It’s a record-breaking result, and the third in the modern era (since 1991). But Taylor Swift’s latest double album is taking home other chart-topping figures, becoming the best-selling vinyl and the most streamed within seven days.
It’s clear that few doubted her success. In the early months of 2024, Taylor Swift continued to break records in the music industry. She surpassed Michael Jackson in box office earnings with her concert film “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” (previously held by Jackson’s “This Is It”) and became a billionaire.
However, it took “The Tortured Poets Department,” her latest double album released on April 19, to cement her status. The numbers speak for themselves: Taylor is nearly unmatched.
In its first week, the album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 (which was expected, right?), becoming the artist’s fourteenth chart-topping album. This ties her with Jay Z for the most solo number one albums, second overall only to The Beatles, who hold the record with 19 albums.
But that’s just the beginning. Billboard data shows that in its launch week ending April 25, the album earned 2,610,000 equivalent units. Decades ago, this would have represented physical sales for “The Tortured Poets Department.” However, in today’s streaming era, the physical copies sold were “only” 1,914,000. The total includes digital downloads, CDs, vinyl LPs (859,000), and audio cassettes. Official on-demand streams reached 891,340,000.
According to Billboard, “The Tortured Poets Department” has become the most streamed album in a single week ever, surpassing Drake’s “Scorpion” and “Certified Lover Boy.” Its over two million equivalent units also make it the second best-selling album in a single week. The top spot is held by Adele’s “25,” with 3,482,000 equivalent units—a figure considered by many to be a unique historical achievement, unlikely to be replicated given current changes in music consumption habits.
Additionally, “The Tortured Poets Department” is the third best-selling album of the modern era (since 1991, when Billboard’s measurement system, Luminate, began) in terms of physical copies sold in a week, only behind *NSYNC’s “No Strings Attached” (2,416,000 in 2000) and again Adele with “25” (3,378,000 in 2015).
To top it off, “The Tortured Poets Department” also set the record for the most vinyl copies sold in a week in the modern era. However, there was no competition here: Swift herself occupies the top four spots in the rankings.
