By: Jeremy Sun
Taylor Swift, a famous American singer and songwriter known for her storytelling and switching from country to pop and alternative music, has achieved another milestone. Her album “The Tortured Poets Department” recently completed its 11th consecutive week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, matching records set by her previous albums “Fearless” and “1989”.
Unlike the “Fearless” and “1989” albums, “Tortured Poets” has maintained a streak since April, outperforming major releases from other artists. The last female artist to achieve such a long consecutive run at No. 1 was Whitney Houston with “The Bodyguard” soundtrack.
According to the The New York York Times article “Taylor Swift’s ‘Poets’ Ties Her Record for Most Weeks at No. 1,” “‘Tortured Poets’ had the equivalent of 114,000 sales in the United States, nearly flat from the week before. That includes 102 million streams and 35,000 sales as a complete package, according to the tracking service Luminate.”
The album shattered streaming records upon its debut, becoming the first to exceed 300 million streams on Spotify in a single day. The hit song “Fortnight,” featuring Post Malone, became the platform’s most-streamed song in one day. Fifteen of the album’s 16 songs have over 100 million streams on Spotify, and three months after its release, the album still ranks No. 2 on Spotify’s weekly albums chart.
Since its big debut, Taylor Swift has kept her album “The Tortured Poets Department” at the top of the charts by releasing different collectible and digital editions. These new versions have greatly boosted the album’s sales. For example, during its ninth week at No. 1 in June, sales went up by 42% thanks to two new CD versions with exclusive bonus tracks, as reported by Billboard.
In May and June, Swift released new CDs or digital versions almost every week, each with bonus tracks like acoustic versions, demo recordings, or live performances from her Eras Tour. She released an acoustic version of “But Daddy I Love Him” on May 8, followed by three versions with different demo tracks on May 16, three with live tracks on May 23, two new acoustic versions on June 1, another two acoustic versions on June 10, and several UK-exclusive digital albums on June 13.
These frequent releases upset fans of other artists like Billie Eilish and Charli XCX, whose albums couldn’t reach No. 1 because of Swift’s continuous success. Swift also outperformed new albums from artists like Dua Lipa, Megan Thee Stallion, Bon Jovi, and Gunna!