Taylor Swift’s 12th studio album release has been rewriting the industry rulebook, while, at the same time, testing the waters of her most devoted fans, often labeled as ‘Swifties.’
According to Billboard, since its release last Friday, October 3, 2025, the album has achieved 3.5 million equivalent unit sales.
That means it has surpassed Adele’s 2015 album 25 in just five days.
These numbers were released by Luminate, (a digital portal that tracks celebrities’ music sales across streaming platforms).
But Taylor Swift is facing an increasing backlash despite the staggering success of The Life of a Showgirl and the strategies behind its popularity.
The pop star, in a well-crafted marketing strategy is dropping new versions of The Life of a Showgirl,not remixes or reissues months later, but within the first week of release.
Her latest, The Life of a Show Girl (Deluxe Life Is A Song Acoustic Version), dropped on October 9; that makes the total number of variants around 30.
When the TS-12 album was first released, there were already 23 editions, each one offering slightly something different: alternate track lists, new cover artwork, acoustic takes, and handwritten poems.
Certain were timed exclusives, such as The Life of a Showgirl (DELUXE Alone In My Tower Acoustic Version), which was only available on iTunes for 24 hours, while others were exclusive to specific retailers like Target and Apple Music.
Critics are now arguing that the constant rebranding is only aimed at strategic sales over artistic integrity, alleging that Swift encourages fans to purchase multiple versions to boost sales numbers.
Although the strategy has been successful, it has also faced backlash online.
One user wrote on X, “It’s happening again… the money grab continues into a second week.”
Another commenter wrote, “Is she in debt?”
A third one quipped, “What about the please give us a break version.”
Nevertheless, The Life of a Showgirl remains dominant on streaming platforms.
The 12-track album, announced in August and fully unveiled on Travis Kelce’s New Heights podcast, has already produced a standout hit, The Fate of Ophelia, garnering 85.3 million streams on Spotify alone.