OSP: Taylor Swift CSP - Audience and Industries

The final part of our Taylor Swift case study explores Audience and Industry contexts.

The exam could focus on anything from the changing nature of digital audiences to the regulation and financial power of social media giants.

Notes from the lesson: Audience

There is a lot of interesting demographic data regarding Taylor Swift's fans:

• Overall, Swifties skew female, Democratic, millennial, and likely live in the suburbs
• A survey from American polling company Morning Consult found that 53% of Americans identify as Swift fans - meaning over half of all Americans are potentially in this audience
• Race/ethnicity: just under three-quarters White, 13% Black, 9% Asian. 
• Income: Around half make under $50,000 a year; the other half is divided between $50k-100k and $100k+
• 55% are millennials, 21% Gen X (Gen Z not covered by this survey as it was only 18+) 
• A YouGov poll found a pretty equal gender split - 52% female, 48% male 
• YouGov also found Swifties like Ed Sheeran, Lady Gaga and Adele
• Swifties pay attention to ads more than the average (56% versus 38% general population)
• They also trust influencers more than the average population (42% v 27%) 

Swift's fanbase also skews very close to the overall demographics of the US population which shows what a mainstream sensation she has become. Overall American population demographics (2020 figures): 

• Men 49.2%
• Women 50.8%
• White alone: 57.8%
• Black or African American alone: 12.4%
• Asian alone: 6.0%
• Some other race alone: 0.9%
• Generation Z: Approximately 23% of the US population (roughly half of which are legal adults)
• Millennials: Approximately 24% of the US population
• Generation X: Approximately 21% of the US population
• Baby Boomers: Approximately 28% of the US population
• About 29% of US households had an income of $100,000 or more per year in 2020.
• About 28% of US households had an income between $50,000 and $99,999 per year in 2020.

How Taylor Swift uses social media to connect with her audience - parasocial relationships: 

 

Taylor Swift: Voice of the Millennials or Generation Z?

Generations:

• Generation X: Born between 1965 – 1980
• Millennials / Generation Y: Born between 1981 – 1995
• Generation Z (or iGen): Born 1996 – 2010

Taylor Swift is a Millennial but most of her fans are Generation Z. Which generation does she best reflect? 

Industries

Social media companies overwhelmingly make their money through advertising – promoted or paid-for posts.

For Facebook and Instagram, the amount of data the parent company Meta holds about users (everything from the school they attended to their postcode) means adverts can be micro-targeted which is hugely appealing to advertisers.

Social media companies: in focus

Twitter

• Twitter was started by Jack Dorsey in 2006. It has over 200 million active users worldwide. 
• Twitter’s revenue is around $3 billion. 
• Twitter makes most of its money through advertising – promoted tweets or ‘trend takeovers’.
• In 2022 Elon Musk bought Twitter for $44 BILLION and has since added controversial new features.
• Twitter is now coming under pressure from rivals including Meta’s Threads and has been criticised for promoting hate and extreme political views.

Instagram

• Instagram is an image and video sharing site launched in 2010. 
• In 2012 it was bought by Facebook for $1 billion. Facebook and Instagram’s parent company is Meta – a global conglomerate owned by Mark Zuckerberg.
• Instagram has over 2 billion active users worldwide.
• Instagram revenue is more than $40 BILLION a year.
• Taylor Swift has 280m+ Instagram followers.

Taylor Swift and TikTok

In 2024 there was a dispute between TikTok and UMG (Swift's record label) regarding licensing the use of UMG artist songs in TikTok videos.

It was eventually resolved via a new deal but this nonetheless demonstrates the power social media companies now have across different types of media - including the music industry.

Regulation: Livingstone & Lunt

Livingstone and Lunt suggest that the British media landscape has prioritised consumer choice and commercial interests when it comes to regulation.

This fits with neoliberalist ideology.

Neoliberalism: a political approach associated with free-market capitalism prioritising free trade, globalisation and deregulation.

Livingstone & Lunt: global media regulation

Livingstone and Lunt argue the global media landscape has made it difficult for UK regulators:

• Online content has increased at a rate far faster than regulators can react to.
• User-generated content (e.g. social media) means tech giants do not technically publish their own content.
• Ofcom can’t impact on American tech giants. 
• Online anonymity makes enforcement difficult.

2023 Online Safety Bill

The 2023 Online Safety Bill is attempting to regulate the internet – but has been heavily amended and criticised as it makes its way through Parliament. 

Watch this BBC News interview on the topic: 

Watch: Channel 4 debate on regulation

Watch this Channel 4 News debate featuring the President of messaging service Signal on end-to-end encryption.

Where do you stand on this debate? 

Taylor Swift: Audience and Industries blog tasks

Create a new blogpost called 'Taylor Swift: Audience and Industries blog tasks' and work through the following to complete your case study.

Audience

Background and audience wider reading

Read this Guardian feature on stan accounts and fandom. Answer the following questions:

1) What examples of fandom and celebrities are provided in the article?

2) Why did Taylor Swift run into trouble with her fanbase? 

3) Do stan accounts reflect Clay Shirky's ideas regarding the 'end of audience'? How? 

Read this Conversation feature on the economics of Taylor Swift fandom. Answer the following questions: 

1) What do Taylor Swift fans spend their money on? 

2) How does Swift build the connection with her fans? Give examples from the article.

3) What have Swifties done to try and get Taylor Swift's attention online? 

4) Why is fandom described as a 'hierarchy'? 

5) What does the article suggest is Swift's 'business model'? 

Taylor Swift: audience questions and theories

Work through the following questions to apply media debates and theories to the Taylor Swift CSP. You may want to go back to your previous blogpost or your A3 annotated booklet for examples. 

1) Is Taylor Swift's website and social media constructed to appeal to a particular gender or audience?

2) What opportunities are there for audience interaction in Taylor Swift's online presence and how controlled are these? 

3) How does Taylor Swift's online presence reflect Clay Shirky’s ‘End of Audience’ theories? 

4) What effects might Taylor Swift's online presence have on audiences? Is it designed to influence the audience’s views on social or political issues or is this largely a vehicle to promote Swift's work? 

5) Applying Hall’s Reception theory, what might be a preferred and oppositional reading of Taylor Swift's online presence? 

Industries

How social media companies make money

Read this analysis of how social media companies make money and answer the following questions:

1) How many users do the major social media sites boast?

2) What is the main way social media sites make money? 

3) What does ARPU stand for and why is it important for social media companies? 

4) Why has Meta spent huge money acquiring other brands like Instagram and WhatsApp? 

5) What other methods do social media sites have to generate income e.g. Twitter Blue? 

Regulation of social media

Read this BBC News article on a report recommending social media regulation. Answer the following questions:

1) What suggestions does the report make? Pick out three you think are particularly interesting. 

2) Who is Christopher Wylie? 

3) What does Wylie say about the debate between media regulation and free speech? 

4) What is ‘disinformation’ and do you agree that there are things that are objectively true or false? 

5) Why does Wylie compare Facebook to an oil company? 

6) What does it suggest a consequence of regulating the big social networks might be? 

7) What has Instagram been criticised for?

8) Can we apply any of these criticisms or suggestions to Taylor Swift? For example, should Taylor Swift have to explicitly make clear when she is being paid to promote a company or cause? 

A/A* extension tasks

Read Deconstructing Taylor in Media Magazine MM51 which covers representations, postmodernism and the relationship between Swift and her fans. You can find this in our Media Magazine archive.

Read this Guardian article on teenagers and phone addiction. Do you recognise what it is discussing?

Read this Guardian article on the Online Harms Bill. What does it suggest regarding regulation of social media companies?

This Guardian article also explores the mental health implications of social media. Do you think that strict regulation of social media should happen?

Complete for homework - due date on Google Classroom.