Taylor Swift is mixing up the music industry once again.
The background: This week, the music artist announced that her song “Opalite” from “The Life of a Showgirl” will be debuting a new music video, released only to Spotify and Apple Music. It will be available on the music streaming platforms on Friday at 6 a.m. MST. The video will later be available on YouTube on Sunday.
What does it mean? Recently, there was a change to the way music videos chart. YouTube views no longer count toward Billboard’s charts, per a release from YouTube, so Swift is releasing the video on platforms where it will count toward the chart numbers.
- “YouTube’s withdrawal followed Billboard‘s Dec. 16 announcement of a change to chart methodology that will continue to weigh subscription streams more favorably than ad-supported streams, in a bid to better reflect changing consumer behaviors and the increased revenue derived from streaming in the industry,” Billboard reported.
The social media announcement: Swift announced the music video through her official fan website while also promoting a 7-inch vinyl version of the song “Opalite.”
- “It’s officially official, Opalite is Taylor’s new single! And if you go to http://TaylorSwift.com now, you can count down to the release of the MUSIC VIDEO on @Spotify Premium and @AppleMusic on Friday at 8am ET!” the post on X reads.
About “Opalite”: The song is the second single from “The Life of a Showgirl” album and, according to Variety, it “previously debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100.”
- Swifties believe the song is a reference to her fiance Travis Kelce.
- Some are speculating that he might be featured in the video.
- Kelce will be a guest on Kylie Kelce’s podcast “Not Gonna Lie with Kylie Kelce,” and fans shared hopes that he will talk about Swift and the video on the podcast episode, which will also be released on Friday.