Business & Government

Q&A: How is Taylor Swift breaking the bank with ‘Ophelia’?

Taylor Swift is most certainly not drowning in melancholy, like Shakespeare’s doomed “Hamlet” character, Ophelia.

Released Oct. 3, the mega star’s 12th and most successful album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” is dominating and it’s due to more than the album’s hooky opening track, “The Fate of Ophelia.”

Anthony Palomba, an assistant professor of business administration at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, is an expert on branding and the marketing processes behind entertainment and media. Here, he digs into Swift’s massive business plan behind the pulsing success of “Showgirl,” the most-streamed and best-selling album of the modern age.

Anthony Palomba is an assistant professor of business administration at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business and an expert on branding and the marketing processes behind entertainment and media. (Photo by Matt Riley, University Communications)

Q. Why did the No. 1 trending Swift video, “The Fate of Ophelia,” debut with no ads?

A. Taylor Swift’s decision to initially release “The Fate of Ophelia” without ads is almost certainly strategic. By eliminating ad interruptions, she reduces friction for viewers, making it more likely that people will watch the full video, rewatch it and share it widely. In the high-stakes first days of a release, these small adjustments compound into significantly higher view counts. Ads can create drop-offs, lengthen load times and generally break the seamless experience Swift’s team likely wanted in those crucial early hours.

Beyond viewer convenience, this choice ties directly into chart performance. YouTube views count toward Billboard’s Hot 100 and other industry benchmarks, and ensuring uninterrupted viewership maximizes the velocity of those views. The absence of ads is less about lost revenue and more about creating a smooth runway for momentum, ensuring that the video builds virality at the speed her team needs for record-breaking results.

Q. What records is Swift trying to smash, and what’s the strategy?

A. Swift is eyeing several records across multiple platforms and categories. First, Swift has been able to sell 2.7 million copies of “The Life of a Showgirl” on its first day of release, and 3.5 million copies in the first five days of its release, breaking her own personal record. She also has the record for the most streams in a single day with the introduction of “The Fate of Ophelia” single. The album has also become Spotify’s most-streamed album in a single day in 2025, just 12 hours after its debut release.

The strategy is a feedback loop. Fewer ads lead to more completions and views, which in turn drive higher chart rankings. Strong chart placement attracts media attention, which boosts streams and album sales. Those numbers, in turn, generate more headlines and fan activity, fueling a cycle that keeps Swift in the cultural conversation. Her team has refined this formula over years, mastering the balance between surprise drops, viral momentum and carefully engineered silence to let the fandom amplify her moves.

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Q. What has been the most striking to you about the album debut?

A. Swift is able to create a fervor, a stir, a panic, a fear of missing out that I don’t think I’ve seen any other celebrity cultivate in my lifetime. What fascinates me most is the rapid production of content, which leaves her exposed and vulnerable with every album, song and concert executed amongst audience members. However, Swift does not seem to miss a beat with her fans. She also is good at baking mystery and intrigue within her songs, leaving fans to decode messages and meaning, which means they’re spending less time on other artists.

Q. Her “Ophelia” video amassed 25 million views in three days. How does that compare to other artists?

A. Reaching 25 million views in three days is a commanding feat for a solo female artist without heavy collaborations or elaborate promotional build-up. While it falls short of extreme debuts like BTS’s 2020 “Dynamite,” with 101 million views in 24 hours, it’s important to see Swift’s number in context.

Unlike those cases, Swift’s strategy didn’t involve fan-army pre-coordination or a massive ad spend. The performance suggests a reliance on organic fan behavior, natural curiosity and mainstream media amplification. Fans have been spurred by Swift’s Eras tour, “The Tortured Poets Department,” her documentaries and other content in her ever-expanding ecosystem.

[♪ “The Fate of Ophelia” ♪]

I heard you calling
On the megaphone
You wanna see me all alone
As legend has it you
Are quite the pyro
You light the match to watch it blow

And if you’d never come for me
I might’ve drowned in the melancholy
I swore my loyalty to me, myself and I
Right before you lit my sky up

All that time
I sat alone in my tower
You were just honing your powers
Now I can see it all (see it all)
Late one night
You dug me out of my grave and
Saved my heart from the fate of
Ophelia

Keep it one hundred
On the land, the sea, the sky
Pledge allegiance to your hands
Your team, your vibes
Don’t care where the hell you been
‘Cause now you’re mine
It’s ‘bout to be the sleepless night
You’ve been dreaming of
The fate of Ophelia

The eldest daughter of a nobleman
Ophelia lived in fantasy
But love was a cold bed full of scorpions
The venom stole her sanity

And if you’d never come for me
I might’ve lingered in purgatory
You wrap around me like a chain, a crown, a vine
Pulling me into the fire

All that time
I sat alone in my tower
You were just honing your powers
Now I can see it all (see it all)
Late one night
You dug me out of my grave and
Saved my heart from the fate of
Ophelia

‘Tis locked inside my memory
And only you possess the key
No longer drowning and deceived
All because you came for me
Locked inside my memory
And only you possess the key
No longer drowning and deceived
All because you came for me

All that time
I sat alone in my tower
You were just honing your powers
Now I can see it all (I can see it all)
Late one night
You dug me out of my grave and
Saved my heart from the fate of
Ophelia

You saved my heart from the fate of
Ophelia

Q. Have we seen anything like this before?

A. Yes, there are precedents, but Swift’s execution adds unique twists. K-pop groups have occasionally released videos without ads to supercharge fan-driven viewing marathons, and Beyoncé’s surprise self-titled album in 2013 is a classic case of skipping pre-promo to maximize cultural shock.

Swift herself has played this game before, notably with “Folklore,” where secrecy and surprise generated organic momentum that translated into staggering chart performance. An artist who we enjoy surprising us with an album drop or new movie is tantamount to an old friend randomly stopping by at our house, or, at the very least, texting us that they’re in the neighborhood. We welcome these drop-ins, as they cue new conversations, meanings and destinations with these artists.

Q. What else do you find unique about the video?

What makes “The Fate of Ophelia” stand out is the convergence of multiple factors: an A-list global pop star, a cinematic music video and an algorithm-savvy rollout deliberately structured to prioritize cultural impact over short-term monetization. This is part of what industry analysts call “eventizing” a music video, transforming it into more than just content, but a shared cultural moment that drives downstream effects across streams, merchandise, touring and even broader fan mythology. Swift’s popularity is self-sustaining, with news outlets and countless social media feeds promoting her without any extra effort.