When Republic Records superstar Taylor Swift released “Red (Taylor’s Version)” in Nov. 2021, Spotify crashed. Listeners were unable to load the album, or any other music, for at least 10 minutes.
The album was a re-record of her 2012 album “Red,” as she is currently re-recording her prior releases with Big Machine Records to obtain master’s licenses, thus transferring ownership of her songs. One of the “vault” tracks, a song that didn’t make the original album, was the long requested “All Too Well (Ten Minute Version),” an extended version of “Red’s” famous fifth track.
The 10-minute song broke a 50-year record for the longest song to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, beating Don McLean’s 1972 song “American Pie.” Her MTV Video Music Award-winning short film based on the song came out soon after, marking Swift’s filmmaking debut.
Another Billboard record broken; another award won. Extraordinary success challenges even the most seasoned music industry professionals. Expectations rise with every level reached. How could Swift one-up herself this time?
Because of her re-records, Swift hadn’t released an entirely new album since Dec. 2020’s “evermore.” She knew her fanbase was waiting.
As Swift accepted her VMA on Aug. 28 for the “All Too Well” short film, she addressed the crowd with a slight smile and said, “I thought it might be a fun moment to tell you that my brand-new album comes out October 21, and I will tell you more at midnight.”
To Swifties, this was earth-shattering. At long last, they would get a brand-new album – “Midnights,” Swift’s tenth studio album excluding the re-records.
Typically, singles or a music video precede an album release. Swift didn’t choose the typical route. Instead, she chose TikTok or, rather, #SwiftTok.
Swift revealed the upcoming album’s track titles via “Midnights Mayhem with Me,” a 13-episode TikTok series – one posted each night at midnight. Most of these videos received over a million likes, and Swift’s signature “Easter eggs” sparked fan engagement.
For example, the first words said on the first “Midnights Mayhem with Me” TikTok were, “It’s me, hi,” the exact first words of the chorus of “Anti-Hero,” track three and the current number one song on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart.
Not only did Swift have a precisely crafted TikTok timeline, she also rolled out several vinyl variants and Target-exclusive CDs, with announcements every two weeks. Additionally, four of these vinyl variants could be arranged on a wall and combined with another merchandise item from Swift’s website to create a working clock. How’s that for timing?
Swift asked fans to meet her at midnight, and that they did. On Friday, Oct. 21, “Midnights” broke the record for most single-day streams for any album in Spotify and Amazon Music history, as well as the most single-day streams for a pop album in Apple Music history.
As Midnights’ first week of release unfolded, Swift’s list of shattered records skyrocketed. Not only did her surprise late-night announcement of the “Midnights (3am Edition)” deluxe version increase her streaming capital, within a week of release she broke 73 different records and became the first artist in history to claim all top 10 entries on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart in a single week.
On the morning of Tuesday, Nov. 2, Swift announced her “Eras Tour” on Good Morning America and crashed the Ticketmaster site with her verified fan presale. It remains to be seen if there will be enough stadium seats in the world for all the Swifties.
