MBW’s Stat Of The Week is a series in which we highlight a data point that deserves the attention of the global music industry. Stat Of the Week is supported by music data analytics firm Chartmetric.
Taylor Swift’s upcoming record, The Life of a Showgirl, has become the first album to exceed 5 million pre-saves on Spotify’s Countdown Page feature, breaking the previous record held by her own album, The Tortured Poets Department, from last year.
The Countdown Page feature allows users to automatically add new music to their libraries upon release. Taylor Swift‘s team launched the Countdown Page for Showgirl on August 14, starting with an exclusive playlist announcement across 12 outdoor advertising locations worldwide.
Spotify is celebrating the album’s release with a three-day pop-up event in New York City from today (September 30) through Thursday (October 2), where fans can engage with themed installations and interactive elements like capturing photo moments and hunting for Easter eggs.
Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department became the most pre-saved album Countdown Page in Spotify history in April 2024. At the time, Spotify noted that on average, nearly 70% of users who pre-save an album listen to it in week one.
By the time it was released on April 19, 2024, the album became the most-streamed record in a single day in 2024. It then became the first album in Spotify history to cross the 200 million and 300 million stream mark in a single day. Just five days from its release, the album surpassed 1 billion streams on Spotify.
Spotify said it plans to increase transparency around its Countdown Pages by publishing daily pre-save counts for the top 10 pages globally. The data will appear in Spotify’s Upcoming Releases hub, with updates at 12PM Eastern time and weekly chart refreshes every Wednesday.
According to Spotify, Countdown Pages created at least seven days before an album’s release generate nearly double the pre-saves compared to those published closer to the release date. The platform also reports that about one in seven users who pre-save an album become “super listeners” by release week.
Swift’s Showgirl campaign included a rollout of the tracklist and merch offerings, along with short-form video content through Spotify’s Clips feature.
The Upcoming Releases hub, which can be accessed through the Search tab on Spotify mobile, serves as a dedicated section for albums with active Countdown Pages.
Users can pre-save multiple albums from within the hub and access more content including released singles, tracklists, and merch links. When an album officially releases, Spotify sends push notifications to users who pre-saved it, automatically adding the music to their libraries.
Artists with at least 5,000 active listeners over the past 28 days can create Countdown Pages for upcoming albums or EPs.
Swift has already revealed the full tracklist of her upcoming album, The Life of a Showgirl, last month. It features a collaboration with Sabrina Carpenter on a track called The Life of a Showgirl. Carpenter opened for Swift during The Eras Tour.
Here’s the complete tracklist for The Life of a Showgirl, to be released via Republic on October 3.
- The Fate of Ophelia
- Elizabeth Taylor
- Opalite
- Father Figure
- Eldest Daughter
- Ruin the Friendship
- Actually Romantic
- Wi$h Li$t
- Wood
- Cancelled!
- Honey
- The Life of a Showgirl featuring Sabrina Carpenter
As MBW previously noted, Swift worked with Max Martin and Shellback on the new record. The same Swedish producers collaborated with her on hits from her Reputation and 1989 albums.
Unlike her previous record, The Tortured Poets Department, which had 31 tracks, Showgirl will have no bonus songs. Speaking on Travis Kelce’s New Heights podcast with Jason Kelce, Swift said: “There’s no other songs coming. It’s not like with Tortured Poets Department when I was like, ‘Here’s a data dump of everything I’ve thought, felt or experienced in two or three years. Here’s 31 songs.’ This is 12. There’s not a 13th… There’s not other ones coming. This is the record I’ve been wanting to make for a very long time.”
Outside Spotify, Swift has also partnered with AMC Entertainment to market her new album. A limited release party film for the new record has sold $15 million in advance ticket sales within 24 hours of going on sale, according to Deadline. The film, which will screen exclusively during the October 3-5 weekend at AMC theaters in the US, is forecast to rake in between $30 million and $50 million.
It serves as an album promo for The Life of a Showgirl instead of a pure box office play. The 89-minute runtime includes the world premiere of Swift’s The Fate of Ophelia music video, personal commentary on new album tracks, behind-the-scenes footage from video production and lyric videos.
Chartmetric is the all-in-one platform for artists and music industry professionals, providing comprehensive streaming, social, and audience data for everyone to create successful careers in music.
Music Business Worldwide
