TORONTO, ONTARIO - SEPTEMBER 09: (NO COVERS) Taylor Swift attends 'In Conversation With... Taylor ... [+]
Taylor Swift’s new album The Tortured Poets Department has finally arrived, and as was expected, it’s become a massive success right out of the gate. A quick look at iTunes shows how huge the songs featured on the set have become immediately after being released, and this is only the beginning for the project and its many, many tunes.
The Tortured Poets Department arrived at midnight EST, and instantly became a streaming and sales win. Then, a few hours later, Swift shocked her fan base by announcing that the title is actually a double album, and she expanded the tracklist to include a total of 31 songs—with many being offered in different versions (like clean and explicit).
Swift dominates iTunes in the U.S. thanks to the release of The Tortured Poets Department. This isn’t surprising, as she always reaches No. 1 with a new album, but the sheer number of spots she occupies on the ranking of the top-selling individual tunes in the U.S. at the moment is amazing.
As of the time of writing, Swift fills 43 spaces inside the top 100 on iTunes’ U.S. store. Her reach expands beyond the top 100, though that’s where the majority of her cuts land—and most of them are climbing.
Swift almost completely owns the top 10 on iTunes at the moment, though she so far hasn’t been able to beat every other musician. The superstar occupies nine of the 10 rungs in that tier. “The Black Dog” rules at the moment, landing at No. 2.
The only musician who has been able to top Swift today is Nicki Minaj. At the same time that The Tortured Poets Department arrived, the rapper dropped a new version of her single “FTCU,” with some famous friends in tow. That cut, which now features Travis Scott, Chris Brown, and Sexxy Red, bolted to No. 1 and is holding court there.
Of course, The Tortured Poets Department also sits at No. 1 on iTunes’ albums chart. In fact, Swift rules that ranking, sitting in several of the highest spaces—and all with different versions of the same project. The longer edition, known as The Anthology, appears at No. 1, while the shorter full-length is just behind.
The Tortured Poets Department is all but assured to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard charts next week. The title will likely open atop the Billboard 200, the ranking of the most-consumed albums in America with more than one million units, and its final may be much higher. Most, if not all, of the songs from the set will also hit the Hot 100, though how many spaces she’ll fill is yet to be seen.
