Is depriving the streaming platforms of your new song wise in 2023, at a time when it has never been easier to exchange content on Twitter, Instagram or TikTok? You’re Losing Me by Taylor Swift, exclusive to the CD version, is breaking web sharing records.
“Midnights (The Til Dawn Edition)”. May 24, Taylor Swift has announced the release of a reissue of her album Midnights, published in October 2022. The singer, who is known to be very committed to the issue of copyright (she boycotted Spotify for a long time and convinced Apple Music in 2015 to better remunerate artists), decided to reserve a part deluxe edition to her fans ready to buy the CD version, probably because she knows that many people follow it and that streaming makes less money. The Verge says that an exclusive track from this album, “You’re Losing Me”, is reserved for copies sold at his concert at MetLife Stadium (East Rutherford). Coincidence or not, it falls at a time when rumors of the separation of Taylor Swift and her companion are circulating. In short, everything looks like a marketing genius, to get thousands of people to buy a record they already own.
Can we really bet on a “CD only” strategy in 2023, when CD players are increasingly rare? Searching “You’re Losing Me” on Twitter answers the question. Extracts from the piece, even the full version, are circulating everywhere.
A hack that is not even voluntary
What’s interesting about this experience is that what looks like hacking isn’t really hacking. Most of the Taylor Swift fans who share the track seem to be doing it not to rebel against the singer, but because they want to share their love for her. All comment on the lyrics, express their feelings… The most popular tweets are not at all malicious against the singer, even if they undermine her strategy.
On pirate sites, it obviously only takes a few seconds to find the album “Midnights (The Til Dawn Edition)” in MP3 version, as well as the song “You’re Losing Me”. It’s no surprise, but it confirms that it is difficult to control leaks in 2023.
Should we see a failure in the communication of Taylor Swift? In the end, the singer’s most loyal fans will spend money to buy her album, while those who do not wish to buy it actively talk about it on social networks, which gives her publicity (not to mention the risk of resale on eBay, at exorbitant prices). Even though Taylor Swift failed to rehabilitate the CDs, it’s hard to consider her a loser. Ultimately, it is hard to imagine his record company not publishing the exclusive track on Spotify, Apple Music and Deezer, in a new reissue of Midnights.
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