Update, October 31: A new way to celebrate Halloween this year: rooting for the “Anti-Hero.” Taylor Swift notched a record opening on the Billboard Hot 100, occupying the entire top ten for the first time ever off her new album, Midnights. “Anti-Hero,” its first single, leads the pack at No. 1 thanks to its music video and strong radio push. But Swift’s dominance of the top ten involved myriad strategies, evidenced by her concurrent showings in the top-ten charts for Streaming Songs (where “Anti-Hero” leads) and Digital Song Sales (where “Question …?” leads thanks to a discounted instrumental track). And it’s not just Swift in the top ten: With “Snow on the Beach” at No. 4, featured (background) vocalist Lana Del Rey earns her own highest chart placement ever. Curiously, though, Swift didn’t make the entire top 13: Former No. 1’s “Unholy” and “Bad Habit” kept her from that feat at Nos. 11 and 12 (but Midnights did round out the top 15 with “Mastermind,” “Labyrinth,” and “Sweet Nothing”). Beyond her dominating the top ten, it’s now the fourth time Swift has concurrently debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and Hot 100, a feat she already held the record for. It’s as Swift herself said: Putting someone first only works when they’re your entire top five. Or something like that, anyway.
Original story follows.
Best believe Taylor Swift can still make the music charts shimmer. Midnights has become her 11th consecutive album to top the Billboard 200, which means she’s now tied with Barbra Streisand as the woman with the most No. 1 albums in the chart’s history. With 1.578 million album-equivalent units, Midnights represents the biggest debut in nearly seven years (Adele scored 3.482 million units with 25 in 2015). Swift’s 13-track album was released at midnight (duh) on October 21 with four different CD and vinyl versions that could be put together to create a clock of album covers. A Target version and a surprise 3 a.m. version offered ten total bonus tracks. Ultimately, Midnights ended up scoring 1.14 million pure sales in its first week.
Swift is now the first artist ever to have five albums debut with over 1 million U.S. copies, with Midnights joining her past releases reputation, 1989, Red, and Speak Now. She has also broken the U.S. record for single-week vinyl sales, selling 575,000 vinyl LPs of Midnights (for reference, that’s more than three times as many as Harry’s House in second place). Over on the streaming side, she’s making history, too — 549.26 million on-demand Midnights streams is the new record for the biggest U.S. streaming week for a female artist. It’s also the third-biggest streaming week overall for an album, after Drake’s Scorpion and Certified Lover Boy. We imagine Swift’s reaction to all this news might be along the lines of something she said in her “Bejeweled” music video: “Nice!”
