Taylor Swift released her comeback single Look What You Made Me Do to iTunes and streaming services today. The track dropped late last night in the US (11.30pm ET).
Look What You Made Me Do is the lead single from her sixth album, Reputation, out on November 10. A “sneak peak” of the video will air on Good Morning America today.
Within two hours of release, the Vertigo-style lyric video was approaching 500,000 views on YouTube. (Update: by 9.30am, the track had reached No.1 on iTunes and notched up 2.3 million YouTube views). Look What You Made Me Do marks a departure from the pop of her 2014 album 1989. With a darker, Lorde-style sound and lyrical content, the track features orchestral elements alongside beats, dance production and a moody vocal. Bleachers’ Jack Antonoff is credited as co-writer of the song, which also interpolates elements of Right Said Fred’s I’m Too Sexy.
Spotify is streaming the track and has launched a marketing campaign around the release, including poster sites at Westfield Stratford shopping centre in London and London Underground sites.
Her previous album 1989 was a streaming holdout so the industry will be closely watching the Spotify strategy for Reputation. Following the appearance of the new single on the platform, Swift could be ready to utilise the streaming service’s new policy of allowing albums to be windowed on its premium service before appearing on the free tier. That release option is part of Spotify’s new deal with Universal Music Group. Swift’s label, Big Machine, is distributed by Universal. In the UK, she’s released on Virgin EMI.
Swift pulled her music from Spotify three years ago as a protest at the free tier. She later embraced the Apple Music premium service. The singer returned to Spotify this summer and now has more than 17 million monthly listeners. Swift’s return was first predicted in a Music Week interview with Spotify UK head of content programming George Ergatoudis last year.
Swift has been teasing fans in recent days by wiping her social media accounts and then posting a series of snake gifs. On Wednesday (August 25), the comeback was officially announced via her Twitter and Instagram accounts.
Swift is also releasing collectible magazines featuring poetry and paintings, handwritten lyrics and personal photos, as well as a copy of the album. Target is the exclusive US stockist; a UK release has not yet been confirmed.
FOLLOW 
