Easter egg-exploring Swifties get those eagle eyes ready. Apple Music launched a new game on the streaming platform to commemorate April 13, the number associated with Taylor Swift, to tease its 11th era, launching overnight Thursday when the clock strikes midnight Eastern Time.
Fans can search for a word per day in lyrics from one of its five new playlists. The full message will be revealed on April 18. And just like her personalized voice memos on the platform, Swift is involved in the action.
On Saturday, Taylor Nation (Swift’s marketing team) sent out a post tagging Apple Music. In the Taylor Nation story, there was a glitch effect that pointed Apple Music users to the song “Glitch”, where there were six capital letters hidden in the lyrics that revealed the secret word.
As the world anticipates new music, Apple Music is in critical mode preparing all associated content.
Meet me at midnight
Fast forward to 11:59 pm Thursday. The Apple Music team will gather at their offices on both coasts of the US to watch their hard work of “Tortured Poets” be released to the masses.
During all major album releases, threads in Slack channels light up as Apple Music employees announce the release. On the edge of a new day, the music label releases the album, which is streamed across the platform and combined with the content Apple spent months cultivating. The process, at this point, is fluid, but all hands are on hand to ensure that the new artwork, lyrics, and of course the music are consumed without a hitch.
“We’ve done a lot of these and we’ve built a lot of credibility and trust in the artist community,” says Rachel Newman, Apple Music’s global editorial head. Every artist is different. With Swift, the streaming service has a long history.
For the release of Swift’s “Midnights” album, Apple Music worked with the Eras Tour singer to curate three playlists — “Quill Pen Songs,” “Fountain Pen Songs” and “Glitter Pen Songs” — that reflected how the singer Categorize your songs.
Swift did a similar concept with “The Department of Tortured Poets.” Fifteen days before the release date, she created five playlists associated with the five stages of heartbreak.
In November, Apple Music crowned Swift its 2023 Artist of the Year and asked friends to record video messages about the singer’s impact, and in December, the company opened a pop-up experience for fans in New York City.
Every release is different
Swift is just a cog in the Apple Music machine and every artist and release is different.
“We’ll hear directly from your label and also have a conversation with your team, your PR people, or your management,” Newman says.
When an album is announced, the artist’s team communicates directly with Apple Music. If there is a surprise drop, the editorial team will usually be notified and in those cases, the team will propose a codename for the project. There will be a very short list of who knows the confidential information.
Before you ask, Newman hasn’t heard any of the “Tortured Poets” music, but in many other cases, she and her team will be able to sample it.
“We always try to think deeply about the creative approach related to the concepts of the albums and what the artist is talking and feeling at the moment,” he says. “And then it’s a real collaboration with the artist’s team and sometimes directly with the artist about what feels right to them.”
Think about all the content that goes into a release: text, credits, lyrics, marketing campaigns, and billboards are just some of the elements. Some animations add movement to an album’s artwork, playlists that capture the essence of an 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 that invited fans to guess the song titles.
Apple Music News will interview artists and write articles before, during, and after a new release. Apple Music Radio host Zane Lowe interviewed Usher right after the Super Bowl halftime show announcement and also when the singer announced his new album “Coming Home.”
Storytelling is a key component of new music and the streaming service’s content is an extension of the album’s DNA. As the Apple Music team prepares for the April 19 release of “The Tortured Poets Department,” they’ll be using a white, black, and beige aesthetic in hopes of fully capturing the essence of Swift’s poetic era.
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