Taylor Swift has announced the release of the music video for Opalite. The track is a part of her latest studio album, The Life of a Showgirl.
On February 5, Taylor Swift made the announcement via her website, adding a countdown to the release of the Opalite music video. The video is set to drop at 8 AM ET on Friday, February 6, on Apple Music and Spotify. The Opalite video will drop on YouTube on Sunday, February 8, two days after the original release. Therefore, it won’t be available on YouTube on Friday itself.
A version of the Opalite video was screened during the album’s theatrical release party. However, it remains to be seen if the upcoming one will be the same as the one screened at the party. The song marks Taylor Swift’s second music video release from The Life of a Showgirl after she dropped The Fate of Ophelia video.
The original album, which was released on October 3 last year, includes 12 tracks. It debuted No 1 on the Billboard 200 with The Fate of Ophelia, making it to No 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Opalite grabbed the second spot on the list.
Alongside the music video release, Taylor Swift also announced that an Opalite 7-inch blue pearlescent vinyl will be available for purchase on her website for 48 hours. The orders will be shipped on February 9.
Why is Taylor Swift dropping Opalite on YouTube two days after Spotify and Apple Music?
Taylor Swift has not officially mentioned any reason behind dropping Opalite‘s music video earlier on Spotify and Apple Music and later on YouTube. However, according to Billboard, her decision appears to come after YouTube said in December last year that they will be withdrawing their streaming data from all of Billboard’s charts. This means YouTube streams will not be counted in Billboard’s chart methodology system.
YouTube’s change in policy came after Billboard also declared a major change in their policy. They announced in December that they will weigh subscription streams more than ad-supported streams in their chart methodology. The decision was to ensure they can better trace change in consumer behaviour and track increased revenue from streaming services.
This means that paid streams would be weighed against ad-supported streams on a 1:2.5 ratio, marking a change from the previous 1:3 ratio.
Taylor Swift’s latest album, The Life of a Showgirl, opened to mixed reviews from critics. Despite its stupendous commercial success, many considered the lyrics not on par with many of her highly-acclaimed previous works. In an interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, Taylor Swift opened up about the criticism over the album. She said:
“I welcome the chaos. The rule of show business is if it’s the first week of my album release and you are saying either my name or my album title, you’re helping. And art, I have a lot of respect for people’s subjective opinions on art. I’m not the art police. It’s like everybody is allowed to feel exactly how they want. And what our goal is as entertainers is to be a mirror.”
Despite the criticism, Taylor Swift stressed that she had a lot of fun making The Life of a Showgirl. The album marked her reunion with producers Max Martin and Shellback, who had last worked with her during 2017’s Reputation. Swift said:
“Making this album was really something I’ve been wanting to do for my entire career because I have always wanted to have fun in this type of way. To have fun, to exhibit mischief and be flirty and fun and make jokes and get to have that side of my personality, that’s a huge part of my personality.”
Further, Taylor Swift also claimed that what a listener is “going through in life” will explain whether one will relate to her music. She described how she has seen the perspective of many of her fans change over time about her albums.
“And what I often love seeing my fans say is, ‘I used to be someone who didn’t relate to Reputation. And now that I’ve been through some other things in my life, that’s my favorite album.’ Or, ‘I used to be a Fearless girlie, now I’m obsessed with Evermore.’ We’re doing this thing for keeps. I have such an eye on legacy when I’m making my music. I know what I made. I know I adore it, and I know that on the theme of what the Showgirl is, all of this is part of it,” she said.
Apart from her music, Taylor Swift has also had an eventful 2025 in her personal life. The singer announced her engagement to NFL tight-end Travis Kelce in October last year. She has yet to announce her wedding date.
Edited by Pratyasha Sarkar