Taylor Swift is plotting, well, something. That’s not unusual for the trademark-happy pop star, who hasn’t yet found an element of her persona that she couldn’t turn into merchandise. But today there’s been a flurry of news—and confusion—as to what she’s got up her sleeve. Billboard now reports that her TAS Rights Management, LLC filed a whopping nine trademarks for “Swifties” last month; breaking that down, the publication explains that she may be developing “a personalized fan club app complete with exclusive merchandise, audio/video/live performances, and the possibility of a mobile game.”
That’s not, as TMZ indicated earlier, a streaming service aimed at competing with her mortal enemy Spotify. Swift, as you may recall, removed her music from that platform in 2014, saying, “I’m not willing to contribute my life’s work to an experiment that I don’t feel fairly compensates the writers, producers, artists, and creators of this music.” She has, however, since shilled for Apple Music—where her catalog is available—having made amends with another one-time foe.
As Billboard notes, Swift also appears to be establishing some sort of education program, given that one of the trademarks is linked to “classes, conferences, coaching, lectures, camps, retreats, seminars, educational summits, workshops, self-guided classes and self-guided online courses of instruction.” So it seems a Swift University, where we assume the classes include how to write a hit song, make a surprised face, and assemble a legion of celebrity friends, may be up and running in the near future.