According to Spotify, Taylor Swift currently ranks third in terms of monthly listeners among artists in the world. Obviously being third in the world is nothing to scoff at, but it's surprisingly modest considering she released her album. The life of a dancer less than two weeks ago and absolutely broke the record for the biggest sales week ever (since 1991, when the modern era of sales tracking began).
So why did Swift sell almost 10 times more albums than the Weeknd when he released Hurry up tomorrow earlier this year and yet he still has more Spotify listeners? There are many answers and many different ways to track popularity—and in this case, they all come down to Swift's unique status as the world's biggest cult artist.
As we learn more, people don't like Swift halfway. After the critical heyday she experienced during pandemic lockdowns, her last few albums have earned increasingly negative reviews and have now reached a tipping point where naysayers are no longer afraid of incurring the wrath of Swifties and will express your opinion freelyas in reviews (like ours our rating is 4/10) and in sharp burns on social networks.
None of this seems to have dampened the enthusiasm of her most loyal fans, and this is where Swift's famous love of album variants comes into play. Dancer Press cycle, she launched countdown after countdown on her online store, many of them not dedicated to the ugly orange cardigan promoting the new album cut. As of this writing, she's released eight different vinyl editions and 18 CDs (with flowery titles like “The Tiny Bubbles in Champagne Edition” and “Sweat and Vanilla Perfume”), as well as a cassette and seven digital editions, for every discerning fan. spreadsheet tracking.
Despite I promise there will be no bonus tracks For this 12-song album, she loaded up many of these selections with extra material, such as acoustic versions and demos with voice memos – different on each edition, naturally, to entice impressionable Swifties to spend their pocket money (or desired one-time earnings figures) buying them with Pokémon-style “gotta catch 'em all” fervor. It's more valuable to have one fan willing to buy eight records than five fans willing to buy one.
An artist releasing multiple iterations of the same album is not unusual—even Billie Eilish released her album in 2024. Hit me hard and soft in several different colors, despite condemnation of “how wasteful it is”. But Swift's approach is unique in that she seems to be specifically targeting fans who want to buy multiple versions of the same album, rather than simply offering them options. Looking ahead to 2022 MidnightThis strategy was so obvious that purchasing four different album covers allowed fans to create a watch.
Since many vinyl buyers don't even own a record player, fans will treat these variants purely as collectibles and the fact that they contain the same music won't matter. (To be clear, there's nothing wrong with fans listening to music online and then buying vinyl just to support the artists, although I question the desire to buy multiple copies of the same album to support a billionaire. What do you even have to say? do with 26 different versions LEAVEexcept line them up on the floor to pose for a photo?)
I can't comment on how fans in general feel about this predatory display of capitalism, but oddly enough, I personally know of at least one IRL Swiftie who just last week declared herself an “ex-fan” on Instagram after another countdown option dropped. On the Swift subreddit, announcements for a new countdown meet with as much fatigue as excitement.
Although it alienated some fans along the way, there is no doubt that the strategy is working. The most amazing thing about The life of a dancerFirst week figures of 4.002 million US sales easily beat the previous record of 3.378 million set by Adele. 25 in 2015 – not total sales; that's 3.4 million net salesthis is how Billboard refers to the purchase of an album in physical format or as a digital download, as opposed to album-equivalent units, including streams. It may not rule streaming, but Swift and its many variants dominate physical sales.
As Swift told Zane Lowe in an interview published on October 7, “If it's the first week of my album and you say my name or the title of my album, you're helping.”
In other words, all press is good press, which is not true for art, but generally true for brands. And in this case, brand loyalty turns out to be what truly sets Taylor Nation LLC apart.
