The year may be racing towards its conclusion, but Taylor Swift is clearly not done with it yet.
On Friday December 6, her blockbuster album The Tortured Poets Department hit No.1 for the ninth week this year, racking up another 23,047 sales according to Official Charts Company data. This shouldn't exactly come as a surprise. As reported throughout 2024, Taylor Swift – very much in an imperial phase of her career – has made a habit of breaking chart and live records. All of which, of course, comes on the back of the huge numbers she posted in 2023.
As noted by Music Week's chart analyst Alan Jones, these extra sales further cements Swift's already emphatic lead as the UK's best-selling album this year. As of December 6, The Tortured Poets Department has sales of 744,761 units – "more than its nearest two rivals, The Highlights By The Weeknd [383,038 Units] and Short N’ Sweet by Sabrina Carpenter [330,115 units], combined."
On top of heading back to the top of the charts this week, Swift was also revealed as the No. 1 most-streamed artist globally in 2024 by Spotify for the second year running. This year, she amassed 26.6 billion streams on the platform. The Tortured Poets Department was also the most-streamed album globally.
In a message delivered to her top listeners via Spotify Wrapped, Swift said: "Thank you for streaming the music. It's just been such a wild ride and I really appreciate everything you guys have done, including listening to my music so much. So cool."
Mirroring this trend, Swift was also the UK’s most-streamed artist, while The Tortured Poets Department was the UK’s most-streamed album.
It’s important to take a moment to reflect on
the historical year Taylor has delivered
in the UK in 2024Dickon Stainer, Universal Music UK
Last month, meanwhile, The Tortured Poets Department was nominated for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, Best Pop Vocal Album, Best Music Video, Song Of The Year, Record Of The Year and Album Of The Year at the Grammys. In turn, Swift has become the first woman ever to receive seven nominations in the latter category.
Earlier this year, the Mayor of London issued the figure of £300 million as the huge amount that was forecast to be generated by Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour as it hit the capital.
In March, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour (Taylor’s Version) live concert secured 4.6 million views on Disney+ in its first three days, making it the No.1 music film ever to stream on the platform.
“It’s important to take a moment to reflect on the historical year Taylor has delivered in the UK in 2024,” Dickon Stainer, Chairman and CEO, Universal Music UK, told Music Week. “As her UK label home, we couldn’t be more proud of the excellence Taylor consistently delivers, be that via her critically acclaimed album, The Tortured Poets Department, or her record-breaking live shows at Wembley this summer. 2024 will be a year we will never forget as an industry, and our gratitude goes to Taylor for always caring so much about the UK and for seeing us as her extended family.”
So, as 2024 draws to a close, what is the latest state of play for The Tortured Poets Department? Let’s look at the stats:
TTPD has now surpassed double platinum sales with 744,761 units to date in the UK with nine non-consecutive weeks at No.1. That No.1 tally is three more than any album in the 2020s, and making it the largest single contribution to Swift’s 25 weeks at the summit.
TTPD remains the biggest-selling album of the year so far, by more than double the No.2 record.
TTPD opened with 270,091 in the UK, outselling the rest of the UK albums Top 75 combined on release week.
Swift now has an unbroken streak of 12 consecutive albums to reach No.1 in the UK.
Swift also now matches Madonna as the female artist with the most No.1 albums in UK chart history with 12 UK No.1s.
TTPD opened with the biggest week one sales in the UK since Ed Sheeran’s ÷ in March 2017 and biggest week one sales for an international artist in the UK since Scissor Sisters' Tah-Dah in Sep 2006.
You can re-read Music Week’s review of the 100th show of the Eras Tour at Anfield Stadium here.
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