In a tight battle for the top spot on Billboard‘s 200, Billie Eilish and Taylor Swift were neck and neck for number 1. In the end, Eilish debuted at number 2 with 339,000 equivalent album units earned on the chart dated June 1 (for the week ending May 23).
That figure represents Eilish’s largest week ever by units earned, and of that sum, 191,000 are traditional album sales, again her best sales week yet, but still not enough to dethrone Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department holding onto the top spot for a fifth consecutive week. The album earned 378,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. for the week.
Taylor received a sales boost this week due to the release of three unique variants of her Poets album each including an acoustic track recorded from her Paris tour dates on the Era’s Tour. Many fans have considered this move to be a tactic to stay ahead of Billie Eilish and keep her streak on the charts.
While, both Billie Eilish and Taylor Swift have many variations of vinyl colors available on their site, Taylor’s “Live From Paris” CDs bring the Tortured Poets Department CD collection to nine variants that include a unique song.
Before The Tortured Poets Department‘s original release on April 19, there were four collector variants announced for $17.99. Each variant included a patch, a bookmark, a magnet and an additional song depending on the variant: “The Manuscript,” “The Albatross,” “The Black Dog,” or “The Bolter.” During the limited release of these variants, fans can also purchase a signed vinyl for $50.00.
Soon after the window to purchase the bonus song variants closed, it was announced that “Fortnight” would be the lead single for the record and a CD release would be available on her website for one day only.
On May 8, Taylor announced a new limited time release variant of TTPD including a bonus track, “But, Daddy I Love Him (Acoustic)” for $7.99, which includes the original 16 tracks.
Finaly, the week of Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft release, Taylor announced another surprise limited release featuring three more variants each with an exclusive “live from Paris” track. The “Live from Paris” Acoustic’ bundles each include “loml,” “My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys” or “The Alchemy”/”Treacherous” mashup for $5.99
While the original four exclusive variant tracks have made their way to streaming via The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology surprise release, all of the acoustic versions are limited to CD purchases only. Also, note at the time of announcement it was believed the pre-order variants would be tied to CD release only as The Anthology hadn’t been announced.
So, if a fan wanted to complete their Taylor Swift collection with all of the Tortured Poets Department CD releases, how much would it cost? Assuming they didn’t splurge into different vinyl colors and only bought one regular CD with no additional tracks (say the Target exclusive version) for the collection, it would cost a Swiftie $162.99 aside from additional fees. This purchase does not include any version of The Anthology as it is only available in a digital format.
This purchase includes:
The Tortured Poets Department CD + Bonus Track “The Manuscript”
The Tortured Poets Department CD + Bonus Track “The Albatross”
The Tortured Poets Department CD + Bonus Track “The Bolter”
The Tortured Poets Department CD + Bonus Track “The Black Dog”
“Fortnight” featuring Post Malone single CD
The Tortured Poets Department signed vinyl
The Tortured Poets Department Target Exclusive CD
The Tortured Poets Department CD + Bonus Track “But, Daddy I Love Him (Acoustic Version)”
The Tortured Poets Department CD + Bonus Track “loml (Live From Paris)”
The Tortured Poets Department CD + Bonus Track “My Boy Only Breaks His Only Toys (Live From Paris)”
The Tortured Poets Department CD + Bonus Track “The Alchemy”/”Treacherous (Live From Paris)”
