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Fearless(ly) Owning a Demographic
Taylor Swift's newest album Fearless
By Stephen Hoshaw
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few years, you are aware of the new pop-princess in town.
Taylor Swift has taken the spot that many other pop stars have previously filled. She has had wild success with Fearless, her sophomore album, which provided her the top spot on The Billboard 200 last year. Swift has since become a celebrity commodity and has made an appearance at many music events in Hollywood.
A prime example of this was at this year’s Grammy event. Infamous Fleetwood Mac vocalist Stevie Nicks paired with Swift for a duet of “Rhiannon” (Nicks joins her at around 2:18 in the clip). This rendition created quite the buzz around Swift’s voice, as many noticed that she seemed to have some tonal issues.
History/Context
Fearless made its debut on November 11th of 2008. During 2009 the album sold over 3.2 million copies, making Fearless the year’s best seller and Swift “the youngest solo artist ever to top the year-end sales chart”.
Swift Recieves the "Album of the Year" Grammy
Due to this popularity, Swift soared to number 69 on the Forbes 2009 Celebrity 100 list, showing her income as 18 million dollars that year.
The album’s record-setting sales not only helped her (and her record company, The Big Machine‘s) bank account, but also played their part in awarding Swift the album of the year Grammy at this year’s show.
Fearless‘s success also won Swift the Country Music Association’s Entertainer of the Year award, as well as more Gold and platinum certifications than any other artist has received in October.
Production
Taylor Swift paired with producer Nathan Chapman to produce Fearless. Swift claims that many of the tracks off of Fearless are based personal relationships from her life.
Swift with Producer Nathan Chapman
As she stated, “True. I write songs about people that I date. When you buy my album you are going to find out what I’ve gone through in the past two years. And you’ll probably be able to
figure out how many break-ups I’ve gone through, how many people I’ve fallen for – it’s very autobiographical.”
Much of what makes Taylor’s music consumable for the general public is rooted in the image she created in Fearless. As writer Benji Wilson discusses, “Clean-living pop singer Taylor Swift is the ultimate anti-Britney.”
Distribution
In Fearless‘s digital release it sold 129,000 copies, making it the fourth largest week for a digital recording. This digital success only added to the album’s already gigantic in-store sales triumph of 3.2 million.
Super sweet gang signs guys, whats the deal with Debbie Downer on the right? (Swift and her record execs)
The Big Machine is the record company providing the power behind Swift’s release. This allowed Swift the opportunity to spread awareness of Fearless through the most powerful/successful routes possible.
A press release, dated the day after the album’s release, states that she would appear on the 42nd CMA Awards to play a live version of “Love Story”. Another press release states that she was given an interview with Ryan Seacrest five days before the album release.
Synergism
Fearless has made Taylor Swift a marketer’s dream. There are many examples of cross-marketing that come to mind when looking at her personal brand.
See the resemblance? A little creepy if you ask me... Also, why the hairbrush?
Wal-mart now has a selection of dolls resembling Taylor Swift’s various fairytale characters she portrays in her songs. A great example of franchising, she also has a book available (for those interested in her biography).
However, perhaps the most notable cross-marketing in her bag of promos is her new clothing line. l.e.i has picked Swift up as their new brand image for a sundress line, giving her a collection of clothes she gets to help “design,” and sell of course.
She is also used in the new Band Hero promo (video below). Band Hero is going to include tracks from Fearless, thus we will no doubt be seeing more of Swift in promo’s of this game.
Consumption
When dealing with how America consumes Fearless, one must first realize what a marketers dream she is. Not only does she claim to promote a “clean” lifestyle, but she is INSANELY popular with a ripe target market, the tween (if you have any doubts about this fan base, please peep the video below).
Swift’s writing partner, Liz Rose, states that “She’s brought back a lot of fans we (country) lost that went to pop and Disney.”
No matter what she produces in the future, it is clear that Swift has created great success with Fearless. The crowd she now has with her is at an age that is ideal to follow her career/products into the future.
Sources:
Articles:
Swift and Nicks’ Duet: Out of Sight, or Out of Tune?
Nielsen Soundscan Swift Ratings
Swift on the Forbes Celebrity 100
Swift’s Page on The Big Machine
The Big Machine Press Release Page (2008)
l.e.i. Swift Sundress Collection
Swift Talks About Blurring Genre Lines
Videos:
Music Inc. 