This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost Australia, which closed in 2021.

Taylor Swift Not-So-Subtly Gives Katy Perry's Album The Finger With New Announcement

This is so messy. It's great.

Were you hoping for a quiet, drama-free Friday? Too bad.

Katy Perry's new album 'Witness' has been promoted with some awkward 'SNL' performances, sticking her head through a table in a museum, and a LOT of digs at Taylor Swift.

Perry and Swift have had a longstanding feud, and Perry has been weaponising the tension between the two stars in order to boost her album's profile. She told James Cordon Swift "started it" and then, when no one really cared about that, went on to tell 'NME' that she believes Swift is trying to "assassinate her character with little girls".

Katy's recent single 'Swish Swish' was also a ham-fisted diss track that was almost certainly about her relationship with Swift. The single art of Perry's hand-holding literal receipts for tea, with the lyrics citing: "You're calculated, I got your number / 'Cause you're a joker and I'm a courtside killer queen".

Swift, meanwhile, kept her trademarked composure. Tay Tay has kept a pretty low profile in the last few months, while rumours swirl about her working on new music as well as quietly debuting a new beau.

Well, on the eve of Katy's new album 'Witness', being released at midnight, Taylor had a special announcement of her own.

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ pic.twitter.com/kcpY03qHLp

— Taylor Nation (@taylornation13) June 8, 2017

In 2014 Taylor famously took a stand against streaming services, pulling her music and refusing to release her recent albums like '1989' onto services like Spotify. And now, on the same night Katy's dropping her album, that looks set to change.

In an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, Swift reasoned that the streaming service undervalued artists and punished smaller albums with low returns. Despite not being available on streaming platforms, Swift still soared to the top of the charts.

There had been rumours that Swift's music would return to Spotify after it and Universal Music Group reached a recent agreement, but the timing is just too priceless.

According to Forbes, the agreement is a global licensing deal that would allow UMG to "window" new albums, meaning only paid subscribers would have access for a period of time.

Taylor Swift clicking "add all" to Spotify at midnight when Witness drops. pic.twitter.com/qK2xnc8kwo

— Alex🥀 (@alexmalloyy) June 9, 2017

Ah feuds. Nothing sells albums better.

Click below to subscribe to the Refresh podcast by HuffPost Australia on iTunes.

ALSO ON HUFFPOST AUSTRALIA

Dibng

Close
This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost Australia. Certain site features have been disabled. If you have questions or concerns, please check our FAQ or contact support@huffpost.com.