Taylor Swift and the art of building a fanbase

Fandom is about more than just content. Audiences consider the music they listen to as reflective of who they are, comparable to the clothes they wear or the places they go. Fans consider their scenes to be communities of like-minded people where they can be themselves. When asked what would most likely drive them to pay for a subscription to their favourite artist, fans were more likely to choose ‘social clout’ reasons, like early or exclusive access to music and merch, than access to a community or even direct communication with the artist themselves. 

Look no further than Taylor Swift and her army of devoted fans as a prime example of these behaviours and preferences in motion.

Taylor Swift’s hardcore fans will put her music in their bios, buy her limited merch, compete for tickets, discuss her albums on TikTok, and have been known to descend en masse on her critics online – much like Beyoncé’s ‘BeyHive’ or the BTS ‘A.R.M.Y’. All three fanbases are self-titled, avidly supportive, and part of a large yet nebulous community that responds collectively to calls-to-action, be that streaming certain songs or crashing ticket vendor sites (by accident). 

Swift has curated this fan ferocity through direct engagement. She is well known for ‘Taylurking’, or ‘stalking’ her own fans on social media and engaging with them there. Her latest tour featured callouts to TikTok discourse and a viral dance as part of her choreography. When ticket sales for the tour were impacted by Ticketmaster becoming overwhelmed by demand, resulting in millions of fans unable to buy them, a whole congressional hearing was launched over the company’s role in the live music industry – not specifically because of Swift herself, but because, among other reasons, her fanbase is so large and so avid, the debacle was too large to ignore. 

For Swift fans, it is about far more than just the music: it is about the artist herself, the community, and the social clout of being part of a bigger picture. 

Roles

This report is relevant to the following roles:

Fandom Audience Insight