Taylor Swift‘s new album, The Life of a Showgirl, has shattered Adele‘s nearly decade-old first-week sales record, earning 3.5 million equivalent album units in its initial tracking week according to Billboard, while surpassing Adele’s 3.482 million units for 25 in 2015. Released on October 3, Swift’s album has sold 3.2 million traditional copies, approaching but not yet exceeding Adele’s physical sales record of 3.387 million. Swift’s impressive sales figures were boosted by multiple limited-edition CD and vinyl variants, with additional copies containing exclusive acoustic versions and voice memo recordings made available to order for only 24 hours. The Life of a Showgirl also broke Swift’s own Spotify record for most streams in a day within only 12 hours, fueled by a record-breaking 5.5 million pre-saves. The tracking week for the album closes on Thursday (October 9), with final first-week sales officially announced on Sunday (October 12). (Rolling Stone)
