There are already 4 versions of Taylor Swift’s Tortured Poets Department, an album yet to be released
Taylor Swift deploys a classic Swiftie sales strategy for Tortured Poets, one that shot 1989 (Taylor's Version) and Midnights to success
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For Swifties, there’s no such thing as too much of a good thing. They will gratefully take whatever Mother serves and come back for seconds… or thirds, or fourths. There’s a reason why Taylor Swift sells more physical copies of albums than any other contemporary artist. It’s one part incredible business acumen and a thousand parts rabidly loyal fanbase. Such is the recipe behind the release strategy for Swift’s next album, The Tortured Poets Department, debuting April 19.
During her Sunday night Eras Tour performance in Singapore, the singer announced a third variant of TTPD, “The Black Dog,” which she described as the “final new edition” of the album on her Instagram. Each edition of the album she’s announced comes with different cover images, different lyrical teases, and a different bonus track, for which each variant is named: “The Black Dog” (lyric: “Old habits die screaming”), “The Albatross” (lyric: “Am I allowed to cry?”), and “The Bolter” (lyric: “You don’t get to tell me about sad”). That’s on top of the standard edition of the album, which comes with the bonus track “The Manuscript” (lyric: “I love you, it’s ruining my life.”) To make the bonus variants even more enticing, each was only made available on Swift’s website for a limited amount of time. (If you’re reading this on Monday morning, there are two more days to get your hands on “The Black Dog.”)
This is a classic Swiftian tactic and one that few other artists could deploy to such a degree of success. Olivia Rodrigo tried out a similar “bonus version” multi-edition drop for GUTS, but Swift still won the physical release battle in 2023 with 1989 (Taylor’s Version), which broke the all-time record for the largest sales week on vinyl in U.S. history (per Forbes). In that case, the tracklisting remained the same, but Swift sold a few different variants with different cover art and unique polaroid images in each copy (these variants were titled “Crystal Skies Blue,” “Rose Garden Pink,” “Aquamarine Green,” and “Sunrise Boulevard Yellow”).
The previous record for the all-time largest sales week on vinyl was held by Swift for 2022’s Midnights, an album that may take the cake for multi-edition gimmicks. Those editions also didn’t have much difference in tracklisting, but had different art for each copy—and if you bought all four variants, you could put them together to make a clock. And if you bought the hardware from the Taylor Swift store, it would be a functioning clock. With vinyl, CDs, cassettes, and digital, the pop star was at one point offering more than 20 different versions of the album, according to Billboard. By the end of the “era,” Midnights had been resold, repackaged, and reconfigured so much that it began to erode the integrity of “the album” as a concept.
The Eras Tour (Taylor’s Version) is employing a similar tactic
Of course, this is not a brand new strategy for the industry or for Swift herself. Since 2010, she’s had a partnership with Target to offer exclusive editions of her albums with special bonus content. But recently she’s stepped up her game and turned capitalism itself into an art form, particularly since kicking off the re-recording project when she realized slapping “(Taylor’s Version)” on her products wasn’t just a reclamation but a branding opportunity. This strategy extends beyond just her album sales. The Eras Tour concert film first premiered with the blockbuster theatrical version, then an extended edition (with three extra performances, “The Archer,” “Long Live,” and “Wildest Dreams”) available to rent on digital. Later this month, a third version will stream on Disney+. According to the trailer released on Monday, the Taylor’s Version of the Eras Tour film will include the performance of “cardigan” as well as four new acoustic songs (one of them appears to be the Midnights track “Maroon”).
As in most things, Swift’s multi-pronged release strategies make her unique in the industry. Yes, she’s one of the only artists who can pull it off successfully, but she’s also one of the few modern pop stars who doesn’t need all the bells and whistles to sell physical copies. Fans would still line her pockets even without all the variants, as proven by the success of Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), which according to Forbes was the biggest vinyl debut of 2023 (before 1989 TV came out) and didn’t do the multi-cover variant gambit.
So why bother with the bells and whistles at all? Swift knows her fanbase are collectors, and ready to spend their cash, so it’s an easy way to squeeze all of the juice out of every album. Given the shameless pushing of various remixes to get her songs to number one, it’s clear she’s not above a certain amount of ruthlessness when it comes to breaking records and making money. Perhaps that relentless ruthlessness in the Taylor’s Version era comes from her feelings of being “canceled” in 2016. Back then, Swift was sure her career was being taken away. She knows that the tide can turn at any moment, so it only makes sense to make hay while the sun shines. We’ll just see if she stops at four Tortured Poets variants, or if the department has more in store for the future.
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Not here to comment on this in any way beyond saying that album title is dire even if intended ironically.
Yup. It is freshman in high school open mic poetry level. Sophomore year, if intended ironically.
Because that’s as far as she emotionally matured before her career took off and she became a product of a corporation. She is a livejournal post with a guitar.
I was ready to shit on this sort of FOMO-related thing (the entire practice of multiple editions of something, also seen in video games, some comic books, etc.), but then I remembered chasing four different 7-11 collector cups back in the day. Multiple times.This seems a bit meatier, at least. And it’ll make a fucking mint.
I mean, how many different foil variant covers did I buy at the comic shop in the 90s? I guess these albums will hold their value a little better. Meaning, at all…
Yeah, but you can use multiple Simpsons Slurpee Cups you can’t use multiple versions of Dead Poets Society for much more than a coaster
Eh, they’re all “collectibles,” so I guess that’s the appeal.As far as that goes, you’d be amazed at what sorts of collectibles take off, which ones die by the wayside, and why.DIGRESSION: Action Comics #1 is as valuable as it is partly because of the milestone (1st appearance of Superman), partly because of the age, but mostly because most of the initial 200,000 print run was thrown away because it was considered disposable crap.Then you have something like Spawn #1, which had a print run of close to two million units, and which was hoarded/preserved by people thinking it’d put their kids through college one day. You can find that thing for under $20 now (ungraded).
Then you have something like Spawn #1, which had a print run of close to
two million units, and which was hoarded/preserved by people thinking
it’d put their kids through college one day. You can find that thing for
under $20 now (ungraded).
I did this back in the day when Image Comics first started up (actually I think that’s who published Spawn #1, right?) for a little while before realizing how pointless it was going to be. I’ve got no idea where those issues are now.
I had all the Image titles released in their first 2-3 years, as well as many more comics from that era. I ended up giving them all away, because the effort to sell them wasn’t worth the financial return.
Yep, Spawn was Image, who had the hot hand for a bit there.
It’s like The Godfather DVD set: you watch I & II and chop out coke on III.
I’m only a casual fan of her stuff and it’s clear every aspect of her life and career is precision engineered by an army of PR people, but the snark and venom of this article fucking sucks. This isn’t news, this is something she’s done for a decade and so has every other high level artist in the country after the labels took notes from K-Pop groups’ endless merchandising. This article is just a reason to speculate and scream about a woman you apparently hate.
It’s about chasing the incel clicks, pure and simple. It’s completely cynical and shows the lack of backbone AVC editorial and writers currently have.
It’s also getting Nice Guy clicks, too.
If “everyone” does this… can you name any other current performers who released four versions of the same album at the same time?
In ten seconds of looking at Target, I have:Kali Uchis – new album, 2 different coversRenee Rapp – new album, 2 different colors Olivia Rodrigo – new album, 3 different covers and 3 vinyl colors (this one was actually mentioned in the article if you were paying attention!)Lana Del Rey, Nicki Minaj, Chris Stapleton, SZA, Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish, Kacey Musgraves, boygenius, The Weeknd, Rhianna, Blink-182, The Rolling Stones, Selena, Frank Sinatra – all have “Target Exclusive” albums with alternate art/tracks/vinyl colors and presumably have “exclusive editions” at other retailers Was that enough?
Yeah, really the only difference it seems is that Swift has enough die-hard fans that will actually buy multiple editions that it will sell a notable number of copies.
I remember there were multiple album covers for the Star Wars, Episode II soundtrack and the Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers soundtrack (might have been Return of the King). And don’t get me started on the amount of anime soundtracks that have done this.
It truly is everyone that does this, internationally for decades.
It truly is everyone that does this, internationally for decades.
Doesn’t make it any less shitty of a practice, though.
On one hand I agree and have never bought multiple copies of the same album myself.
On the other hand, people like collectibles and have a right to spend their money on what they like, so.. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
people like collectibles
Collectibles are supposed to rise in value over time, though. Just because you can collect something doesn’t actually make it a collectible. I can go outside ride now and collect pebbles. Doesn’t make them collectible.
I guess in this case having the whole set of album covers is the collectible.
And there are many things people consider collectible that won’t really rise in value over time, e.g. most postage stamps, coins, average Funko Pop figures, etc.
Besides no one can predict what will rise in value over time.
I guess in this case having the whole set of album covers is the collectible.
No, it’s not. You can go online and look at the album covers without buying them.
Besides no one can predict what will rise in value over time.
I can guarantee that pop albums will not rise in value. Rihanna albums aren’t worth more now than they were 10 years ago. Britney Spears albums aren’t worth more now than they were 20 years ago. New Kids on the Block albums aren’t worth more now than they were 30 years ago.
I’m sure you can see the difference between going online and looking at album covers and actually owning the physical covers in your collection.
Look, I don’t decide what’s collectible and neither do you. The point is this practice of selling different versions of the same album has been happening for decades because it works. People evidently do find them collectible, whether for monetary or emotional value. Can’t stop them.
And I don’t disagree about your examples, though who knows, perhaps there are versions of some of their albums that are considered collectible today. I’m no connoisseur of pop music so don’t ask me.
I’m sure you can see the difference between going online and looking at
album covers and actually owning the physical covers in your collection.
In this case, it’s exactly the same. They both have no actual value.
Look, I don’t decide what’s collectible and neither do you.
Society has declared that pop albums aren’t collectibles that grow in value over time.
The point is this practice of selling different versions of the same album has been happening for decades because it works.
And it’s been a shitty thing to do for decades. Just a shameless money-grab.
And I don’t disagree about your examples, though who knows, perhaps
there are versions of some of their albums that are considered
collectible today.
For something mass-produced like pop albums, it’s the misprints that might be valuable. If you have a copy of …Baby One More Time with the tracklist on the back out of order, that might be worth something. Otherwise, stuff like this just doesn’t gain value over time.
whatever, you seem to have a point to make that I never was arguing against in the first place.
No, but Wilco re-releases Yankee Hotel Foxtrot at least twice a year with a few new added tracks or artwork each time – with a bigger price tag.
I’ve been trying to figure out why this feels so gross to me. After all, album variants are nothing new – the practice goes back decades, at least to the beginning of the compact disc era. But something feels different here – I think it comes down to the scale and intensity of devotion from Swifties. These aren’t just collector’s items for people who decide they want them – the parasocial nature of modern-day fandom means that buying all of these variants determines whether you are a good fan or a bad fan. Or at least, that’s how it will feel to many of Swift’s followers. It feels like the Taylor Swift is preying on fans, knowing that social pressure will make them not just want to spend money, but feel like they have to. Again, maybe it’s just me. But it feels like something is at play here that’s more exploitative than just garden-variety capitalism.
She is absolutely counting on her fans to buy all 4, or why bother releasing 4? I personally think for an artist with her level of popularity it’s a bunk move. But I only collect records for the music, I don’t go looking for albums that are otherwise valuable as objects unless I can’t get the music any other way. I don’t buy alternate covers, I don’t seek out certain pressings (unless a record was originally mono or something). But being a TS fan seems to have very little to do with the actual music.
She should do something like this:
It’s not new a new practice to put exclusive tracks on specific retailers (Smashing Pumpkin’s Zeitgeist did something similar, IIRC, and the Brits were kings at this kind of stuff to get singles to chart), but it’s always felt scummy because it’s an obvious ploy to take advantage of hardcore fans. That Taylor Swift’s output has been linked to manufacturing delays also makes it worse.In the past she’s also linked album sales to queue placements for concert tickets. The irony if she is the person who finally gets Ticketmaster taken down a notch…
It’s wild that I came to the comment section to mention how the Smashing Pumpkins did this with their middling, easily forgotten comeback album… but that I was beat to this point. The hell, man!
She has never been opposed to Ticketmaster on the fans’ behalf.
Oh I definitely agree. It was more a matter of her acting because there was too much negative press not to.
What’s the big deal? She’s making Funko Pops for middle class white women. At least these collectibles serve a functional purpose: playing music.
Frankie Poops?
I thought of that after I commented, but yeah, if you LIKE collecting the TS stuff, then her providing you stuff to collect is a positive.
Or you can get in on the action. My wife bought one of her albums at record day last year and just sold it for $300 to a collector.
Oh please – I had to go see Clue:The Movie in the theater FOUR TIMES just to see all of the tacked on endings that were less than 5 minutes each.
There are only three endings to Clue so it must have sucked to sit through the whole movie only to realize you got the Mrs. Peacock ending for the second time.
Actually, now that you mention it, one of those was actually a midnight screening of “Murphy’s Romance” on mushrooms. Good catch.
It feels like the Taylor Swift is preying on fans, knowing that social pressure will make them not just want to spend money, but feel like they have to.
That’s exactly what she’s doing.
Is this also a tactic to have four different albums at #1 at the same time? Since they’re technically different records.
I think they may get counted the same which would boost its reported sales- Blur did a trick like that to get one of their singles to #1, I believe
KISS did it!
Was it technically “KISS” though?
Taylor is desperate to get #1 on the charts and her fans will eat up anything she does.
“desperate”….12 #1 albums.Bottom line is that regardless of who launches an album the same week as her, be it Drake, Beyonce, Adele, Jay Z, etc. she’s a lock to get to #1 that week. The fact that she’s now writing more adult-themed songs yet still has a rabid preteen/teen audience is incredible.
yeah her 13th #1 album
A Jay Z comeback album might give her a run for money tho.
If Taylor Swift had a family member who was being held hostage and the only demand made was that she had to release her album on schedule but not have it go to #1 on opening week, I don’t think even she would be capable of stopping it.
I have gone to Target the minute they open for every T.S. album release, dating back to Speak Now (Original Version). They always (well, mostly) have exclusive covers and/or bonus songs. I’m only interested in the CD, and she did not offer Target exclusive CDs for Red (Taylor’s Version) or Speak Now (Taylor’s Version). So I staged my own boycott on those, and probably waited until noon to buy them. Even with all the variants. she still offered options for Target exclusivity on Midnights and 1989 (Taylor’s Version). In fact, Target was the only way to “officially” hear the bonus track “Hits Different” on Midnights. And that turned out to be the best song on the albumI’m hoping that Target will still get an exclusive for Tortured Poets Department. Nothing beats a Friday Morning Taylor Release Day at Target. I can’t contain the joy I feel on those days!
“So I staged my own boycott on those, and probably waited until noon to buy them.”The meaning of the word ‘boycott’ has really gone downhill within my lifetime.
Just wait until you see how people are using the word “literally” these days.
Do her fans even spin them? Or do they just sit there while the album is playing on Spotify?
Is it that you find it impossible that her fans (mostly women in their 20s-30s) are just incapable of owning a record player?
Not incapable. I know several who do. But know that, given the number of physical units she moves, many aren’t seeing a needle.
How can you be so confident about something that you have zero data on?
Just a hunch. Her fans tend to have more money than sense…
Well that’s a really stupid assumption
It doesn’t seem that far fetched to me, and a cursory internet search backs me up.Is it really that hard to believe that there’s a significant number of fans who buy these things without any desire to actually use them?
Hell, if she sells more turntables I’m all for it.
Not everything needs to be a thing.
MAGAs and Swifties… neck in neck in the competition for who can claim victimhood the fastest in any given situation.
My favourite is when the Swifties use their ignorance of…well, everything…to claim that it’s specific victimisation aimed just at Taylor, saying it would never happen to anyone else, when it demonstrably has but they just haven’t heard of it.
boring, basic women need something to like so whatever, good for taylor, but these lyrics… if you’re an adult and you find depth and meaning in this stuff you should not be allowed to vote or drive a car
Odd considering the Oscar, CMAs and Grammy Academy isn’t made up of tweens or 20-something and yet have bestowed on her multiple “Songwriter of the Year” awards. Again, she’s created music in multiple genres (country/pop/folk) and has been rewarded for all 3. If it was so “boring and basic”, why hasn’t anyone else been able to replicate her success?
So, is it a department of tortured poets, or is someone torturing the poets department?
It’s just Dead Poets Society in a Public School full of normal kids.
Sure, this isn’t gross or predatory at all, right Mary Kate?
But recently she’s stepped up her game and turned capitalism itself into an art formI think you meant to say, she’s turned an art form into capitalism.so it’s an easy way to squeeze all of the juice out of every albumAnd to squeeze the juice out of her fans.I understand that a certain amount of this comes with any popular artist these days, but this feels like an especially cynical version of it. All the true Swifties will have no choice but to buy one album four times just to own all the songs.
“But recently she’s stepped up her game and turned capitalism itself into an art form.”“If that statement starts to chill you after a couple of moments’ consideration, then don’t be alarmed. A feeling of intense and crushing religious terror at the concept indicates only that you are still sane.”
>All the true Swifties will have no choice but to buy one album four times just to own all the songs.Not really though. I mean obviously some diehard or just rich fans will, but realistically the vast majority of even devoted fans who will buy a ticket to her show are unlikely to even buy one of them. I agree it’s cynical, and it’s pretty clear that she is a ruthless capitalist when it comes to her business, but she’s not holding a gun to their heads or anything like that. I’m pretty sure all of the songs off previous albums ended up on streaming services for whoever wants to listen to them without paying huge money for the vinyl, and failing that, fans will still be able to get bootlegged versions on Youtube or other sources. This is an entirely optional piece of expensive merch that people can buy if they want to.
Milk it! Milk it!
This is gross and she is exploiting her fans love for her.
I’m having a hard time with the continued lyrical message of having problems. Lady, you own the world. You don’t get to tell me about problems (GameDevBurnout Version).
If you like this egomaniac, you are basic as all hell. But that really isn’t a problem. The real issue, and this should be discussed, is that pressing the millions of copies of these four albums impacts other artists and their ability to get their music out.Not that this egomaniac cares. But bands have to wait months, sometimes a year, to get a record on vinyl out, because of this type of shit. So, while this four-album con is beyond cynical (which I normally wouldn’t mind) it does have negative ripple effects for real people.
At this point Republic/Universal has enough money to open their own pressing plants again, take the load off the rest, and save money at scale. Not that Universal or someone else wouldn’t then gobble the vacated capacity back up.
You wouldn’t have this vitriol if it was say Lana Del Rey or some other far less famous female singer/songwriter. You can call her “basic” all you want, but the fact of the matter is she writes almost all of her music, plays piano and string instruments and for a female has some of the tightest control over her music and image. How many other artists could pull off rerecording all of their old albums and get every musician she worked with on them to assist? It’s hard enough just crossing musical genres (country/pop/folk) but to then receive critical acclaim and songwriter of the year awards is FAR from basic imho.
It doesn’t matter how great of an artist you are or how loyal your fans are currently, you can only squeeze them so much before it dies off.
Tell that to The Beatles and literally every boy band.
Tortured PoetWhat are two things Taylor Swift has never been.
Man. Lots of snarky, triggered asshole here in the discussion.Y’all are becoming the AV Club of comment sections.
This woman has all the money in the world. And she is cynically playing on her cult status. But what is far, far worse is that this type of stunt hurts other musicians and labels, who have to wait a year+ for their vinyl to appear.That is something worth criticizing.
Lol, as if her recording company had NOTHING to do with this!
Fuck them, too. Plenty to go around.
Like pretty much everyone who’s tried their hand at an artistic endeavour, I’ve occasionally daydreamed of the idea that someone would pay me a lot of money to do it. But honestly, thinking of the lengths people go to squeeze out every drop of cash they can for their art is more depressing than anything else.
There’s a reason why Taylor Swift sells more physical copies of albums than any other contemporary artist.
Works for the Japanese recording industry.