Ryan Adams is getting plenty of social-media buzz for his decision to cover Taylor Swift’s ‘1989’ album in its entirety. Its official release is also getting some neat digital tactics, starting with Shazam.
Anyone tagging Adams’ cover of ‘Bad Blood’ sees a banner ad encouraging them to listen to his version of ‘Blank Space’ too. According to The Verge, the banner leads them to an unlisted Vevo video of the latter song, although it doesn’t sound like a barrel of pop thrills: “Adams has converted ‘Blank Space’ into a sullen, gloomy acoustic ballad backed by a string quartet. What started as a pop song now oozes despair,” as the article puts it.
Even so, it’s the latest example of Shazam being used to distribute music rather than simply to identify it. The social buzz – Adams and Swift are Twitter buddies – could drive the kind of engagement stats that Shazam can show to other labels and artists, to encourage them to follow suit. Fun extra fact: Adams’ ’1989’ is on Spotify, making it the only way to listen to the album on that streaming service.
Tools: platforms to help you reach new audiences
Tools: Kaiber
In the year or so since its launch, AI startup Kaiber has been making waves,…