Taylor Swift’s New Album Is Already Twice As Big As ‘1989 (Taylor’s Version)’

Nobody can beat Taylor Swift–except, of course, Taylor Swift. The singer’s new album, The Tortured Poets Department, is off to an unbelievable start, easily beating every other release this week. The set is also outpacing her previous full-lengths, in some cases even doubling the first-day totals some of her most successful projects have managed.

On Friday, April 19–the album’s first day of availability–The Tortured Poets Department racked up 243 million streams in the U.S. alone, according to Billboard. That’s a massive figure, especially when compared to her past blockbusters.

In its first day, The Tortured Poets Department earned more than double the number of streams that Swift’s last album managed. In late 2023, 1989 (Taylor’s Version) became a smash success on platforms like Spotify and Apple Apple Music. That re-recording earned 110 million streams in its first day of availability.

The Tortured Poets Department’s lengthy tracklist is partially to thank for its extremely warm streaming welcome. The deluxe edition of the album includes 31 songs, making it one of the longest major releases so far in 2024.

For comparison, 1989 (Taylor’s Version) featured 21 tunes. That number includes the original tracklist from the first take of 1989, as well as a handful of previously-unreleased tunes, which are known as “From The Vault,” in Swift’s lexicon.

But the sheer length of The Tortured Poets Department doesn’t completely explain how it outpaced 1989 (Taylor’s Version) by such a large margin. Theoretically, it would be easier to grasp if the new album’s first-day streaming numbers were 30% or so greater than its predecessor…but that’s not what happened.

Instead, The Tortured Poets Department is twice as popular–or at least successful–right out of the gate. Anticipation for the album was greater than perhaps any other release in Swift’s catalog. She’s the biggest star on the planet at the moment, and her fame seems to only be feeding into itself. All the hype and the media attention have clearly influenced a huge population to tune into the full-length, and their listening helped the title stand out among even her illustrious catalog.