Taylor Swift released her entire back catalogue on streaming services yesterday, a move that just so happened to coincide with the release of Katy Perry’s latest album, WITNESS.
Swift’s camp said it was because of her album 1989 selling over 10 million albums worldwide and the RIAA's 100 Million Song Certification announcement, and she simply wanted to give back to the fans. However, many perceived the move as a sleight to Perry, with whom she has been locked in a longstanding feud.
Whatever the real reason for her return to streaming services like iHeartRadio, Spotify and TIDAL, Swift ended up outperforming Perry on Spotify yesterday. The “Bad Blood” singer received 1.6 million streams on the service, with the top songs being “Blank Space” and “Shake it Off”. Comparatively, Perry only received 1.1 million streams, with her top performers being “Swish Swish” and her new song “Pendulum”.
MORE: Taylor Swift Returns To Streaming Services As Katy Perry’s ‘WITNESS’ Is Released
This likely comes as a huge blow to Perry, who has been promoting her new album since February. In her latest interviews, the “Roar” singer has been responding to questions about her fallout with Swift. Speaking to the NME, Perry also addressed the decision to work with super producer Max Martin, who produced Swift’s diss track “Bad Blood”.
“I can’t speak for him, but he didn’t know [who ‘Bad Blood’ was about],” says Perry. “I’m not supposed to tell him what he can and can’t do. I’m very fair; I’m super-duper fair and I’m not one of those people who’s like, ‘You can’t do that because I don’t like that person. Just, like, you do you, make your own choices.’ And I love Max. I’ve been working with Max my whole career. I’m not his mother and he was fine before I met him, you know what I’m saying? He’ll be fine continuing.”