“Folklore” is a storybook smash.
Taylor Swift’s fantasy-streaked eighth studio album — recorded in secrecy in quarantine and released on July 24 with only a few hours’ notice — moved the sales-and-streams equivalent of 846,000 copies in the United States in its first week of availability, according to Nielsen Music. That’s the biggest opening for any record this year — and the biggest sales week for any album since Swift’s 2019 LP, “Lover,” which notched 867,000 copies in September.
“Folklore’s” strong commercial showing was more than enough to secure a No. 1 debut on the Billboard 200, 30-year-old Swift’s seventh visit to the chart’s top spot; among female artists, only Barbra Streisand and Madonna have scored more No. 1 albums, with 11 and nine, respectively. (The Beatles, as Billboard points out, are the all-time leaders, with 19 chart-toppers.)
Of “Folklore’s” first-week copies, 615,000 registered as full-album sales in either a digital or physical format, which makes the album 2020’s biggest seller after just a week. The previous leader, “Map of the Soul: 7” by K-pop’s BTS, has sold 574,000 copies in the U.S. since it came out in February.
Swift’s label, Republic Records, said global sales for “Folklore” have passed 2 million.
Those sales numbers aren’t unusual for one of the few superstar artists still capable of inspiring fans to pay for downloads and CDs. (“Lover” sold 679,000 copies in its first week of availability.)