Taylor Swift’s ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ Eclipses ‘Midnights’ Streaming Record in Four Days

The numbers grow ever larger for Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department, according to initial reports to data tracking firm Luminate. (Luminate’s sales, streaming and airplay data powers Billboard’s charts. All numbers in this story reflect U.S. consumption only.)

In the album’s first four days of release (April 19-22), the set’s collected 31 songs (on its deluxe edition) generated 602.3 million on-demand official streams in the U.S. – breaking Swift’s own record for the largest streaming week for an album by a woman. She previously held the record with the opening frame of her last studio album, Midnights, which collected 549.3 million on-demand official streams for its 20 tracks (in the week ending Oct. 27, 2022).

The Tortured Poets Department also claims the third-largest streaming week overall, surpassing Midnights, and only trailing the opening frames of Drake’s Scorpion (745.92 million for its 25 songs in 2018) and Certified Lover Boy (743.67 million for its 21 songs in 2021).

Equivalent Album Units & Sales So Far: In the album’s first four days of release, The Tortured Poets Department has earned 2.1 million equivalent album units, with traditional album sales (purchases of digital downloads, CDs, vinyl LPs and cassettes) accounting for 1.6 million of that sum.

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 units 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. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram.

With 2.1 million units earned so far, The Tortured Poets Department has the biggest week for any album since Adele’s 25debuted with 3.482 million units (week ending Nov. 26, 2015), and the second-largest week (by units) for any album since the Billboard 200 began measuring by equivalent album units in December 2014.

In terms of straight album sales, that 1.6 million total is inclusive of both over-the-counter and download purchases of The Tortured Poets Department made April 19-22, in addition to a likely large number of pre-orders of the album through Internet retailers that were shipped to customers for arrival on release day.

Fifth-Biggest Sales Week in Modern Era: After just four days, The Tortured Poets Department has the largest sales week for any album since Adele’s 25 bowed with 3.378 million copies sold (week ending Nov. 26, 2015), and Swift’s largest sales week ever (as reported on April 20, see below).

Currently, The Tortured Poets Department has the fifth-largest sales week for an album in the modern era (since Luminate began electronically tracking sales in 1991). The top five biggest weeks are (all in debut weeks): Adele’s 25 (3.378 million), *NSYNC’s No Strings Attached (2.416 million, in 2000), *NSYNC’s Celebrity (1.878 million, 2001), Eminem’s The Marshall Mathers LP (1.76 million, 2000) and The Tortured Poets Department (1.6 million, 2024).

The Tortured Poets Department’s sales are aided by its availability across more than 20 different editions among physical and digital configurations (see story, April 20).

Vinyl Sales Continue To Grow: Of the 1.6 million sold of The Tortured Poets Department so far, vinyl sales represent 800,000 of that sum. The album – available in six vinyl variants – already broke Swift’s own record for the single-largest sales week for a vinyl album in the modern era (as reported April 22, see below).

The sales and streaming activity of The Tortured Poets Department will increase in the coming days, with the current tracking week ending on Thursday, April 25. The album’s final first-week numbers (equivalent album units, total traditional album sales and streaming figures) are expected to be announced by Billboard on Sunday, April 28, along with its assumed large debut on the multi-metric Billboard 200 albums chart (dated May 4).

If The Tortured Poets Department debuts atop the Billboard 200, it will mark Swift’s 14th No. 1 album, extending her record for the most among women. She would also tie Jay-Z for the most No. 1s among soloists. The only act with more No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 is The Beatles, with 19.

All 13 of Swift’s full-length studio albums and re-recorded projects from 2008’s Fearless (her second album) through 2023’s 1989 (Taylor’s Version) have debuted at No. 1.

PREVIOUSLY (April 22): Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department continues to rack up massive numbers after its first three days of release in the U.S. (April 19-21), according to initial reports to data tracking firm Luminate. (Luminate’s sales, streaming and airplay data powers Billboard’s charts. All numbers in this story are for the U.S. only.)

In its first three days, the album has now sold 1.5 million copies across all configurations (digital download, CD, vinyl and cassette). That figure is inclusive of both over-the-counter and download purchases of The Tortured Poets Department made April 19-21, in addition to a likely large number of pre-orders of the album through Internet retailers that were shipped to customers for arrival on release day.

As earlier reported (April 21), the album sold 1.4 million copies on its first day, immediately becoming Swift’s biggest sales week ever for an album. The Tortured Poets Department’s sales are aided by its availability across more than 20 different editions among physical and digital configurations (see earlier story, April 21).

Further, of the 1.5 million sold, vinyl sales represent 700,000. That breaks Swift’s own record the largest sales week for an album on vinyl in the modern era (since Luminate began tracking data in 1991), beating the 693,000 sold of 1989 (Taylor’s Version) in its first week (ending Nov. 2, 2023).

The Tortured Poets Department’s 31 songs (available on its deluxe streaming and digital editions) generated 490.2 million on-demand official streams in the album’s first three days of release. That’s already the largest streaming week for an album in 2024 (by collected song streams), and the biggest for any album since Drake’s For All the Dogsdebuted with 514 million on-demand official streams for its songs (week ending Oct. 12, 2023). Swift’s largest streaming week for an album is the opening week of Midnights, which collected 549.3 million on-demand official streams for its 20 tracks (week ending Oct. 27, 2022).

In total, The Tortured Poets Department earned 1.9 equivalent album units in the U.S. in its first three days. That’s already the biggest week for any album since Adele’s 25debuted with 3.482 million units (week ending Nov. 26, 2015), and the second-largest week (by units) for any album since the Billboard 200 began measuring by equivalent album units in Dec. 2014.

PREVIOUSLY (April 21): Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department is off to a blockbuster start in the U.S. On its first day of release, on April 19, the set sold 1.4 million copies in traditional album sales, according to initial reports to data tracking firm Luminate. That marks Swift’s biggest sales week ever for any album in the U.S. (Luminate’s sales, streaming and airplay data powers Billboard’s charts. All numbers in this story are for the U.S. only.)

Plus, the set’s 31 songs (available on its deluxe streaming and digital editions) generated 243.4 million official on-demand audio streams in the U.S. on April 19, led by the album’s first single, “Fortnight,” featuring Post Malone, with 18.4 million clicks. (That’s more than double the number of streams generated on the first day of Swift’s last release, 1989 [Taylor’s Version] – its 21 songs spurred 110 million clicks on its opening day.)

In total, the album earned 1.6 million equivalent album units in the U.S. on its first day. The last album to exceed a million units in a week was Swift’s own 1989 (Taylor’s Version), when it tallied 1.653 million units in its first week late last year (week ending Nov. 2, 2023).

With 1.4 million copies sold across all of the CD, vinyl, cassette and digital download versions of the album, The Tortured Poets Department garners the single-largest sales week for any Swift album. Previously, her largest sales week was registered by the opening week of her re-recorded 1989 (Taylor’s Version) last year, when it sold 1.359 million copies.

The Tortured Poets Department (abbreviated as TTPD) was initially released 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 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.”

Sales Story: The 1.4 million sales number registered for the album is inclusive of both over-the-counter and download purchases of The Tortured Poets Department made on April 19, in addition to a likely large number of pre-orders of the album through Internet retailers that were shipped to customers for arrival on release day. 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.

After one day on sale, The Tortured Poets Department is the top-selling album of 2024 in the U.S., surpassing the 188,000 sold by Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter through the week ending April 11.

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).

Collectively, the six vinyl LPs combined to sell 600,000 copies on the album’s first day – already the second-largest sales week for a vinyl album in the modern era (since Luminate began electronically tracking sales in 1991). Swift holds the record for the largest sales week on vinyl in the modern era, with 693,000 copies sold of 1989 (Taylor’s Version) on vinyl its first week.

Here’s a recap of the retail-available versions of The Tortured Poets Department:
Standard 16-song digital download album

“The Manuscript” edition (standard CD, deluxe CD containing Swift-branded merchandise, ghosted white-colored vinyl, Target-exclusive clear vinyl, and white-colored cassette – each with the standard album’s 16 songs plus one bonus track: “The Manuscript.” The standard CD and vinyl editions are widely available through all retailers, the deluxe CD and cassette are exclusive to Swift’s webstore. Swift also sold signed copies of the standard CD and vinyl variants exclusively through her webstore)

“The Albatross” edition (Target-exclusive CD, deluxe CD containing Swift-branded merchandise, smoke-colored vinyl, smoke-colored cassette – each with the standard album’s 16 songs plus one bonus track: “The Albatross.” The Target CD contains a poster. The vinyl is widely available, while the deluxe CD and cassette are exclusive to Swift’s webstore)

“The Bolter” edition (Target-exclusive CD, deluxe CD containing Swift-branded merchandise, beige-colored vinyl, beige-colored cassette – each with the standard album’s 16 songs plus one bonus track: “The Bolter.” The Target CD contains a poster. The vinyl is widely available, while the deluxe CD and cassette are exclusive to Swift’s webstore.

“The Black Dog” edition (Target-exclusive CD, deluxe CD containing Swift-branded merchandise, charcoal-colored vinyl, charcoal-colored cassette – each with the standard album’s 16 songs plus one bonus track: “The Black Dog.” The Target CD contains a poster. The vinyl is widely available, while the deluxe CD and cassette are exclusive to Swift’s webstore)

Deluxe 31-song digital download album (Contains the 16 songs on the standard digital album, plus the four bonus tracks that were issued on the above four variants [“The Manuscript,” “The Albatross,” “The Black Dog” and “The Bolter”] and 11 additional songs)

Million-Sellers History: Though the week isn’t nearly over with, The Tortured Poets Department already has the largest sales week for any album since Adele’s 25 bowed with 3.378 million copies sold (week ending Nov. 26, 2015). Presently, The Tortured Poets Department has the sixth-largest sales week for an album in the modern era (since Luminate began electronically tracking sales in 1991). The top six biggest weeks are (all in debut weeks): Adele’s 25 (3.378 million), *NSYNC’s No Strings Attached (2.416 million, in 2000), *NSYNC’s Celebrity (1.878 million, 2001), Eminem’s The Marshall Mathers LP (1.76 million, 2000), Backstreet Boys’ Black & Blue (1.591 million, 2000) and The Tortured Poets Department (1.4 million, 2024).

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 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.

Strong Streaming Numbers: On the album’s first day, the 31 songs on the project generated 243.4 million official on-demand audio streams. (On-demand video official streaming information for the project will be available in the coming days.) The album’s top five most-streamed songs, by official on-demand audio streams, on April 19 were: “Fortnight,” featuring Post Malone (18.4 million), the title track (14 million), “Down Bad” (13.3 million), “My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys” (12.7 million) and “So Long, London” (12.6 million).

Swift’s largest streaming week, by total on-demand official streams (both audio and video) generated by the songs on an album, is the opening week of Midnights, which garnered 549.26 million clicks for its 20 songs (week ending Oct. 27, 2022). Midnights also owns the third-largest streaming week overall, trailing the opening frames of Drake’s Scorpion (745.92 million in 2018) and Certified Lover Boy (743.67 million in 2021).

This article was originally published by Billboard U.S.