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Taylor Swift’s new album Folklore sells more than a million physical copies and breaks streaming records

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David JohnsThe West Australian
Taylor Swift’s new album Folklore has received critical acclaim and broken streaming records.
Camera IconTaylor Swift’s new album Folklore has received critical acclaim and broken streaming records. Credit: Supplied

Taylor Swift’s critically-acclaimed new album Folklore has sold more than a million physical copies while breaking global records for music streaming.

The surprise release dropped at midday Friday (WA time) just 16 hours after Swift announced its release to the world via social media.

A statement from Universal Music today revealed that the album had sold more than 1.3 million copies around the world in less than 24 hours.

The album also shattered Spotify’s global record for first-day album streams by a female artist with an impressive tally of 80.6 million.

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On Apple Music, the album was named the most streamed pop album in 24 hours, notching up a total of 35.47 million.

The album is Swift’s highest rated album on review aggregator site Metacritic, with a rating of 94.

Aaron Dessner, the guitarist from alternative music stalwarts The National, co-wrote and produced 11 of the 16 songs on the album while Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon also helped out, lending his vocals to the stunning duet Exile.

The West Australian’s music editor Simon Collins gave the album four stars, calling it a return to telling stories through song for the country crossover queen turned global pop phenomenon.

Rolling Stone said the release included “the most head-spinning, heart-breaking, emotionally ambitious songs of her life”.

The Telegraph called it Swift’s “most powerful and mature album to date”, while Variety labelled it “a fully rounded collection of songs that sounds like it was years in the interactive making”.

Long-time collaborator Jack Antonoff also worked on the album with Swift, while the pop superstar revealed an artist called William Bowery co-wrote two songs.

Popular fan theories suggest Bowery is a pseudonym for Swift’s boyfriend Joe Alwyn.

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