Swift's New Album Tops Streaming, Boosts Box Office

Taylor Swift released her 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl, on Oct. 3. The release was accompanied by a three-day theatrical event, The Official Release Party of a Showgirl, shown in thousands of AMC theaters and presenting an 89-minute companion film with a new music video, behind-the-scenes footage, lyric videos and Swift’s commentary. The film grossed $15.8 million on its opening Friday and is projected to earn about $30 million domestically over the three-day weekend, and it opened to roughly $2.89 million in Australia after three days; it also registered an unusually high audience score (about 96% on Rotten Tomatoes). The album shattered streaming records across Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music within 24 hours and helped drive widespread fan events and retail tie-ins, building on a midnight Target rollout that kept nearly 500 stores open with exclusive physical editions. Industry observers say the strong returns — despite the limited, unconventional theatrical format — underscore Swift’s continued multimedia commercial dominance following The Eras Tour.