Taylor Swift attends the 66th Grammy Awards at Crypto.com Arena. Her album “The Tortured Poets … [+]
Everyone knew Taylor Swift’s new album, The Tortured Poets Department, would generate record sales. The only question was how big. The answer? Extremely big.
Swift smashed a number of marks with the release of her 15th album, including 11 studio albums and four re-recordings of previous ones she did not own the rights to. Tortured Poets Department records broken include new heights on Billboard — tallying sales and Spotify, which is one of the top streaming services.
Swift took to social media to thank her fans for supporting her album, saying she was “completely overwhelmed” and her “mind is blown” by the numbers for the latest album.
Swift released Tortured Poets Department on April 19 after announcing the album at the Grammy Awards in February. Of course, the announcement piqued fans’ interest and generated a huge amount of hype coming on the heels of her hugely successful worldwide Eras tour.
So, what records has Tortured Poets Department broken, and are there any records Swift could still break? Here’s a rundown of how the album’s sales have done so far.
In its first week of release, Tortured Poets Department generated the biggest Billboard debut of Swift’s storied career. It sold 2.6 million copies, including 1.4 million on day one. It is behind only Adele’s 25, released in 2015, as the No. 1 debut week—that album sold a stunning 3.4 million in week one. Tortured Poets Department surpassed ‘N Sync’s 2000 album No Strings Attached (2.4 million copies in its first week) for second.
Tortured Poets Department made Swift the first artist in the modern era to release seven different albums that have each sold at least 1 million copies in a single week, Billboard says.
Billboard said Tortured Poets Department became the most-streamed album ever. It noted all 31 tracks on the album had been streamed 891.37 million times.
Swift also set a record for most vinyl sales, with 859,000 sold.
The artist tied Jay-Z for second place all-time for most No. 1 albums. She and the rapper now have 14 apiece. She now holds the top spot among female performers and is tied with Beyoncé’s husband for most chart toppers as a solo act—but both have a ways before they catch all-time leader the Beatles (19 No. 1 albums).
Spotify’s Taylor Swift pop-up at The Grove for her new album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” which … [+]
Tortured Poets Department is Spotify’s biggest streaming debut ever. It broke the all-time record for most single-day streams for an article catalog in Spotify history with 380 million.
While the entire Tortured Poets Department track list has performed well on the streamer, “Fortnight” with Post Malone produced the single-biggest streaming day for any song in Spotify history.
Swift now owns the top three album debuts in Spotify history (Poets, Midnights and 1989 (Taylor’s Version)) as well as the top seven singles.
The album is now the top streaming debut in Amazon Music history.
Apple and iTunes records broken include:
Tortured Poets Department also broke a number of all-time streaming records across platforms. It became the fastest album ever to hit 1 billion streams total.
According to Republic Records, Swift’s label, the album set the following marks internationally:
Republic Records also noted a few other huge accomplishments for the album:
Taylor Swift is likely only getting started. Over the next few months, she has a chance to set many more records with Tortured Poets Department, not to mention what it might accomplish at next year’s Grammy Awards.
