Day 1: Taylor Sells 1.4M Copies of TTPD

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., according to Billboard.

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).

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 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.