Taylor Swift Surprises Fans with Double Album Release: A Look at the Creative Process and Economic Power of the Pop Star

Taylor Swift made history by releasing two versions of her new album within hours of each other. The standard edition, titled “The Tortured Poets Department,” was unveiled at midnight ET on Friday, featuring a 16-song tracklist that had been announced back in February. However, just two hours later, she released a deluxe edition called “The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology” with a total of 31 songs.

Rumors of a double album release had been circulating earlier in the week as fans picked up on clues from Swift’s social media posts. A countdown on her website to 2 a.m. ET added to the speculation. This surprise move by Swift shocked many of her devoted fans online. The additional songs on the deluxe edition were all written by Swift herself and coproduced with either Jack Antonoff or Aaron Dessner, with the exception of “I Look in People’s Windows,” which was coproduced with Patrik Berger.

Swift has been flexing her economic power over the past 18 months as a newly minted billionaire. Her worldwide Eras Tour and concert movie have helped solidify her status as the first musician to achieve billionaire status solely through songs and performances. In a bold move to promote tourism, Singapore reportedly paid nearly $3 million per show for exclusivity to the Southeast Asian leg of her Eras Tour. Both versions of the album are now available for streaming on all major platforms for fans to enjoy.