How much longer can Taylor Swift maintain her #1 spot with “The Tortured Poets Department”?
This week she topped the Billboard 200 albums chart for the sixth straight year, following a string of challenges from Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa and rapper Gunna since her monster debut in April. The numbers for “Tortured Poets” have cooled off a bit now, but don’t think it’ll fall down the charts anytime soon. Swift's momentum is still strong, she has plenty of tricks up her sleeve and she won't be facing any superstar competition in the near future. (On next week's chart, Swift will compete with K-pop group Ateez, who took first place with their last album.)
The last album to reach number one in the first six weeks was Morgan Wallen's 'One Thing at a Time', which held the number one spot for the first 12 weeks last year and then returned to a total of 19th place. That was Wallen's “Dangerous: The Double Album,” which released 10 albums in 2021. Can Swift reach the same heights with “Tortured Poets”? (In 2020, she reached the top spot twice more, after 'Folk' spent her first six weeks at number one.)
In a recent week, “Tortured Poets” had the equivalent of 175,000 units sold in the U.S., including 174 million streams and 41,000 sales as a complete package, according to tracking service Luminate. That total was down 54% from the week before, when Swift battled with Eilish's new “Hit Me Hard and Soft.” But the album is still doing well, even when most other new albums aren't. So far this year, the average opening-week sales of her No. 1 album by none other than Taylor Swift is about 131,000.
Swift has also demonstrated a very effective strategy for releasing successive “versions” of her albums. The day before her last week on the charts, when she competed against Eilish, Swift released six limited-edition digital editions featuring her bonus tracks. Over the weekend, she released two CDs, each featuring exclusive acoustic tracks. Fans keep buying them each week, helping Swift maintain her strong presence on the charts.
Also this week, Eilish's “Hit Me Hard and Soft” stayed at No. 2 for two weeks, while alternative duo Twenty One Pilots' new “Clancy” reached No. 3, which Billboard said was the highest figure for all of rock. Album so far this year: 143,000 units sold, including 113,000 sold as a complete package.
Wallen's 'One Thing at a Time' is fourth and the 3 1/2-year-old's 'Dangerous' is sixth. RM of K-pop supergroup BTS opened in 5th place. His second studio album 'Right Place, Wrong Person'.