Remember When a Country Act Tried a Social Media Reset?
Taylor Swift's move to delete all Instagram photos and many Twitter and Facebook posts comes with precedent. It didn't go too well for a country act that tried it one year ago.
Anxious to re-brand themselves, the Band Perry deleted everything on Twitter and Instagram and released a song called "Comeback Kid" to country radio. Singer Kimberly Perry would go from blonde to brunette and the sibling trio would emerge in all white — yes, they were all in on this pristine start to a new chapter.
Neil Perry had the idea, and it was him that spent hours individually deleting over 1,200 pictures on Instagram because you can't do it all at once like you can on Twitter (they also wiped their personal accounts clean).
“People thought accounts were getting hacked and things were going down,” Reid tells Taste of Country. “It was fun.”
It was fun, but it was an emphatic flop. "Comeback Kid" came across as a jaded jab at their old record label instead of the inspiring rise-from-the-ashes anthem they envisioned. Fans were confused if the group was remaining a country act or "going pop." The promised Heart + Beat album was scrapped for something called My Bad Imagination, which hasn't surfaced yet either.
That was to be their first pop album, and in announcing the transition the group again wiped their socials clean! This album's lead single "Stay in the Dark" also left a light impression and the trio's future remains unclear.
Swift's move to cleanse the palate is rumored to be a pre-emptive strike to also release new music. Sources tell Taste of Country it will be another pop album, released in the fall.
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