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A Duchess & A Prince
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the consistency shown in taylor's 1 million+ selling first weeks is SO IMPRESSIVE: 2010, 2012, 2014, 2017, 2022, 2023, 2024
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records set by the tortured poets department:
taylor's 14th billboard 200 no. 1, tying the record for the most-ever among solo artists, and second to the beatles overall
largest-ever streaming week for an an album
second largest total week for an album since streaming/units began to count
1.914 pure sales, marking the third-largest week since 1991 (modern era)
859,000 vinyl sales, setting a single-week record
only artist with seven different albums to sell at least 1 million copies in a single week
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As expected, Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department makes a gigantic debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart (dated May 4), securing the superstar her 14th chart-topping album. She ties Jay-Z for the most No. 1s among soloists in the nearly-70-year history of the chart. Only The Beatles, with 19 No. 1s, have more.
The Tortured Poets Department launches with 2.61 million equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending April 25, with traditional album sales (purchases of digital download albums, CDs, vinyl LPs and cassettes) comprising 1.914 million of that sum. Of that sales figure, vinyl sales represent a staggering 859,000. The collected 31 songs on the deluxe edition of the album generated 891.34 million on-demand official streams.
Those eye-popping figures mark the largest streaming week for an album ever, the second-largest week for an album (by total equivalent album units earned) since the Billboard 200 began measuring by units in December 2014, the third-largest sales week (by traditional album sales) in the modern era (since Luminate began electronically tracking sales in 1991) and the largest sales week for an album on vinyl in the modern era.
The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new May 4, 2024-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on April 30. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.
Of The Tortured Poets Department’s first-week unit sum of 2.61 million, album sales comprise 1.914 million (a number bolstered by its availability across more than 20 different iterations of the album), SEA units comprise 683,000 (equaling 891.37 million on-demand official streams of the set’s 31 songs, on its deluxe edition) and TEA units comprise 14,000. (All figures are rounded.)
With 1.914 million sold, The Tortured Poets Department is instantly the top-selling album of 2024, year-to-date. The second-biggest selling album, counting weekly sales from January through the present, is Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter, with 228,000 copies sold in total.
Swift announced the album during the Grammy Awards on Feb. 4, and her official webstore began accepting pre-orders for the project that same day. The set was released on April 19, alongside its first single, “Fortnight,” featuring Post Malone.
The Tortured Poets Department (abbreviated as TTPD) was initially released at midnight ET on April 19 as a standard 16-song digital download album, as well as an array of 17-song physical configurations (more details on the assorted versions later in this story). Two hours after the album’s release, Swift announced an expanded 31-song edition of the set and released it as a digital download and streaming album. She wrote: “It’s a 2am surprise: The Tortured Poets Department is a secret DOUBLE album. I’d written so much tortured poetry in the past 2 years and wanted to share it all with you, so here’s the second installment of TTPD: The Anthology. 15 extra songs. And now the story isn’t mine anymore… it’s all yours.”
Swift’s 14th No. 1 on the Billboard 200
With a 14th No. 1 album on the Billboard 200, Swift ties Jay-Z for the most chart-toppers among soloists. Overall, only The Beatles have more, with 19 leaders. All 14 of Swift’s full-length studio albums and rerecorded projects from 2008’s Fearless (her second album) through 2024’s The Tortured Poets Department have debuted at No. 1.
Here’s a look at the acts with at least 10 No. 1s on the Billboard 200, since the list began publishing on a regular, weekly basis in March 1956.
19, The Beatles
14, Jay-Z
14, Taylor Swift
13, Drake
11, Bruce Springsteen
11, Barbra Streisand
11, Ye (formerly Kanye West)
10, Eminem
10, Future
10, Elvis Presley
Largest Streaming Week Ever
The Tortured Poets Department’s collected 31 songs on its deluxe edition generated 891.37 million on-demand official streams in the week ending April 25 in the U.S. That marks the single-largest streaming week ever for an album, by total combined streams for its songs. Here’s a recap of the top 10 largest streaming weeks for albums (all were debut weeks):
Rank, Artist, Title, Streams, Chart Date
1, Taylor Swift, The Tortured Poets Department, 891.37 million, May 4, 2024
2, Drake, Scorpion, 745.92 million, July 14, 2018
3, Drake, Certified Lover Boy, 743.67 million, Sept. 18, 2021
4, Taylor Swift, Midnights, 549.26 million, Nov. 5, 2022
5, Drake, For All the Dogs, 514.01 million, Oct. 21, 2023
6, Drake & 21 Savage, Her Loss, 513.56 million, Nov. 19, 2022
7, Morgan Wallen, One Thing at a Time, 498.28 million, March 18, 2023
8, Lil Wayne, Tha Carter V, 433.02 million, Oct. 13, 2018
9, Post Malone, beerbongs & bentleys, 431.34 million, May 12, 2018
10, Juice WRLD, Legends Never Die, 422.63 million, July 25, 2020
(Streaming data source: Luminate)
Largest Streaming Week Ever
The Tortured Poets Department’s collected 31 songs on its deluxe edition generated 891.37 million on-demand official streams in the week ending April 25 in the U.S. That marks the single-largest streaming week ever for an album, by total combined streams for its songs. Here’s a recap of the top 10 largest streaming weeks for albums (all were debut weeks):
Rank, Artist, Title, Streams, Chart Date
1, Taylor Swift, The Tortured Poets Department, 891.37 million, May 4, 2024
2, Drake, Scorpion, 745.92 million, July 14, 2018
3, Drake, Certified Lover Boy, 743.67 million, Sept. 18, 2021
4, Taylor Swift, Midnights, 549.26 million, Nov. 5, 2022
5, Drake, For All the Dogs, 514.01 million, Oct. 21, 2023
6, Drake & 21 Savage, Her Loss, 513.56 million, Nov. 19, 2022
7, Morgan Wallen, One Thing at a Time, 498.28 million, March 18, 2023
8, Lil Wayne, Tha Carter V, 433.02 million, Oct. 13, 2018
9, Post Malone, beerbongs & bentleys, 431.34 million, May 12, 2018
10, Juice WRLD, Legends Never Die, 422.63 million, July 25, 2020
(Streaming data source: Luminate)
Third-Largest Sales Week in Modern Era
The Tortured Poets Department sold 1.914 million copies in traditional album sales in its first week (purchases of digital downloads, CDs, vinyl LPs and cassette tapes). That marks the third-largest sales week for an album in the modern era — since Luminate began electronically tracking music sales in 1991.
The Tortured Poets Department’s sales were bolstered by its availability across 19 different physical configurations (nine CDs, six vinyl LPs and four cassettes, with four of the physical configurations exclusively sold by Target stores) and two digital download offerings (the standard 16-song album, and a surprise deluxe 31-song edition that was released two hours after the original album bowed). All of the variants are itemized later in this story.
Of The Tortured Poets Department’s first-week sales of 1.914 million, physical sales comprise 1.64 million (859,000 vinyl LPs — a modern-era single week record for an album on vinyl, 759,500 CDs and a little over 21,500 cassettes) and digital downloads comprise 274,000.
The Tortured Poets Department is the seventh Swift album to have sold at least 1 million copies in a single week, following the debuts of 1989 (Taylor’s Version), Midnights, reputation, the original 1989, Red and Speak Now. She is the only act with seven different albums to each sell at least 1 million copies in a single week in the modern era. In total, there have been 26 instances — by 24 different albums — in which an album has sold at least 1 million copies in a week in the modern era. One of those albums, Adele’s 25, sold more than 1 million in three separate weeks.
Six of the top 10 million-selling weeks occurred in the early 2000s, in the pre-digital and pre-streaming heyday of the CD — when essentially the only way to listen to music on-demand was by purchasing an album. The year 2000 was the high-water mark in the modern era for album sales, when 785 million albums were sold in the U.S. Comparably, in 2023, there were 105.32 million albums sold, and Swift sold the most of any act — accounting for 6% of all U.S. album sales in 2023. (Popular streaming services Spotify and Apple Music did not launch in the U.S. until 2011 and 2015, respectively.)
Here’s a recap of the top 10 biggest-selling weeks by albums in the modern era (1991-present), ranked in order by sales volume.
Rank, Artist, Title, Sales, Chart Date
1, Adele, 25, 3.378 million, Dec. 12, 2015
2, *NSYNC, No Strings Attached, 2.416 million, April 8, 2000
3, Taylor Swift, The Tortured Poets Department, 1.914 million, May 4, 2024
4, *NSYNC, Celebrity, 1.88 million, Aug. 11, 2001
5, Eminem, The Marshall Mathers LP, 1.76 million, June 10, 2000
6, Backstreet Boys, Black & Blue, 1.591 million, Dec. 9, 2000
7, Taylor Swift, 1989 (Taylor’s Version), 1.359 million, Nov. 11, 2023
8, Eminem, The Eminem Show, 1.322 million, June 15, 2002*
9, Britney Spears, Oops! …I Did It Again, 1.319 million, June 3, 2000
10, Taylor Swift, 1989, 1.287 million, Nov. 15, 2014
(Sales source: Luminate. *All weeks are debuts, except for The Eminem Show, which debuted on the chart dated June 8, 2002, from a partial week of sales due to an off-cycle early release. The June 15, 2002, chart reflected the album’s first week of availability.)
Biggest Sales Week for a Vinyl Album in Modern Era
Swift continues to be a dominant force when it comes to vinyl album sales, as The Tortured Poets Department’s first-week vinyl figure of 859,000 is the single-largest sales week for a vinyl album in the modern era. Swift has the top four-selling weeks on vinyl, and six of the top 10-selling weeks.
Rank, Artist, Title, Sales, Chart Date
1, Taylor Swift, The Tortured Poets Department, 859,000, May 4, 2024
2, Taylor Swift, 1989 (Taylor’s Version), 693,000, Nov. 11, 2023
3, Taylor Swift, Midnights, 575,000, Nov. 5, 2022
4, Taylor Swift, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), 268,000, July 22, 2023
5, Harry Styles, Harry’s House, 182,000, June 4, 2022
6, Taylor Swift, Red (Taylor’s Version), 114,000, Nov. 27, 2021
7, Adele, 30, 108,000, Dec. 4, 2021
8, Taylor Swift, Evermore, 102,000, June 12, 2021
9, Olivia Rodrigo, Guts, 94,000, Sept. 23, 2023
10, Travis Scott, Utopia, 93,000, Aug. 26, 2023
(Sales source: Luminate; all weeks reflect albums’ first week of availability on vinyl.)
In 2023, Swift loomed so large on vinyl that her 1989 (Taylor’s Version) became the first vinyl album in the modern era to sell 1 million copies in a calendar year. Further, in 2023, Swift accounted for 7% of all vinyl album sales in the U.S. From 2021 through 2023, vinyl albums were the leading configuration for album purchases in the U.S. Vinyl was the dominant configuration for album purchases in the U.S. up until the early 1980s. After that, cassettes took hold until the early 1990s, when the CD configuration blossomed and remained king until 2021, when vinyl retook the top slot.
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I keep coming back to how much Taylor did not need to release this record and how much courage it shows that she did. These lyrics touch on it:
The scandal was contained
The bullet had just grazed
At all costs keep your good name
Because things ended with MH and people generally stopped talking about it and she kept just winning. The general public saw her as at the top of her game and America’s Sweetheart dating the football star. The Brads, Dads, and Chads had something to say but she actually seemed to have more defenders than ever before. Like this is the most recent image the general public has of her
And she chose to put out this one.
She wasn’t on trial anymore, the scandal was contained, so she didn’t need to put in a plea, but she does actually want people to know and understand her
I want to snarl and show you just how disturbed this has made me
She’s trusting us with her feelings when she absolutely didn’t have to and we should appreciate it for the gift it is
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hi Jeannine! What is your interpretation of the line “bittersweet sixteen suddenly” in so high school? It intrigues me but I can put my finger on it. I have loved reading your posts so I thought I’d ask! Sorry if you already talked about his and I missed it
Thanks! I haven’t talked about it but it’s a great question. I think the bittersweet part is part of this underlying theme on the album of missing out on parts of growing up - so it’s a play on words of “sweet sixteen” (16th birthday term for girls) and it’s bittersweet in the sense that she sorta didn’t have the whole high school experience from 16-18 because she was already doing home study by then and performing.
And since the whole song is kinda about how it feels like a high school crush, where you feel free of the complications and problems of adult life (because you don’t know about them yet; you’re only in HS) and things feel so easy and fun and light. I really love this song because it’s written with so many phrases and words that are high schooly but it’s also!! Very much not a relationship in high school but I think the freeness and easiness of it (especially contrasted to the complicatedness of the earlier relationships on the album) is a worthy bullet point as well. I also thing the bittersweetness of it is that it’s joyous it’s happening and feeling this way but marked by notes of sadness that falling in love hasn’t felt this easy until now, in adulthood
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i know a lot of people have mentioned this, but i’m just obsessed with the way taylor refused to sanitize herself on this album. she’s telling you everything. she got off to gross men whilst already in another relationship. she fell for the most obvious lies because she wanted to believe them. she was mad at anyone who tried to warn her. yes, she’s still mad at you for clutching your pearls and watching her like a circus animal btw. she’s having his baby—no she’s not! she just likes trolling. she does really want babies, though. like a lot. she felt like she’d been abducted by aliens and found cosmic love, but in reality, she was manic. and then he fucking ghosted her! and he didn’t even measure up in any measure of a man!!!!! and now she’s devastated by him and his predecessor! she feels like a wondrous prophet one day and the desperate victim of a curse the next. btw he knows how to ball and she knows aristotle. and fuck kim k! also man sex with certain men kinda fucked her up, but at least the writing that came from it defined her legacy. the manuscript isn’t hers anymore. she hopes this insane ass manuscript won’t have to be hers, either! free her of these stories.
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I think you can certainly pinpoint lines to certain men but loml I think overall is so blurred. Like it is written about a pile of loss. In a short period of time I lost all of this shit. Sparks and promises and futures and marriages and babies and love.
yes 1000% agree - sort of the wake of the entire thing when she realizes she has to pick up the pieces of her life. i kind of view the album in four acts: the buildup (1-5), the delulu (6-9), the breakdown (10-13), and the awakening and coming home to herself (14-16).
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obviously we know this but this record is such a work of art like the way she can carry themes and motifs through and revisit things across songs and pull ideas full circle tracks later….stronger here than on any other record she’s ever done
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I’ve been thinking and I feel like some critics really liked folkmore because they devalue Taylor writing about her life and feelings. They are great albums and obviously have a lot of personal writing from Taylor about her own life but I feel like some critics found them more “high art” because of the facade that Taylor had evolved out of her “immature” confessional songwriting. Idk
There is a lot to unpack here and I'm posting the ask as a way to put a pin into it and open up the conversation
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"So being in the public eye since I was a young teenager, there's a lot that that does to your perception of the world, your perception of yourself—the idea that the world has this sense of ownership, and not just a right, but they feel they have a responsibility to judge you, and to critique you, and to weigh in. And that can really toy with you. Who's Afraid of Little Old Me? was a song I wrote alone, sitting at hte piano, in one of those moments where I felt sort of bitter about just all the things we do to our artists as a society and as a culture. There's a lot about this particular concept on The Tortured Poets Department. What do we do to our writers and our artists and our creatives? We put them through hell, we watch what they create, then we judge it. We love to watch artists in pain, often to the point where I think sometimes as a society, we provoke that pain, and we just watch what happens. So there's lines about feeling like I've been in the circus, those kinds of metaphors, or feeling like I'm sort of like a witch in a haunted house. Those are some ways that I feel sometimes when I'm not able to kind of right the ship and cope with my normal coping mechanisms. So this song was just a very, very true way that I feel sometimes, and it's always good when you can be honest about those things."
— Taylor on Who's Afraid of Little Old Me?
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the run of songs from i can fix hm through the alchemy is some of taylor’s strongest narrative tracklisting ever
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My favorite part of this album is the tiiiiiny little common theme of “don’t forget who runs this shit”
i posted this release night and idk how i had a thought this coherent but the entire throughline of self-respect (sometimes quiet, sometimes loud) amidst literally everything else is one of my favorite parts
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loosely speaking the first half of the album (standard edition) covers a mindset where life is a whirlwind and felt in the extremes: rabid happiness and frenzied highs, deep and all consuming anger. Overcompensating for being sad by acting like it's your birthday. You type only in all caps. This all goes in line with experiencing moods that land on the far edges of the spectrum. In the second half, those 15 songs are when you're past that stage, things are evening out, and landing closer to the middle ... and its just more reflective sadness and mourning, a more pondering state of being, quietly wondering what if's and what now's, and also being happy in a content way that is steady and measured. You're no longer screaming in all caps.
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What do you mean by self indulgent?
long, revealing, chasing every creative impulse, not censoring. these are good things - they’re things taylor has been chasing and cutting herself off before she reaches since rep, and they’re also signs of the immense love and care in the work
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i always remember you loved midnights sooo much from day one, how does ttpd compare to that atm for you? i love hearing your opinions
think it’s on the whole both a better and worse album (can get into this more) but it’s a much more interesting project and also imo much more challenging as a listener, which is a net good. i do think it’s her most important body of work, her strangest and most advanced, and her most complex and layered
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so high school is extra precious because it’s in contrast to songs like the tortured poets department. the latter is like “we work well because we’re both insane and crazy and stupid and miserable” but then so high school is like “you make me feel so normal. you make me feel like we’re high school sweethearts, which is so normal” it feels healing
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