Songs from Taylor Swift’s new album The Life of a Showgirl have begun dominating music-streaming charts after their release Friday morning.
Swift’s new material accounts for nine of the top 10 most-listened-to tracks on Apple Music. One of the songs, The Fate of Ophelia, was also among Amazon Music’s top 10. On Spotify Technology SA, Swift broke her own record with more than 5 million pre-saves on the streaming platform before the album even dropped.
The artist, the most successful pop star working today, is giving her 12th studio album a multi-month promotional push, one that began with an announcement on fiancé Travis Kelcee’s podcast in August.
The album was immediately blowing up social media channels with fan reviews and critics were generally positive. New York Times reviewer Jon Caramanica marked it as a “critic’s pick,” calling it a “capstone to Swift’s career to date.” Rolling Stone decorated its entire website in Swift’s album colors — mint green and sparkly orange — with multiple stories about the superstar. Critic Maya Georgi awarded the album five out of five stars.
“Despite the rock on her finger, Swift is married to the hustle — and with an album as good as this one, she might even try to outdo herself, again,” Georgi wrote.
Showgirl is a relatively compact album, coming in at 41 minutes. She swapped her longtime producer Jack Antonoff, known for rock-inspired pop songs with leading female artists, for Max Martin, the Swedish pop producer behind Britney Spears’ “...Baby One More Time” and Swift’s breakthrough 1989 album that took her from country act to global pop phenomenon.
Swift’s previous album, The Tortured Poets Department, set a Spotify record for most streamed in a single day when it was released on April 19, 2024. She was the top global artist on the platform for the second year in a row in 2024. Her Eras concert tour, which ended last year, was the most successful in history.
Even as she racks up streaming successes, Swift is still a fan of physical album sales. Target Corp. sold a special edition vinyl pressing in pink and pale yellow on Friday.
Universal Music Group NV, which distributes Swift’s songs, said she was among the company’s top performers in 2024 and into this year’s second quarter.
The new release brings a surge in additional promotions, including a pop-up merchandise store in New York. Swift was scheduled to appear on three TV talk shows, including Graham Norton in the UK on Friday and NBC’s Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers next week.
A film released by theater giant AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. is expected to be No. 1 at the US box office this weekend. The 89-minute movie, titled The Official Release Party of a Showgirl, features her personal reflections on the songs and videos with the lyrics.
In yet another illustration of how Swift navigates new media and old, the music video of her new song The Fate of Ophelia will show exclusively in the film for the first three days before becoming available on YouTube Sunday night.
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