Swiftian Universe

Taylor Swift’s New App Comes Right from the Kim Kardashian Playbook

Please welcome the Taymoji.

The heat around her single “Look What You Made Me Do” and the briefly revived Katy Perry feud has cooled off in a fall with, to put it mildly, a lot else going on. But Taylor Swift is still on the promo circuit, preparing to release her new album, Reputation, on November 10. In the meantime, she’s been sure to remind the world of her album’s imminent drop through cryptic Instagram videos, college football games, and UPS commercials, to name a few. Now her self-promotion is soaring to Kardashian-worthy heights with the launch of “The Swift Life ™” from Glu Mobile Inc., the same company that brought you the Kim Kardashian video game and the Kendall and Kylie Jenner game.

In a video announcing the app, Swift says that she’s got something “pretty awesome that we’ve been working on for a while that I want to share with you.” Cue a 30-second video of various iPhone screens that show Swift interacting with her fans via posts, videos, and announcements.

If this seems vague, it kind of is. A press release on Business Wire clarified things a bit more saying that the new app will allow the Swift devoted to connect with each other and with Swift. Like a Facebook or Twitter post, fans can also like each other’s comments and those that the singer drops in. New songs, videos, and photos will be added each week for those who download the app, available in the app store later this year. What the app costs, if anything, was not revealed in the initial announcement.

“We’ve worked closely with Taylor and her team to bring her creative vision to life,” said Nick Earl, Glu’s President and C.E.O., in a statement Wednesday. “The result is a deeply social environment where Taylor and her fans are able to better connect with one another while expressing themselves in an interactive community. We look forward to its worldwide launch later this year.”

In the most Kardashian-esque move of all, Swift is also getting her own set of emojis—pardon us, Taymojis. Though Kardashian is likely still high up on Swift’s enemies list, the singer can’t help but recognize brand-building genius at work. And though her direct interactions with fans have cooled down a bit in a year when she’s considerably reduced her public persona, Swift still has a devoted, highly interactive fan base. Whatever those fans pay to be part of The Swift Life is likely nothing compared to what Swift makes from, say, a UPS partnership, but it’s a much more powerful way to stay relevant in an ever-fickle music industry.

“I think you guys are really gonna like this,” she concludes the video. “I mean, I hope. It would be . . . preferable if you did.”