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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.)
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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 streams. (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 streams 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).
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Further news of initial sales and streaming activity for the album, as provided by Luminate, will be reported in the coming days.
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 the 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.”
The sales 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 sales number is expected to be announced 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 than 14 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.
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.
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, year-to-date, 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 available versions of The Tortured Poets Department:Standard 16-song digital download & streaming 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, while 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 & streaming 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 one 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 one 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 one million copies in a week in the modern era. One of those albums, Adele’s 25, sold more than one 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), title track “The Tortured Poets Department” (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 streams 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).
It’s Friday, April 19th, and there’s been a ton of new singles dropped by some of your favorite artists! Taylor Swift announced “Fortnight,” featuring Post Malone, as her lead single prior to the release of her new double album, ‘The Tortured Poets Department.’ Nicki Minaj released her new single, “FTCU Remix” and after previewing “Teka” […]
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TOMORROW X TOGETHER lands its sixth No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart, as minisode 3: TOMORROW opens atop the tally (dated April 20). The set sold 103,500 copies sold in the U.S. in the week ending April 11, according to Luminate. Also, the top 10 welcomes debuts from Conan Gray, The Black Keys, Vampire Weekend, Khruangbin and J. Cole.
Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart ranks the top-selling albums of the week based only on traditional album sales. The chart’s history dates back to May 25, 1991, the first week Billboard began tabulating charts with electronically monitored piece count information from SoundScan, now Luminate. Pure album sales were the sole measurement utilized by the Billboard 200 albums chart through the list dated Dec. 6, 2014, after which that chart switched to a methodology that blends album sales with track equivalent album units and streaming equivalent album units. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s minisode 3: TOMORROW enters with 103,500 copies sold. Of that sum, physical sales comprise 101,500 (all from CD sales), while digital downloads comprise 2,000. The album’s sales were supported by its availability across 17 collectible CD editions (including exclusive editions sold by Barnes & Noble, Target and the act’s webstore), all containing randomized paper merchandise (but with the same audio tracklist). It was also issued across multiple digital download variations, including five iterations that each contained a different voice memo as a bonus track, plus an edition that boasted bonus remixes.
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Conan Gray notches his third top 10-charting effort on Top Album Sales as Found Heaven starts at No. 2 with 27,000 copies sold. It also matches his chart-high, as Kid Krow peaked at No. 2 in 2020. Vinyl sales powered more than half of the set’s first week (58%), with nearly 16,000 copies sold of the album across 10 vinyl variants (including exclusives for Amazon, Barnes & Noble, independent record stores, Target and Gray’s official webstore; the latter also offered a signed edition). The album also launches at No. 1 on the Vinyl Albums chart. Seven different iterations of the CD edition of the album were available (most with the same tracklist, just with different cover art) including one that was signed by the artist. Found Heaven was also issued as a standard digital download album, along with an alternative version, with different cover art, sold through the artist’s webstore.
Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter falls to No. 3 after debuting at No. 1 a week earlier. The set sold 21,000 copies in its second week (down 88%). While Cowboy Carter’s CD and vinyl editions were available to purchase only via Beyoncé’s official webstore in the set’s first two weeks of release, those physical configurations became widely available to all retailers beginning on April 12. (The album has also been purchasable as a digital download, widely, since its release on March 29.)
The Black Keys’ Ohio Players debuts at No. 4 on Top Album Sales with 20,000 copies sold, marking the seventh top 10-charting effort for the band. The set was available in seven vinyl variants, a standard CD, standard cassette, standard digital download, and a deluxe boxed set containing branded merchandise (a T-shirt and sticker set) and a CD.
Vampire Weekend’s Only God Was Above Us bows at No. 5 on Top Album Sales, with 16,000 copies sold. It’s the act’s fourth top 10-charting effort and brings the group its first debut on the ranking since 2019’s Father of the Bride bowed at No. 1 (May 18, 2019 chart). The new album was available in four vinyl variants, a standard CD, standard download, and two deluxe boxed sets (each containing a branded T-shirt and a copy of the CD).
Khruangbin’s A La Sala steps in at No. 6 on Top Album Sales with 14,000 copies sold, garnering the act its fourth top 10-charting effort. 80% of the album’s first-week sales were from vinyl offerings, six in total. It was also issued as a standard CD, cassette and digital download.
J. Hope’s Hope On the Street, Vol. 1 falls 2-7 in its second week on the chart, with 9,000 sold (down 80%).
J. Cole’s Might Delete Later rounds out the six debuts in the top 10 on Top Album Sales, as the surprise release from the rapper bows at No. 8 with 9,000 sold (all from a standard digital download). It’s the seventh top 10-charting set for the artist.
Closing out the top 10 are a pair of former No. 1s from Taylor Swift, as Lover falls 3-9 (7,000; down 28%) and 1989 (Taylor’s Version) drops 4-10 (6,500; down 28%).
In the week ending April 11, there were 1.294 million albums sold in the U.S. (down 3.7% compared to the previous week). Of that sum, physical albums (CDs, vinyl LPs, cassettes, etc.) comprised 964,000 (down 3.3%) and digital albums comprised 329,000 (down 4.9%).
There were 525,000 CD albums sold in the week ending April 11 (up 1.4% week-over-week) and 433,000 vinyl albums sold (down 8.7%). Year-to-date CD album sales stand at 6.698 million (down 31.3% compared to the same time frame a year ago) and year-to-date vinyl album sales total 6.858 million (down 49.3%).
Overall year-to-date album sales total 18.177 million (down 36.8% compared to the same year-to-date time frame a year ago). Year-to-date physical album sales stand at 13.626 million (down 41.9%) and digital album sales total 4.551 million (down 14.5%).
Taylor Swift’s upcoming album ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ has everyone excited, and fans can’t wait to uncover the hidden meanings and Easter eggs within her Spotify pop-up, The Tortured Poets Department Library. Chris Olsen:This is crazy. I mean, what Spotify has done is also so beautiful. The energy here is beautiful, Swifties are the best […]
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