What’s Taylor Swift been doing the past few years, beyond working on her upcoming album and performing for her millions of doting fans? Developing apps, of course.
The pop superstar shared a first look at her new app, “The Swift Life,” on Wednesday, which promises to give T-Swizzle fans even more of their beloved singer. The app will offer “exclusive” content, pics, and even a chance to directly engage with Swift — or a handler of hers posing as the “Shake It Off” songstress.
“Hey guys, it’s Taylor, I’ve got something pretty awesome we’ve been working on for a while that I wanted to share with you,” said Swift in a video preview of the app. (If you’re having trouble picturing Swift doing A/B tests with “The Swift Life,” you’re not alone.) “I think you guys are really going to like this. I mean, I hope. It would preferable if you did.”
The app is being made by Glu Mobile, the company behind Kim Kardashian’s hit app. Partnering with a powerhouse like Swift doesn’t automatically mean success, however. Glu has also launched apps with Katy Perry, Britney Spears, and Nick Minaj — which all bombed.
6 Tech Giants Shaking Up News, From Jeff Bezos to Laurene Powell Jobs (Photos)
Tech leaders are increasingly intertwined with the news business. While some want to support old properties, one set out to destroy a new one. Here they are.
Jeff Bezos – Washington Post
The Amazon founder purchased the Washington Post in 2013 for $250 million in cash. President Trump has called the paper the “Amazon Washington Post.”
The Facebook co-founder purchased The New Republic in 2012, becoming executive chairman and publisher. However, he sold the venerable political magazine to Win McCormack in 2016, saying he "underestimated the difficulty of transitioning an old and traditional institution into a digital media company in today’s quickly evolving climate."
The eBay founder is a well-known philanthropist who created First Look Media, a journalism venture behind The Intercept. Inspired by Edward Snowden's leaks. Omidyar teamed up with journalists Glenn Greenwald, Jeremy Scahill and Laura Poitras to launch the website “dedicated to the kind of reporting those disclosures required: fearless, adversarial journalism.”
The PayPal co-founder doesn’t own a news organization, but he makes this list because he essentially ended one -- Gawker -- proving once again the power of an angry billionaire. Thiel secretly bankrolled Hulk Hogan’s sex-tape lawsuit against Gawker Media because he was upset that the website once outed him as gay. Hogan won the defamation lawsuit against the site that sent its parent company into bankruptcy, and Gawker.com is no longer operating.
OK, so Facebook isn’t technically a news organization… yet. However, the company is preparing to launch its much-anticipated lineup of original content later this summer, and there are also signs that it's on the verge of becoming an even bigger media platform.
Campbell Brown, Head of News Partnerships at Facebook, confirmed last week it’s developing a subscription service for publishers willing to post articles directly to Facebook Instant Articles, rather than their native websites.
Tech is increasingly intertwined with news, for better or worse
Tech leaders are increasingly intertwined with the news business. While some want to support old properties, one set out to destroy a new one. Here they are.