Taylor Swift has been accused of manipulating music charts by releasing additional versions of The Tortured Poets Department — but Billboard is here to set the record straight.
“In the tracking week ending Aug. 15, Tortured Poets sold nearly 10,000 in digital album downloads across all variants through all sellers (including her webstore, the iTunes Store and others),” the outlet shared on Sunday, August 18, announcing that TTPD had officially spent its 15th week in the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 chart, beating out Chappell Roan’s The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess.
Billboard’s statement came after Swift dropped a new digital album variant of TTPD on Thursday, August 15, which included the new track “The Prophecy (Long Story Short – Live From Lyon),” a live version of a song from The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology. This variant was sold on Swift’s website for only a six-hour time period.
Since TTPD’s initial April release, Swift, 34, has been surprising fans with various digital album variants. While some include live versions of her songs, recorded on the ongoing Eras Tour, others have included demos of TTPD tracks.
Some critics have speculated that Swift continues to release said digital variants as a way to keep TTPD at the top of the charts, but Billboard noted that the original version of TTPD is still driving the most sales.
“Even if Poets had not sold a single digital album in the latest tracking week, it still would have been No. 1 on the Billboard 200,” Billboard’s statement continued. “The No. 2 title, Chappell Roan’s The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, trails Poets by 13,000 units.”
Swift has not publicly commented on the discourse surrounding her Billboard chart success, but the numbers speak for themselves. The outlet noted on Sunday that TTPD took over the No. 1 spot by selling 85,000 equivalent album units in the United States.
Roan is one of several artists fans believe to have been affected by Swift’s continuing dominance on the charts. Earlier this summer, Billie Eilish and Charli XCX fans speculated that Swift kept their respective albums, Hit Me Hard and Soft and Brat, from achieving the No. 1 spot.
Aside from releasing the live version of “The Prophecy,” Swift has also made headlines for a new digital album variant on August 15 that included a retitled version of “thanK you aIMee.” This time, instead of emphasizing “KIM” — rumored to reference Kim Kardashian — the singer went with “thank You aimEe,” seemingly in a nod to Kanye “Ye” West.
