Taylor Swift and American Express Bring Fans a First-Of-Its-Kind, 360⁰ Immersive Video Experience for Her New Single, “Blank Space”

Today, in collaboration with global superstar and seven-time Grammy® award-winner, Taylor Swift, American Express unveiled the American Express Unstaged Taylor Swift Blank Space Experience App giving fans everywhere a never-before-seen, 360⁰ immersive music video experience for her new single, “Blank Space,” from her critically-acclaimed album, 1989. The app premiered on ABC’s Good Morning America this morning and the video premiered yesterday across the online, TV and mobile apps of Vevo, the world’s leading all-premium music video and entertainment platform with over seven billion monthly views globally. The video will also be available at YouTube.com/TaylorSwiftVEVO.

Screen Capture of American Express Unstaged Taylor Swift Blank Space Experience App (Photo: Business Wire)

Available for download now at no charge in the App Store on iTunes and in the Google Play Store for compatible smart phones and tablets, the American Express Unstaged Taylor Swift Blank Space Experience App adds a new level of interactivity to Swift’s renowned storytelling in her music videos. The centerpiece of the app is the a 360⁰ video experience that follows the official video for Swift’s new single, “Blank Space,” which is No. 1 on the HOT 100 chart. Within the interactive experience, fans can follow along with the video while exploring the setting of the video by moving their phone or tablet and tapping certain elements in the video interface.

“With American Express, we have been able to create something that no one has been able to give to fans before...a 360-degree, interactive experience where everyone can explore the storyland of the "Blank Space" video,” said Swift. “This video experience is really fun because we have hidden items in the rooms for fans to find, look at and test their ability to find other items. Joining up with America Express to bring this experience as a gift to the fans has been so amazing. This is all for them, and I hope that the they will have a lot of fun with it.”

“The introduction of the American Express Unstaged App is the next evolution of this digitally enabled platform, bringing it to completely new level of interactivity,” said Deborah Curtis, vice president of entertainment and sports marketing at American Express. “And we could not think of a better partner to launch it with than Taylor Swift. She is an innovator in music and is giving her fans the chance to become the director and navigator of their own experience. This is just another example of using major digital innovation to serve Card Members and music fans with incredible music experiences.”

Within the 360⁰ video experience in the app, fans can explore the video’s six different rooms, and meet the characters connected to the storyline that only appear in this interactive version of the “Blank Space” video. American Express and Swift will share clues with fans through notes and photos from her personal and professional life that are hidden within the app experience. For example, in the course of following Swift and her fictional love interest throughout the video, fans can tap-open a book on a coffee table to find personal photos of Swift from her younger years that have never been shared before.

In addition to the 360o interactive experience in the Unstaged app, fans can access the official “Blank Space” video directed by Joseph Kahn and behind-the-scenes footage of the video shoot which are available at amexunstaged.com, link to Swift’s recently-announced tour schedule, link to other American Express Unstaged performances, and other features.

American Express also announced that American Express® Card Members can purchase tickets to Taylor Swift’s upcoming tour, “The 1989 World Tour” (produced and promoted by AEG Live & The Messina Group which kicks off on May 5, 2015 in Tokyo, Japan) in advance of the general public. Information on tickets can be found at americanexpress.com/entertainment and TaylorSwift.com.

Since its creation in 2010 in partnership with Vevo and YouTube, American Express Unstaged has been a creative collaboration between an artist and a director to deliver a unique music experience for fans through the use of digital technology. Previous Unstaged events partnered high profile music artists and directors such as Pharrell Williams and Spike Lee, Kings of Leon and Fred Armisen, Vampire Weekend and Steve Buscemi, The Killers and Werner Herzog, Usher and Hamish Hamilton and Kenny Chesney and Jonathan Demme, and many more.

For more information about American Express and music, visit amexunstaged.com and americanexpress.com/entertainment.

About Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift is the only artist in history to have three million-selling weeks (2010's Speak Now, 2012's RED and 2014's 1989). Taylor is a global superstar and seven-time GRAMMY winner, and the youngest winner in history of the music industry's highest honor, the GRAMMY Award for Album of the Year. She is the first artist since the Beatles (and the only female artist in history) to log six or more weeks at #1 in the U.S. with three consecutive studio albums. Taylor has an album on Rolling Stone's prestigious The 50 Greatest Albums of All Time (by women) list, Time magazine has named her one the of the 100 Most Influential People in the world, and she is Billboard's youngest-ever Woman of the Year and the only artist to have been awarded this honor twice. Taylor has career record sales in excess of 30 million albums and more than 80 million song downloads worldwide, and has had singles top both the pop and country radio charts around the globe. Taylor's album RED, released two years ago, sold more than 1.2 million copies in the U.S. in its first week. The only other album to sell more than RED was her critically acclaimed fifth studio album, 1989, the highest selling release since 2002 and the only album to go platinum in 2014. 1989 sold almost 1.3 million albums release week topping Billboard's Top 200 charts and iTunes’ sales charts in 95 countries on its release. "Shake It Off,” the first single from 1989, topped Billboard’s Pop, HotAC and Hot 100 charts and has earned double Platinum-status by the RIAA for exceeding sales of two million downloads in the U.S. Her current single “Blank Space,” immediately skyrocketed to the top of the Hot 100 and iTunes singles chart on its debut. For more information please visit TaylorSwift.com or follow her on Facebook, Google +, Instagram, LINE, Tumblr and Twitter.

About American Express

American Express is a global services company, providing customers with access to products, insights and experiences that enrich lives and build business success. Learn more at americanexpress.com and connect with us on facebook.com/americanexpress, foursquare.com/americanexpress, linkedin.com/companies/american-express, twitter.com/americanexpress and youtube.com/americanexpress.

Key links to products and services: charge and credit cards, business credit cards, travel services, gift cards, prepaid cards, merchant services, corporate card and business travel.

About Vevo

Vevo is the world’s leading all-premium music video and entertainment platform with over seven billion monthly views globally. Vevo brings a library of 100,000 HD music videos, exclusive original programming and live concert performances to everyone on the planet who loves music. Viewers can watch on-demand through Vevo.com, the mobile web and apps for mobile/tablets and TVs, or through Vevo TV, the always-on broadcast-style linear music channels built by expert human programmers. Additionally, Vevo syndicates its catalogue to dozens of sites across the web giving music fans the option to view their favorite programming anywhere, anytime. It is Vevo’s massive scale and reach that has attracted more than 900 brand marketers around the globe since its launch in 2009.

Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/multimedia/home/20141111006252/en/