Taylor Swift’s ‘Tortured Poets Department’ Breaks a Major Spotify Record in Less Than 12 Hours

Another day, another record broken by Taylor Swift. In less than 12 hours, Swift’s new The Tortured Poets Department double album has become Spotify’s most streamed album in a single day in 2024 so far, Spotify confirms exclusively to Billboard.

The 31-track set snags the honor from the previous record-holder, Beyoncé’s Billboard 200-topping Cowboy Carter LP, which ultimately earned 300.41 million on-demand official streams in its first full week of release.

Spotify is still tracking for other potential records today that could be broken by Swift.

The Tortured Poets Department serves as the pop superstar’s eleventh studio album; it’s also her first album of new music since 2022’s Grammy-winning Midnights. Swift’s new LP features collaborations with Florence + the Machine and Post Malone, as well as writing and production contributions from Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner. On Thursday (April 18), Swift revealed that the Post Malone-assisted “Fortnight” would serve as the set’s first single, with a music video to follow on Friday (April 19) at 8 p.m. ET.

On Thursday, the “Cruel Summer” singer also debuted a teaser of the “Fortnight” video, which features an appearance from Malone. “At this hearing, I stand before my fellow members of The Tortured Poets Department with a summary of my findings,” she wrote in the enigmatic caption of the grayscale clip.

Although Tortured Poets is Swift’s first album of new music since Midnights, she has steadily pumped out her re-recorded Taylor’s Version albums in the interim. In between the two aforementioned LPs, Swift topped the Billboard 200 with both Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) and 1989 (Taylor’s Version), the latter of which became the star’s record-extending sixth album to debut with over one million pure sales in its first week.

Swift announced The Tortured Poets Department at the 2024 Grammys in February, where she won album of the year for a record fourth time thanks to her Midnights album.