TikTok introduces interactive Taylor Swift feature ahead of London shows
TikTok is strengthening its relationship with pop star Taylor Swift by unveiling a unique interactive experience to highlight Swift’s gigantic Eras Tour.
With the launch of #TSTheErasTour, fans can win album-branded profile frames for each of the star’s albums, collect digital friendship beads to create a TikTok friendship bracelet, watch video highlights from each concert, and listen to custom playlists.
“There is perhaps no better example today of an artist who has a deep connection with her global fan base than Taylor Swift,” Ole Obermann, TikTok’s global head of music business development, said via email. “We wanted to create an interactive in-app artist experience that truly celebrates and shares the joy of her live shows.”
More: Taylor Swift’s music is back on TikTok a week before the release of “Tortured Poets”
The move shows that there is no hostility between the global star and the app, following a rocky start to the year between Swift’s label Universal Music Group (UMG) and ByteDance, the company that owns TikTok.
Three days before the Grammys in February, UMG removed its artists’ music from the app, halting negotiations and preventing TikTokers from posting videos and photo slideshows to a wide range of popular songs by artists including Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, Bad Bunny and Adele.
Two months later, and a week before the release of Swift’s 10th album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” the singer’s music from Swift’s own albums and re-recordings of “Taylor’s Version” resurfaced on the platform, leading to speculation that her team had struck a deal with the social media platform.
Obermann added that TikTok wants to “create an experience that we hope will forge even more connections between Taylor and the millions of Swifties around the world.”
Swift’s account has 33 million followers. An entire social community is dedicated to the hashtag #SwiftTok, which has collected more than 2.6 million videos.
The in-app experience is part of a growing initiative by Taylor Nation, Swift’s internal marketing team, to bring the singer’s brand to even more outlets.
In April, the singer joined Threads to exclusively announce the second half of the double album, Tortured Poets. Her team added a Be Real account and they also shot a YouTube Shorts video introducing the #ForAFortnightChallenge along with the “Fortnight” music video.
TikTok users will be able to see how the featured feature works during Swift’s sold-out London shows on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
On Thursday, Taylor Nation posted: “As we celebrate the European leg of #TSTheErasTour, head to @tiktok every week to unlock exclusive profile frames and virtual friendship bracelet beads! Then post a TikTok using the tour and show-specific hashtags for a chance to be featured in the search hub. 💚”
Follow Bryan West, USA TODAY Network’s Taylor Swift reporter, on Instagram, TikTok and X as @BryanWestTV.
Don’t miss any news from Taylor Swift; sign up for the free weekly newsletter “This Swift Beat.”
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