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Taylor Swift releases new album, already breaking streaming records

Oct 3, 2025, 7:01am EDT
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People wait to enter a Spotify pop-up event for Taylor Swift’s album “The Life of a Showgirl” in New York.
A Spotify pop-up event for Taylor Swift’s album in New York. Kylie Cooper/Reuters.

Taylor Swift released her 12th original album, The Life of a Showgirl, which is expected to break new records to further cement the pop queen’s dominance.

Swift has been “pop’s alpha figure for more than a decade,” The New York Times noted, and in the 18 months since her last release, The Tortured Poets Department, Swift has reached new heights of success — and fame. Her Eras Tour was the most lucrative in history, she bought back ownership of her early albums’ master recordings, and she got engaged.

Anticipation for Showgirl has been “off the charts,” Forbes reported, with more than 5 million pre-saves on Spotify — the most ever — and it is “almost a foregone conclusion” that Swift will become the first female artist to break 100 million career album sales.

A chart showing the highest-grossing music tours.

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