On July 24, 2020, Taylor Swift announced the surprise release of her eighth studio album, “folklore”, which came out hours later (at midnight).
Over the years she has continued to push the boundaries with everything from her albums, her album marketing, and her tours.

She has always done this with her fans at the core of her thoughts, knowing that they will see themselves in her lyrics, try reading into the Easter eggs that she sprinkles into the lead up to album releases or within the actual lyrics, or a host of other ways.

One big area that her fans always obsess over is her favorite number being 13. You see, Taylor’s birthday was on December 13th and she has always involved the the number in some way within her albums. At times it has been having 13 songs. With the release of “folklore”, she released it on 7/24 which translates into 7+2+4 = 13.

This is but one example of how she pushes her boundaries while keeping her fanbase engaged. To anyone else they would have just read it as nothing more than a date but to her true fans they picked up on that quickly.

Another key area that has really set her apart from other artists is how much well thought out and intentional the content she releases along with her albums are. With “folklore”, at launch she released:

• The streaming version of the album (Spotify)

• The official video of cardigan

• All 16 official lyric videos

• Available on CD, vinyl, and cassette (don’t ask me why on cassette)

• For the CDs, there are 8 unique versions, per her website, with each containing (available only for the first week):

  • A bonus song called “the lakes”

  • 1 of 8 unique, collectible covers

  • 1 of 8 unique, collectible back covers

  • 1 of 8 unique disc covers

  • 1 of 8 collectible album lyric booklets (each version contains 5 unique photos and artwork)

  • A digital download of the standard version of the album

• A variety of official “folklore” merchandise

While official first week physical album sales aren’t available yet, the album has already smashed virtually every record in the history of Spotify.

What Can You Learn From Taylor’s Album Release

Though you are not sitting on top of the music industry like she is, that doesn’t mean that you can’t push your physical and mental boundaries. Similar to this album release, you can and should be doing things that:

• Push yourself to work harder

• Be your own competition

• Set you apart from your competition

• Stay top of mind

• Separate yourself from the pack

These are ways that will help you to become Built Unstoppable.