Yet in the three years since Ms. Swift’s last album, the music industry has changed so drastically that much of the old playbook no longer applies.
.. In 2014, when Ms. Swift released her last album, “1989,” streaming accounted for only 23 percent of music consumption in the United States, according to Nielsen, and it was still seen as unproven format. Ms. Swift snubbed Spotify as a “grand experiment” with unappealing economics, and “1989” sold 1,287,000 copies in its first week, better than any album in the previous 12 years.
.. Now, streaming is 63 percent of the market, and the success of subscription platforms like Spotify and Apple Music have turned the fortunes of the entire industry around.
.. Goldman Sachs valued Universal Music, a Vivendi division, at $23 billion, almost triple the size of a takeover bid four years ago.
.. partnerships with UPS, whose trucks will be decorated with her face, and Target, which will carry special editions of the album featuring print magazines
.. Ms. Swift’s use of Verified Fan, a Ticketmaster system intended to identify dedicated fans and weed out bots and scalpers