“Are you ready?” is whatTaylor Swiftasks at the end of the preview that AT&Tannounced at their presentation yesterdayfor all their new services. As reported a few weeks ago, Taylorsigned a multi-year deal with AT&Tand, at the time, it was only confirmed that she’d be performing at their pre-Super Bowl party on the Saturday night before the game. But everyone knew there had to be more because she wouldn’t be getting involved in an event that’s not the main event if it wasn’t for big money and big development. We’re now seeing what that might look like.

AT&T is acquiring Time Warner and DirecTV. DirecTV Now is the video streaming service which launches tomorrow with partnerships in place with most of the major content producers including Disney, HBO, NBCUniversal, Viacom, etc. The idea here is that if you’re an AT&T subscriber, you’ll be able to watch TV, any TV, on your device. AT&T’s plan is not to be known as simply a phone company but an entertainment provider. And one of DirecTV’s initial features will be Taylor Swift Now, described during the presentation as “a new video experience only on AT&T”, that will feature “unique videos, concert performances, behind-the-scenes footage and more from the Taylor Swift archives”. Taylor Swift Now will debut with 13 chapters. As you know, 13 is her favourite number.


After the announcement, Taylor’s fans noticed that she’s introduced a new font:

#tayloralisonswift #taylorswiftNOW #taylorswift #taylorswift13

A photo posted by Karlie Kloss (@tayloralisonswft13_) on


The suggestion here is that a new font signals a new era. And if we’re talking about Taylor Swift, eras are defined by music so we’re back to the question: when and where is the new music. The AT&T announcement makes it clear now why there was no album release in October, when she typically releases. Now that more elements of this AT&T deal have been revealed though, does that mean that an album is imminent? In my opinion, Taylor Swift Now functions better as a promotional tool than a launch tool. I’m not sure that that’s where she’s going to drop the news that the album is coming and what day, but it’s one of the places she’ll direct people to go after the news comes out. Which is…

Well, she f-cking loves that people keep asking. In her mind, with all this new business, it’s her way of staying ahead on the trail, keeping us guessing. The thing about Taylor though is while I do care about when she’s coming out with new songs and I do want to know what she’ll be up to, I’m never worried that my curiosity won’t be satisfied. Does that make sense? Taylor Swift and, I guess, Taylor Swift Now, will give you all the answers eventually. I’m hoping though that eventually she’ll figure out how to hold some of them back.