When Taylor Swift released “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)” this month, there was no doubt it would debut at No. 1. The only question was how powerful it would break records, how many mountains of vinyl it would sell, and how far Swift’s chart catalog would push anyone.
‘Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)’, the third installment in Swift’s series of re-recorded albums – this is a reconstruction of 2010’s ‘Speak Now’, with a thick appendix of tracks revisited from the editing room floor – is the biggest new LP of the year, selling the equivalent of 716,000 in the United States. It easily surpassed Morgan Wallen’s “One Thing at a Time,” which opened in March with 501,000.
But that’s not all. It is Swift’s 12th No. 1 album, beating out Barbra Streisand for most chart positions by a woman. Drake also has 12 No. 1 albums, but the only acts with more are Jay-Z (14) and the Beatles (19).
The popularity of Swift’s Eras Tour has boosted her entire catalog, and this week, in addition to the new “Speak Now,” she has three other titles in the Top 10 of the Billboard 200 album chart: “Midnights” (No. 5) , “Lover” (No. 7) and “Folklore” (No. 10). Swift is the first living act to have four albums in the Top 10 since Herb Alpert in 1966. (Prince had five after his death in 2016, and for many years Billboard banned older “catalogue” albums from reappearing on the main chart – a rule that was changed after Michael Jackson’s death in 2009.)
Swift’s attempt to recreate her first six albums began after her old record label was sold without her participation, as a way for Swift to reclaim and control her previous work. But the project has become a phenomenon of its own, with fans taking the opportunity to revisit their own relationship with the music, and critics scouring the new recordings for rare – but noteworthy – edits, such as a lyrics change on the song “Better Than Revenge” from “Speak Now” which was considered outdated or worse.
The new version of “Speak Now” had a larger opening than her two previous re-recordings, “Red” (605,000) and “Fearless” (291,000).
The 716,000 “equivalent” sales for the new “Speak Now” — a measure from Billboard and data service Luminate that reconciles the different ways fans now consume music — include 269 million streams and 507,000 copies sold as a complete package. It also holds 268,500 copies on vinyl, the second-biggest week for any vinyl album since Luminate’s predecessors began keeping reliable sales records in 1991—the biggest was Swift’s own “Midnights,” which opened in October with 575,000 copies sold on LP .
“Speak Now” continues an amazingly productive run for Swift. It is her sixth studio album in three years, and according to Billboard, she is the only artist to score new No. 1 albums in each of the past five calendar years: “Lover” (2019); “Folklore” and “Evermore” (2020); “Fearless (Taylor’s Version)” and “Red (Taylor’s Version)” (2021); “Midnights” (2022); and now “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version).”
Also this week, Wallen’s “One Thing” is at number 2; Lil Uzi Vert’s “Pink Tape,” last week’s top album, drops to No. 3; and Peso Pluma’s “Genesis” is No. 4.
