The power of the Swifties: Taylor’s ‘Midnights’ breaks streaming and vinyl sales records

It’s a good week to be a Swiftie.

Pop superstar Taylor Swift has toppled multiple sales and streaming records with the Oct. 21 release of her 10th studio album, “Midnights.”

In just the first three days of its release, “Midnights” has already become the top-selling album of 2022. On Spotify, “Midnights” tallied 88 million streams in the U.S. and 185 million worldwide in one day, besting Bad Bunny’s record of 183 million global streams for his album “Un Verano Sin Ti.” Swift also broke first-day records at Apple Music and Amazon Music.

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Billboard reported that “Midnights” sold over 800,000 copies in the U.S. in its first day, including streams, digital downloads, and CD, vinyl and cassette sales. By comparison, Harry Styles’ “Harry’s House,” released in May, sold 521,500 equivalent album units in its first week; week-one sales for Beyonce’s “Renaissance” were 332,000, and “Un Verano Sin Ti” racked up 274,000 album-equivalent units sold. Adele’s “30,” released in November 2021, sold 839,000 equivalent album units in its first week of release.

With “Midnights,” Swift claims the biggest sales week for any artist since the 2017 release of her sixth studio album, “Reputation,” which sold 1.216 million copies in its first week.

Trade magazine Hits projects that “Midnight’s” first-week sales figure could end up between 1.4 and 1.6 million units.

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After two rootsy pandemic albums, ‘Midnights’ picks up right where 2014’s ‘1989’ and 2017’s ‘Reputation’ left off.

Oct. 20, 2022

“Midnights” also broke existing vinyl sales records, having sold nearly 500,000 copies in one day. “Harry’s House” held the one-week record, with 182,000 12-inch copies.

Swift will appear as a guest on Monday night’s episode of the “The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon.”