In recent times, the world of pop music has witnessed the mercurial rise of Taylor Swift. The 34-year-old pop mega-star currently trends on a global level for her music, making an impact and humming on playlists of millions of listeners. Furthermore, with her albums attaining new milestones every other day, it stands reasonable for her to contend with some of the biggest current names in music. However, her upcoming album, ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ stands set on clinching even more ambitious feats as it eyes Michael Jackson's milestone.

Days before even an official rollout, the predominant tide of reception for the album ekes itself out as a likely achievable target.

Famed as the King of Pop, the ‘Thriller’ singer has left an indelible mark on music. Now, the current wave of hype for Taylor Swift and presales numbers have put ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ to sell over 1 million vinyl copies in just its first week, a feat last achieved in 1987 by the album ‘Bad’ by Michael Jackson. Scheduled to drop on April 19, the upcoming album has already brushed past the vinyl numbers of Swift’s ‘1989 (Taylor’s Version).

Announced during her win at the 2024 Grammy Awards, ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ will also pitch Taylor Swift against Michael Jackson to try to beat his historically high vinyl sales numbers of a whopping 66 million for 1982’s ‘Thriller’. Moreover, with benchmarks such as her ‘Cruel Summer' racing towards two billion Spotify streams and her sweeps at events such as the Grammy and the last VMAs, the billionaire pop star stands footed for a winning streak.

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Sales numbers for the forthcoming album may also see several variations and patterns because of the bevy of editions it has for itself.

Taylor Swift took to the color white with a hint of sepia as the canvas for ‘The Tortured Poets Department’. Ever since its announcement, the singer took to active promotions of it during the several legs of the Eras Tour following the 2024 Grammy Awards. As far as mediums stand concerned, the album will drop as a digital album, a vinyl, a cassette, and a CD edition, each carrying its further sub-variations or editions.

The singer named each edition of vinyl on the bonus track it promises to carry. Announced in order, stand ‘The Manuscript’, ‘The Bolter’, ‘The Albatross’, and ‘The Black Dog’ editions of ‘The Tortured Poets Department’. Finally, with an exclusive release of vinyl for her partnership with Target also on the cards, Taylor Swift has left no stone unturned in ensuring the return of good numbers.

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What are your thoughts on Taylor Swift matching a Michael Jackson release number with ‘The Tortured Poets Department’? Let us know in the comments below.