It’s official! folklore has become the fastest-selling album of 2020 with over 1 million copies sold within three weeks of its release! You can learn more about folklore’s record start in the article from Forbes Magazine below.

Taylor Swift’s Folklore has been a sales juggernaut since it came out nearly three weeks ago, and it’s not finished breaking records yet. The singer’s latest album eclipsed 1 million album-equivalent units in the United States earlier this week, making it the fastest album of 2020 to hit the seven-figure mark. 

Folklore roared out of the gate at the end of July, scoring the biggest debut of 2020 by a huge margin with 846,000 units. The surprise album collected another 135,000 units in its second week, bringing its total to 981,000. By the end of its second tracking week (Thursday, Aug. 6), Folklore was only a stone’s throw from the one-million mark, and on Sunday, Aug. 9, Chart Data confirmed it had cleared the hurdle.

Swift’s eighth studio album has now ruled the Billboard 200 for two consecutive weeks, her best showing since Reputation ruled the roost for three straight weeks in 2017. Folklore’s stratospheric first-week haul was bolstered by 16 deluxe physical editions—eight CDs and eight vinyl—that were available on Swift’s website during the album’s first week of availability, as well as a variety of merchandise bundles.

Unlike Swift’s previous albums, Folklore did not benefit from wide retail availability in its first week. In lieu of in-store physical editions, the albumgranted Swift her biggest streaming week ever, generating 218,000 streaming-equivalent album units from 289.85 million first-week streams. Folklore CDs hit all retailers last Friday (Aug. 7) and should give it a hefty sales bump this week. The album is on track to top the Billboard 200 for a third consecutive week with another six-figure sum, according to HITS Daily Double. 

This staggered release strategy will help Swift maintain her stronghold on the albums chart after burning off some of her streaming momentum. Those streams helped launch three Folklore tracks into the Billboard Hot 100’s Top 10 during its first week: “Cardigan” (No. 1), “The 1” (No. 4) and “Exile” (No. 6). In doing so, Swift became the first artist to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and Billboard Hot 100 in the same week. 

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