Taylor Swift’s new album has broken a host of streaming records.
The 30-year-old singer’s ‘folklore’ was released at short notice – but that hasn’t stopped the album from entering the record books.
‘folklore’ sold over 1.3 million copies around the world within the first 24 hours of its release. The album also broke records on Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music.
‘folklore’ has created a new record for first day album streams on Spotify by a female artist, having prompted 80.6 million streams.
Similarly, the record has also become the most-streamed album on Apple Music in 24 hours, achieving 35.47 million streams in a single day.
‘folklore’ has created a new benchmark on Amazon Music, too, setting an indie/alternative streaming record in the US and worldwide.
Meanwhile, Taylor recently revealed she didn’t even tell her friends she was making ‘folklore’.
The chart-topping star surprised her fans by unveiling her eighth studio album on Thursday (23.07.20) evening, and admitted she made a concerted effort to remain tight-lipped about the project.
During a fan Q&A, she explained: "No one knew I was making an album.
"I didn’t even tell my friends until right before announce. It was my own secret world I’d go to and I’ve never made music like that before."
Aaron Dessner – who worked with Taylor on her new album – even kept it a secret from his daughter.
He said: "I have an eight-year-old daughter and one day she asked me. She’s just like, ‘Daddy, do you know Taylor Swift?’
"It was the morning after we’d written like one of these songs. And every time we would write a song, it was like a weird lightning bolt, getting this struck by lightning or something and just like exhilarated with electricity.
"I just looked her straight in the eye and said, ‘No.’ I honoured my confidentiality. But yeah, it was important to keep it."