BY ASHLEY GIORNO

Fandom & Audience Engagement

Taylor Alison Swift

What Musician did you decide to engage with? Give some background of who they are. (Part 1)

• Born Dec. 13th 1989

• Favourite number is 13

• She has a cat named Meredith, who is named after one of her favourite character’s on Grey’s Anatomy

• Famous for writing her own songs

• Writes hidden messages in her songs lyrics

• Was named after James Taylor

• Holds a Guinness World Record for having the fastest selling digital single with ‘We Are Never Getting Back Together,” which reached #1 on iTunes within 50 minutes of its release

What Musician did you decide to engage with? Give some background of who they are. (Part 2)

• Has a younger brother named Austin

• At a young age she knew she waned to be a singer and asked her family if they could move to Nashville so that dream could come true.

• As a young girl, Taylor would walk right into record labels where she would introduce herself and than hand them a CD of her music.

• Was named the Most Charitable Celebrity in 2012 & 2013, beating out One Direction and Beyonce.

Note all the websites or social networking sites your Musician uses. (Part 1)

• Official Website – www.taylorswift.com

• Twitter - @taylorswift13https://twitter.com/taylorswift13

• YouTube – Taylor Swift http://www.youtube.com/user/taylorswift

•Facebook – Taylor Swift https://www.facebook.com/TaylorSwift

• Instagram – taylorswift http://instagram.com/taylorswift

• Magazines/Gossip sites – People, justjared.com, etc.

•Billboard - http://www.billboard.com/artist/371422/taylor-swift

• CMT - http://www.cmt.com/artists/taylor-swift/

• Google+ - Taylor Swift https://plus.google.com/+TaylorSwift/posts

• iTunes - https://itunes.apple.com/ca/artist/taylor-swift/id159260351

Note all the websites or social networking sites your Musician uses. (Part 2 – fan sites)

• taylorswiftweb.net: www.taylorswiftweb.net

• tay-swift.com: http://tay-swift.com

• ihearttaylor.net: http://ihearttaylor.net

• taylorswiftcentral.com: www.taylorswiftcentral.com

• just-tswift.com: http://just-tswift.com

• taylorswiftsweden.se (Sweden): taylorswiftsweden.se

•taylorswift.pt (Portugal): http://taylorswift.pt

• taylorswift.es (Spain): http://www.taylorswift.es

• swift-france.com (France): http://swift-france.com

• taylorswift.com.br (Brazil): http://taylorswift.com.br

• taylorswiftph.com (Philippines): http://taylorswiftph.com

What kind of online communities exist around your Musician? How are they created & maintained?

• The social media sites like Twitter and Instagram are mainly controlled by Taylor

• Facebook and her official website are more than likely maintained by her team

• In general these online communities are created by Taylor, her team and Taylor’s fans. With the main interest being Taylor Swift herself, it is easy for the musician to want to connect with fans via Twitter but still display herself as a normal person via Instagram and other online communities.

Do you feel your Musician/Band has found their audience?

Yes, I feel as though Taylor Swift has definitely reached out and found her audience. Gearing her music to the female population, Swift also makes her music very relatable especially to young females who are dealing with similar issues to the pop singer (i.e. break ups, being 15 in high school, speaking your mind before its too late, etc.). Having been a fan of her music since her first album as well as attended a couple of her concerts I can say that the age of the majority of her fans is from 16-25, but there are fans who do fall outside of that range as well. From an artistic perspective that range is who she is writing her music for and has continued to grow with her music therefore taking that range and elevating it with her own age and maturity as well. Even with that growth, Swift still manages to reach out to those who don’t fall within that age range in other ways.

Do you feel your Musician/Band has found their audience?

Taylor Swift has called her albums her “diary” in acceptance speeches (in particularly when she won Album of the Year at the 43rd CMA Awards). Having Swift call her work a diary makes the country artist that much more relatable for females especially because many young girls write in a diary or in some cases write their feelings into a song much like the artist herself does. Swift is also incredibly brave in not only expressing her so-called diary through her music but she also wears her heart on her sleeve sort to speech. With being in the spotlight and having the media constantly telling the world who she is dating (regardless if she is dating the person or not), Swift has held her own and continues to write personal, heartfelt lyrics which every girl in some way, shape or form can associate with. Swift has also enabled her music to become widely known by having it featured in movies (i.e. The Hunger Games, etc.) and is listed as a country, pop and rock artist leaving Swift to open the door to new fans.

What kind of meaningful, sharable content does your Musician post/share? (Part 1)

• Taylor Swift is only 24 years old and has already been named Billboard’s most charitable celebrity in 2012 & 2013. Having her be a dorky, normal (to some extent) woman makes it easy enough for people to fall in love with who she is as a person even if we don’t know her personally. But having that connection to lyrics and the meaning behind a song makes her that much more engaging as an artist in my opinion.

What kind of meaningful, sharable content does your Musician post/share? (Part 2)

• On Friday September 7th of 2012, Taylor Swift debuted a song entitled, “Ronan,” in which the artist wrote for a little boy (Ronan) who unfortunately passed away from cancer in 2011. Ronan’s mother started a blog she called, “Rockstar Ronan,” to help her cope with the disease and her loss of her son. Swift heard about the blog and used the mother’s words to write a song to honor Ronan’s life. Giving the mother co-writing credit for the song, Swift also gave all the proceeds made from the son to cancer research.

In what ways does your Musician engage effectively with their fans? What are they not doing? (Part 1)

• In 2010 when Taylor was only 20 years old, she promised her fans a 13 hour meet & greet in Nashville, Tennessee. Due to the large crowds (ranging from 8,000-10,000 people), Swift extended the meet & greet in order to see every single fan that made the trip to see her. The meet & greet lasted for 14 and ½ hours in total.

• In all honesty I think she is meeting her fans expectations of her and there isn’t much that she’s not doing to make sure her fans are happy and well taken care of.

In what ways does your Musician engage effectively with their fans? What are they not doing? (Part 2)

• Having been to a couple of Taylor Swift’s concerts, I can say that her engagement with her fans is something I haven’t seen before. She is the first artist (that I’ve seen in concert) who has literally walked through the crowds to get from one stage to the next, even taking the time to hug and sign autographs on the way.

• Swift also gets her team to look for the most creative fans at every concert and give them meet & greet passes to meet her backstage in her ‘T party’ room where they can hangout with the country star after the show.

How does your Musicianconverge/overlap Online & Physical spaces? Is it effective?

• I think Taylor Swift’s approach to converging/overlapping online and physical spaces is very effective. In August of 2012, Swift used Google+ Hangouts to broadcast to the world information about her new album, but also gave fans a chance to interact with her (i.e. in person, online, etc.) by asking questions and simply hanging out with her.

• Swift also uses Instagram & Twitter to express her dorky side and love for her fans.

In what ways does your Musician post and engage with their audience consistently?

• Recently, Taylor Swift asked her fans to tweet her which song they would like to hear her perform at the Grammys. The song tha was chosen by the fans ended up being All Too Well off of Taylor Swift’s album entitled Red.

• Not only that, but Swift makes a point of engaging her fans to vote for her when it comes to fan-based awards.

• She also uses Instagram as a way of documenting her life and giving her fans a look inside of it. Swift also uses Instagram to count down special events (i.e. the release of her latest album).

Citation

• Rouse, Wade. “Taylor Swift Tops List of 2013's Most Charitable Celebrities.” People.com. People Magazine, 30 Dec. 2013. Web. 19 Feb. 2014. • Swift, Taylor. "About." Taylor Swift. groundctrl.com. Web. 18 Feb 2014. <http://taylorswift.com/about>.• Swift, Taylor. Taylors Photo Journal. N.d. Photograph. TaylorSwift.com & Instagram, Unknown. Web. 18 Feb 2014. <http://taylorswift.com/media/photos/42793>.• Swift, Taylor, perf. Taylor Swift - Ronan. Stand Up To Cancer, 2012. Web. 21 Feb 2014. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nVBsDP5DoM.• Swift, Taylor, perf. Taylor Swift Web Chat and G Hangout. Google Hangouts, 2012. Web. 20 Feb 2014. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6gFma4H7fA>.• Thompson, Maya. "“Hey Maya, it’s Taylor Swift…”." Rockstar Ronan. wordpress.com, 9 Sep 2012. Web. 18 Feb. 2014. <http://rockstarronan.com/2012/09/09/hey-maya-its-taylor-swift/>.• Unknown, dir. Taylor Swift - 13 Hour Meet & Greet. abc TV Network, 2010. Web. 20 Feb 2014. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRO95vNyMgg.• Unknown, dir. Taylor Swift - Entertainer of the Year acceptance speech. Country Music Association Awards, 2009. Web. 19 Feb 2014. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XXSh7Dychw>.