Taylor Swift fans are viewing the ‘ME!’ video at a rate of 4 million views an hour
Taylor Swift’s two-year break hasn’t affected her fire-power any.
The colourful video for new single ‘ME!’, featuring Brendon Urie of Panic! At The Disco, has hit 56.9 million streams in its first 24 hours.
By Sunday morning (Australian time) the video had reached 80.4 million views.
According to Fortune magazine, it is picking up approximately 4 million views per hour.
The song is also currently the top-selling song on iTunes.
The 29-year old’s past music has also set new records but it is possible that a greater impetus for the views is to unlock easter eggs that the singer-songwriter has scattered throughout the video.
She tweeted: “So… the new album title is actually revealed somewhere in the video AND so is the title of the second single, but I haven’t seen people finding them yet…”
Also creating a social media buzz are the explanations behind the easter egg appearance of a snake, a proposal and her new (and third) kitten within.
Swift’s ‘Look What You Made Me Do’ was the most viewed video in its first 24 hours, with 43.2 million hits – breaking the 36 million record set by Psy’s ‘Gentleman’ in 2013.
Since then, Ariana Grande’s ‘Thank U, Next’ took over with 55.4 million but that has been overtaken by K-Pop acts BLACKPINK with 56.7 million and currently BTS with 74.6 million for ‘Boy With Luv’.
‘ME!’, which she describes as a song about “embracing your individuality”, is her first release since she left Big Machine Records and moved to Universal Music Group last November.
That the snake in the video explodes into a butterfly indicates she is throwing open the door to a new and happy chapter.
A picture of the Dixie Chicks on the wall could also suggest they’re on the new album.
On Friday, Swift was confirmed to open the 2019 Billboard Music Awards on May 1 in Las Vegas, performing the single, where she will be joined by Urie.
Urie will later also perform ‘Hey Look Ma, I Made It’ with Panic! At The Disco later in the night.
Recently Spotify revealed that Australia is the 4th highest country in the world for Taylor Swift streams.
In front were the US, UK, and the Philippines.
Behind Australia were Brazil, Canada, Mexico, Germany, Indonesia and Japan.
None of the Australian cities made it into the Top 10 cities for Tay-Tay streaming.
Highest was Quezon City in the Philippines, followed by Mexico City London, Chicago, Los Angeles, São Paulo, Jakarta, Dallas, New York City and Atlanta.