Like most brands, Community Music Schools of Toronto (CMST) is tapping into Taylor-mania, with Taylor Swift currently playing six sold-out shows on her Eras Tour at the Rogers Centre. To coincide with the occasion, the CMST’s latest campaign, simply called “$19.89”, is asking Torontonians to donate the namesake of her album to help fund free music education.

But unlike other brands currently attaching their names to Swift, the school has a real, direct connection to the mega music star, CMST executive director Richard Marsella tells strategy. “Many of her fans know about the association between Taylor and the school, but many others don’t – so we thought this was a smart time to raise awareness about that connection,” he says.

The connection dates back to 2019, when Swift used a sample of “Summer in the South” from CMST’s 2018 album Parkscapes on her song “It’s Nice To Have A Friend.” On the one hand, there was this “cool idea” of creating a sample library incorporation kids from the school, and on the other hand, “this unfathomable outcome” of being sampled by the world’s biggest popstar, Marsella says.

“It’s crazy to think that there’s a Taylor Swift song that wouldn’t exist without CMST – and we’re hoping that might prompt some of her fans to consider giving $19.89 to support the kind of programming that reminds kids that anything is possible,” he says. “We’ve always seen music as a way to transform children’s lives, so if anything, it didn’t necessarily change who we are at our core but validated what we’ve always known to be true, on the largest scale possible.”

From a long-term perspective, Parkscapes as a program has been woven into the curriculum of CMST, going from a one-off album to a recurring creative initiative that gives students the chance to experience the process of recording and creating in a real studio environment while collaborating with professional producers and musicians, Marsella explains.

Since its first volume, CSMT has created albums with Matthew Tavares (formerly of Bad Bad Not Good), Regent Park’s own Francis Got Heat and most recently Pup the Band (coming soon).

In partnership with agency LG2, CSMT’s campaign rolled out across Toronto alongside the opening of the artist’s two-week stint in the city as a series of digital out-of-home and social media posts that point to a landing page at give1989.ca. Media placements were donated by Astral Media.