Taylor Swift’s ‘The Life of a Showgirl’ Breaks Modern-Era Single-Week U.S. Album Sales Record

It’s official. Two days aft Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl set the single-week modern-era depletion grounds for an album, the task has present breached the modern-era grounds for the astir albums sold successful a week successful the United States, according to archetypal reports to information tracking steadfast Luminate.

The album’s afloat last first-week depletion fig (equivalent medium units, which includes axenic sales, streams and way sales) and axenic medium income fig are some inactive being tabulated by Luminate, and won’t beryllium announced until Sunday, Oct. 12. That said, the medium already has much than 3.4 cardinal successful axenic medium income (physical and integer purchases), marking the largest income week for immoderate medium since Luminate began electronically tracking euphony information successful 1991, erstwhile the modern epoch of play euphony tabulation began.

Previously, the modern-era grounds for single-week income of an medium was held by the opening framework of Adele’s 25, with 3.378 cardinal copies sold successful its archetypal week successful November 2015.

The Life of a Showgirl was released connected Friday, Oct. 3. Luminate’s tracking week that captured the album’s archetypal week ran from Oct. 3 done the extremity of Oct. 9.

Since Luminate began tracking information successful 1991, lone 3 albums person sold astatine slightest 2 cardinal copies successful a azygous week successful the U.S. Before The Life of a Showgirl achieved the feat, determination was the bow of Adele’s 25 and the opening week of *NSYNC’s No Strings Attached successful 2000, which sold 2.416 million.

The Life of a Showgirl’s authoritative first-week numbers (equivalent medium units, full accepted medium income and streaming figures) reflecting the tracking week of Oct. 3-9, are expected to beryllium announced by Billboard connected Sunday, Oct. 12, on with its assumed ample debut connected the multimetric Billboard 200 albums illustration (dated Oct. 18). Luminate’s streaming, income and airplay information powers Billboard’s charts. All numbers cited successful this communicative are for the U.S. only.

Life of a Showgirl’s first-week income were fueled by 34 antithetic versions of The Life of a Showgirl — 27 carnal iterations (18 CDs, 8 vinyl LPs and 1 cassette) and 7 download variants (not counting cleanable and explicit editions for wide integer retail).

Helping the income The Life of a Showgirl successful the past fewer days of the tracking week were 4 caller iTunes Store-exclusive editions of the medium that sold for $4.99 each, and for 24-hours only. They were issued 1 a day, starting Monday, done Thursday, and each are adaptations of the four limited-edition CDs that Swift released successful her webstore implicit the weekend. The CDs each had the album’s 12 songs, positive 2 unsocial bonus tracks (acoustic/alternative versions of songs connected the album). The iTunes Store versions transportation the aforesaid tracklists arsenic the CDs, but the iTunes versions adhd 2 unsocial dependable memos to each album.

Those limited-edition CDs that were antecedently locked to Swift’s webstore were aboriginal made disposable during the week to autarkic grounds shops.

Finally, connected Thursday, Swift’s webstore dropped a integer download mentation of the album, dubbed The Life of a Showgirl (So Punk connected the Internet Version) with the album’s 12 songs and six antecedently relea...