she gave fans a pop-up in New York City. Opened the experience.
Varies by rollout
Swift is just one cog in the Apple Music machine, and every artist and development is different.
“We're going to hear directly from their label, and we're going to talk to their team, their publicist, or their management,” Newman says.
When an album is announced, the artist's team will contact Apple Music directly. If there's an unexpected drop, it's usually brought to the attention of the editorial team, in which case they come up with a code name for the project. The list of people who know sensitive information will be very short.
Before you ask, Newman has never heard the music of “Torchard Poets,” but I'm sure she and her team will get a taste of it in many other cases.
“We always try to think deeply about the album concept and the creative approach in relation to what the artist is saying and feeling in the moment,” she says. “And it's a real collaboration with a team of artists, sometimes directly with the artists to discuss what feels right for them.”
Think about all the content that corresponds to your release. Copy, credits, lyrics, marketing campaigns, and signage are just a few items. There are animations that add movement to your album artwork, playlists that capture the essence of your album, and fun games that count down to the album's release. For Bad Bunny's album “Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana,” Apple Music had a virtual hangman concept where fans had to guess the song title.
Apple Music News interviews and writes about artists before, during, and after new releases. Apple Music Radio host Zane Lowe interviewed Usher shortly after his announcement during the Super Bowl halftime show and also when he announced his new album, Coming Home.
Storytelling is a key element of new music, and the content on streaming services is an extension of the album's DNA. In preparation for the release of “The Tortured Poets Division” on April 19th, the Apple Music team will be buttoning up a white, black, and beige aesthetic to fully capture the essence of Swift's poetic era.
USA TODAY Network's Taylor Swift reporter Brian West on Instagram, TikTok, and X as @BryanWestTV.
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