Taylor Swift breaks multiple streaming records with 'ME!' music video
'ME!' marks Swift's biggest 24-hour YouTube debut to date, and the second-biggest debut of any artist on the service overall
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Your support makes all the difference.Taylor Swift has smashed multiple streaming records with the debut of her new music video for “ME!”, the first single from her forthcoming seventh album.
According to a release from YouTube published on Saturday, the pop star’s video – which stars Panic! At the Disco frontman Brendon Urie – achieved a record-breaking 65.2m views within the first 24 hours of its release.
This makes Swift the solo and female artist with the biggest 24-hour debut on YouTube to date.
It also marks the biggest 24-hour debut of her career, followed by the 43.2m views achieved by her “Look What You Made Me Do” video. “ME!” also received more likes in its first day than any of Swift's earlier music video releases.
Her numbers bested Ariana Grande’s previous record of 55m views for “Thank U, Next”. She also boasts the second-biggest 24-hour debut overall, with K-pop group BTS in first place for their “Boy With Love” video, featuring Halsey.
Swift is currently one of just eight musicians who have over 30 million subscribers on her YouTube channel.
Over on Amazon, she broke two records for the most first-day streams and on-demand voice requests with Alexa than any other single to debut on Amazon Music.
Swift acknowledged the YouTube record on Twitter, writing: GUYS!! YOU DID THIS!!!! CANNOT STOP SMILING. And I’m not trying to be loud but 65.2 million views... ?? and 6+5+2=..." (Swift's lucky number is 13.)
Fans are currently trying to guess the title of Swift's seventh album after she revealed that several clues are hidden in the "ME!" video. See why we think it could be titled Kaleidoscope, here.
In a review of the new single, The Independent praised the drastic switch from the sound on Swift's previous album Reputation and said it marked a "bright new era" for the pop star.
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