Taylor Swift’s ‘1989 (Taylor’s Version)’ Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard 200 With Biggest Week in Nearly a Decade
Written by djfrosty on November 5, 2023
Taylor Swift’s 1989 (Taylor’s Version) blasts in at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart (dated Nov. 11), scoring the superstar her 13th No. 1 on the chart. The set debuts with 1.653 million equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending Nov. 2, according to Luminate. That marks the largest week for any album, by units earned, since Adele’s 25 launched with 3.482 million units earned in the week ending Nov. 25, 2015.
Further, of 1989 (Taylor’s Version)’s first-week units, traditional album sales comprise 1.359 million of that sum — Swift’s single-largest sales week for any of her albums. It surpasses her previous high, logged when the original 1989 album debuted with 1.287 million sold in the week ending Nov. 2, 2014.
The first-week sales of 1989 (Taylor’s Version) are the largest for any album since Adele’s 25 bowed with 3.378 million. In total, since Luminate began electronically tracking music sales in 1991, the debut of 1989 (Taylor’s Version) marks the sixth-largest sales week for any album. The top six biggest weeks are (all in debut frames): 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 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (1.359 million).
The sales of 1989 (Taylor’s Version) were enhanced by its availability in 15 collectible physical formats: five color vinyl variants, eight CD editions and two cassette editions. Of the five vinyl variants, Target carries a color variant that includes one bonus track (“Sweeter Than Fiction”). The album is also available to buy in two digital download editions: a standard 21-song version and a deluxe 22-song version (which adds a re-recorded version of the album’s “Bad Blood,” featuring Kendrick Lamar). (Notably, Swift did not offer an autographed edition of the new album to purchase, as she did in time for the first weeks of her last three No. 1s: Speak Now [Taylor’s Version], Midnights and Red [Taylor’s Version]. Signed editions of her albums are a major sales driver.)
With Swift’s total of No. 1s on the Billboard 200 albums chart rising to 13 (Swift’s lucky number), she extends her record for the most leaders among women in the chart’s history, dating back to March of 1956, when the list began publishing on a regular, weekly basis. Among all artists, The Beatles have the most No. 1s (19), followed by Jay-Z (14) and Drake and Swift (tied with 13 each).
All 13 of Swift’s full-length studio albums and re-recorded projects from 2008’s Fearless, her second studio album, through 2023’s 1989 (Taylor’s Version) have debuted at No. 1.
Swift announced 1989 (Taylor’s Version) on Aug. 9, while performing at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., as part of her The Eras Tour. Pre-order sales for the album began shortly afterward via Swift’s official webstore.
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 Nov. 11, 2023-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Nov. 7. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
Of 1989 (Taylor’s Version)’s 1.653 million equivalent album units earned in the week ending Nov. 2, album sales comprise 1.359 million, SEA units comprise 288,000 (equaling 375.49 million on-demand official streams of the set’s 21 songs) and TEA units comprise 6,000.
The original 1989 album debuted atop the Billboard 200 chart dated Nov. 15, 2014, and spent 11 nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1. It is tied with Swift’s first leader, Fearless, for her most weeks at No. 1 with a single album. The 1989 album boasts three songs that hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 — the most No. 1s generated from any Swift album. She sent “Shake It Off,” “Blank Space” and “Bad Blood,” featuring Kendrick Lamar, to No. 1 in 2014-15.
1989 (Taylor’s Version) includes re-recordings of the original 1989 album’s standard 13 songs plus the three tracks from its deluxe edition. The new 1989 (Taylor’s Version) adds five additional previously unreleased “From the Vault” re-recordings, bringing the total number of songs on the standard version of 1989 (Taylor’s Version) to 21.
Million-Selling Week: With 1.359 million copies sold in its first week, 1989 (Taylor’s Version) marks the sixth Swift album to have sold at least a million in a single week, following the debut weeks of Midnights, reputation, the original 1989, Red and Speak Now. She is the only act with six different albums to each sell at least 1 million copies in a single week since Luminate began electronically tracking sales in 1991.
In total, there have been 25 instances — by 23 different albums — in which an album sold at least 1 million copies in a week in the Luminate era. One of those albums, Adele’s 25, sold more than 1 million in three separate weeks.
2023’s Biggest-Selling Album: 1989 (Taylor’s Version) has already become the year’s top-selling album. It surpasses the year’s previous best-seller, Swift’s own 2022 release Midnights, which has sold 791,000 in 2023. Swift now has the top-three-selling albums of the year, as Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) is the No. 3-seller, with 755,000 sold since its release in July.
Modern-Era Single-Week Vinyl Sales Record: 1989 (Taylor’s Version) sold 693,000 copies on vinyl in its first week. That marks the largest sales week for a vinyl album since Luminate began tracking sales in 1991. Swift breaks her own modern-era vinyl sales record, set by the debut of her last studio album of all-new material, Midnights, which sold 575,000 copies in its opening week (ending Oct. 27, 2022).
Biggest Sales Week for a CD Album Since 2015: Of 1989 (Taylor’s Version)’s first-week sales across all formats (CD, vinyl, digital download and cassette), its combined eight CD editions sold 554,000 copies. That marks the single-largest sales week for an album on CD since Adele’s 25 sold 1.03 million copies on CD in its fifth week of release (week ending Dec. 24, 2015).
Swift’s Biggest Streaming Week for a Re-Recorded Album: As 1989 (Taylor’s Version) earned 288,000 SEA units, which equates to 375.49 million on-demand official streams of the set’s 21 songs, the album tallies Swift’s biggest streaming week, by total streams for its songs, for any of her four re-recorded projects. Her previous biggest streaming sum for a re-recorded project was the opening week of Red (Taylor’s Version), which saw its collected 30 songs generate 303.23 million streams. (Swift’s biggest streaming week overall for any album is the debut frame of Midnights, with 549.26 million clicks — which is also the single-largest week for any album by a woman.)
At No. 2 on the new Billboard 200, SEVENTEEN debuts with SEVENTEENTH Heaven: 11th Mini Album, marking the Korean pop group’s fourth top 10-charting effort. The set launches with 100,000 equivalent album units earned, driven almost entirely by CD sales (98,000 in total), bolstered by its availability across 16 collectible CD variants.
The rest of the top 10 comprises former No. 1s. Drake’s For All the Dogs falls 2-3 (95,000 equivalent album units earned, down 21%); Bad Bunny’s Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana is a non-mover at No. 4 (73,000; down 25%); Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time is steady at No. 5 (64,000; down 7%); Rod Wave’s Nostalgia rises 9-6 (46,000; down 9%); Swift’s Midnights dips 6-7 (45,000; down 15%); Swift’s Lover falls 7-8 (just over 44,000; down 15%); Zach Bryan’s self-titled album descends 8-9 (44,000; down 14%); and SZA’s SOS climbs 11-10 (42,000; down 5%).
Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.