Midnights (album)

''Midnights'' is the tenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, released on October 21, 2022, via Republic Records. Announced at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards, the album marks Swift's first body of new work since her 2020 alternative folk albums, ''Folklore'' and '' Evermore''. ''Midnights'' is a concept album about nocturnal contemplations, written and produced by Swift with longtime collaborator Jack Antonoff.

Inspired by the "sleepless nights" of Swift's life, ''Midnights'' contains confessional yet cryptic lyrics, exploring anxiety, insecurity, self-criticism, self-awareness, insomnia, and self-confidence. Expanding on the synth-pop sound of Swift's previous pop records, the album experiments with electronica, dream pop, bedroom pop, and chill-out music styles. The songs are characterized by subtle grooves, vintage synthesizers, drum machine, and hip hop/ R&B rhythms. Swift unveiled the track list on a TikTok series called ''Midnights Mayhem with Me'' from September 21 to October 7, 2022, and surprise-released seven bonus tracks three hours after the album's release.

''Midnights'' was met with critical acclaim for its restrained production, candid songwriting, and vocal cadences. It was also widely successful across all formats of music consumption, breaking many commercial records globally. Publications dubbed the album's ubiquitous success a testament to Swift's status as the leading pop star of the modern era. ''Midnights'' achieved the Spotify feat for the most single-day streams of an album and topped the charts in 28 territories, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom. In the United States, it opened with over 1.5 million units, logged the largest vinyl sales week of the 21st century, marked Swift's 11th number-one album on the ''Billboard'' 200, and became 2022's top-seller.

The album spawned 10 top-ten songs on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100— the most for any album—in the same week. The lead single "Anti-Hero" scored Swift her ninth number-one song in the US and topped the charts in 14 other territories; fellow tracks "Lavender Haze", "Maroon", "Snow on the Beach" featuring Lana Del Rey, and "Bejeweled" also achieved top-tier positions internationally. To support ''Midnights'' along with her other albums, Swift will embark on the Eras Tour in 2023, but overwhelming demand for its tickets crashed the Ticketmaster pre-sale.

Background

After a dispute over the sale of the masters of her first six studio albums in 2019, Taylor Swift announced that she plans to re-record the said albums. She released the first two of these re-recordings, ''Fearless (Taylor's Version)'' and ''Red (Taylor's Version)'', in 2021. The latter included the ten-minute, original version of her 2012 song "All Too Well". It was accompanied by a corresponding short film, '' All Too Well: The Short Film'', written and directed by Swift. Fans speculated she would next release the third re-recording.

Swift garnered five nominations for the short film at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards on August 28, 2022, and won three of them. In her acceptance speech for the Video of the Year award, she announced a "brand-new" studio album scheduled for release on October 21, 2022. Shortly after, Swift's official website was updated with a clock counting down to midnight and the phrase "Meet me at midnight". The canvases of some of Swift's songs on Spotify were changed to a visual featuring the clock. At midnight, Swift posted across her social media accounts that her tenth studio album would be titled ''Midnights'', accompanied by a premise. She described the album as "the stories of 13 sleepless nights scattered throughout erlife". Swift's official website crashed due to heavy traffic following the posts about the album.

Writing and production

According to Swift, the subject matter of ''Midnights'' was inspired by five major topics: self-hatred, revenge fantasies, "wondering what might have been", falling in love, and "falling apart". Swift enlisted Jack Antonoff, her longtime collaborator since 2013, to produce ''Midnights'', which came together as a result of Swift's and Antonoff's partners, English actor Joe Alwyn and American actress Margaret Qualley, respectively, shooting in Panama for the 2022 romantic thriller film '' Stars at Noon;'' while their partners filmed, Swift and Antonoff worked together in New York City. The duo wrote 11 of the album's 13 songs together; of the remaining two, Swift wrote the track "Vigilante Shit" alone and "Sweet Nothing" with Alwyn, who is credited with his pseudonym William Bowery. Some bonus tracks were co-produced by Aaron Dessner, who had collaborated with Swift on her 2020 albums ''Folklore'' and '' Evermore.'' She conceived the bonus tracks on their "journey to find that magic 13 racks.

Swift's love life inspired the lyrics of "Lavender Haze" and "Snow on the Beach", the former of which takes after the phrase "in the lavender haze" from the period drama series ''Mad Men''. Swift wrote "Lavender Haze" after she and Alwyn had to protect their relationship from unsolicited scrutiny online ("weird rumors" and " tabloid stuff"), and "Snow on the Beach" is about "falling in love with someone at the same time as they’re falling in love with you", co-written by American singer Lana Del Rey. The composition of "Lavender Haze" was first conceived by Antonoff when he heard Sounwave, one of his collaborators, press a button accidentally, playing a "small little loop" produced by Jahaan Sweet. Sounwave edited the loop, adding "a bunch of effects". Sam Dew wrote some melodies to the loop with Zoë Kravitz, who had been working with Antonoff as well. Antonoff then pitched the song to Swift, who wrote its lyrics. "Glitch" was also born from these sessions. Sweet further reached out to Swift via Antonoff with "Karma", which had also been worked on by Keanu Beats. The next day, Antonoff returned with "Karma" finished with Swift's vocals on it. In "Anti-Hero", Swift detailed her insecurities, such as struggling with " not feeling like a person".

Music and lyrics

The standard edition of ''Midnights'' consists of thirteen tracks. The deluxe CD adds three bonus songs, of which two are remixes, while ''Midnights (3am Edition)'', available only on music streaming platforms, adds seven other bonus tracks. Six of the album's tracks are labelled explicit. Del Rey provides guest vocals on the fourth track, "Snow on the Beach".

Composition

Critics described ''Midnights'' as an electronica, dream pop, synth-pop, bedroom pop, electropop, and chill-out music album, with R&B influences and ambient elements. Swift departed from the alternative folk sound of ''Folklore'' and ''Evermore'' to create an experimental album with an "alt-synth" soundscape. "Maximalist minimalism" is the sonic signature of ''Midnights'', incorporating subtle melodies, emphasized rhythms, vintage synthesizers (prominently Moog and Roland Juno-60), drum machine, Reese bass, Mellotron, downbeats, and low-key harmonies. Swift's vocals retain a country timbre, but with rhythmic and conversational cadences. The vocals are sometimes electronically manipulated, resulting in androgynous and "hiccuping" vocal effects. Influences of hip hop and rapping are also present in Swift's vocal delivery in the album, containing internal rhymes. In describing its overall sound, '' Paste'' said ''Midnights'' "moves fairly effortlessly between the discotheque and a moonlit boulevard". ''Beats Per Minute'' regarded the album as Swift's foray into alternative R&B.

Theme

''Midnights'' is a concept album, about "after-hour agonies" and thoughts. Midnight is a recurring lyrical motif in Swift's music, having been used in different contexts and viewpoints in her preceding albums. ''The A.V. Club'' said ''Midnights'' expands the artistic motif "into a full-blown album". The album marks Swift's return to a mostly autobiographical lyricism, after exploring fictitious storylines and characters in ''Folklore'' and ''Evermore''. ''The New Yorker'' said ''Midnights'' is a collage of various emotions during "the spontaneous, restless headspace of nighttime thought". The main themes are self-assurance, self-criticism, insecurity, anxiety, public image, and insomnia, with a characteristic confessional but "cryptic" tone. Several critics regard ''Midnights'' as Swift's most candid, confident, and frankest writing yet, and a consolidatory work of her career, containing "bits and pieces from all of Swift's eras". ''The New York Times'' said ''Midnights'' is "caught between yesterday and tomorrow".

Songs

The opening track, "Lavender Haze", is a disco-inflected, rhythmic pop song driven by a murky groove, falsetto chorus, modular synths, and backing vocals from Kravitz. It is an R&B-leaning, "emo-erotic" track about the tabloid scrutiny and online rumors that Swift and Alwyn face, and references the Madonna–whore complex. "Maroon" is a dynamic dream pop song with a buzzing drone. It is about a "missed-chance romance", recalling several specific memories. The title is a call-back to Swift's fourth studio album, ''Red'' (2012), with the maroon color serving as the more "experienced version" of red. "Anti-Hero" is a pop rock song about self-loathing. "Snow on the Beach" is a hazy dream pop ballad, featuring backing vocals by Del Rey. It references " All for You" (2001) by Janet Jackson. " You're on Your Own, Kid" is an alternative rock song that begins with muted instrumentals and swells into a crescendo. It discusses Swift's early stardom and her struggles during rise to fame, such as her eating disorder. "Midnight Rain" sees Swift remember an old relationship that was forestalled by her professional ambition and ambivalence about settling down. It features a pitched-down hook, programmed drums and percussion.

The seventh track, "Question...?", asks rhetorical questions about "blurry" memories. Its short intro interpolates Swift's own 2016 single " Out of the Woods". "Vigilante Shit" is built around bubbling beats, swirling synths, industrial elements, and snare drums. It is a " noirish" vengeance declaration, taking aim at an enemy and encourages other women to do the same. "Bejeweled" is a disco tune driven by synth arpeggios, with lyrics recognizing Swift's self-worth. "Labyrinth" is a steady synth-pop song with skittering electronic elements, church organ, and subtle guitars, about the anxiety over falling in love again. "Karma" is a playful, electroclash and chillwave "diss track" with elements of new wave, alternative pop and techno, and comical lyrics. It describes the culmination of Swift’s "good karma". Employing a double entendre, "Sweet Nothing" is a relaxed, love song driven by saxophone and electric piano, emulating 1970s ballads. It is an ode to Swift's calm romantic relationship inside her house, as opposed to her hectic stardom outside. The standard album closes with "Mastermind", which satirizes Swift's alternate perspective on fate and happenstance. She confesses that her "calculating approach to pop stardom seeped into her love life as well", as opposed to the lyrics about destiny in the ''Folklore'' track, " Invisible String". It is also a nod to Swift's own "cryptic and Machiavellian" habit of leaving Easter eggs.

The first bonus track, "The Great War", evokes battle imagery to show the easiness two people in a relationship can find themselves in a conflict, while also paying tribute to a partner who puts a stop to one's own destructive tendencies. In the ballad " Bigger Than the Whole Sky", Swift sings about the grief after the loss of a loved one; it was compared to " Ronan", which was written about the death of a young boy to cancer days before his fourth birthday. "Paris" is an upbeat, synth-heavy pop track, reminiscent of her style in ''1989''. "High Infidelity" employs audio distortions as a metaphor for a bad connection in a relationship between musicians. "Glitch" is an electronica song, about "malfunctioning" from lust. It features octave shifts in the chorus. In " Would've, Could've, Should've", Swift expresses regret over entering into a relationship with a "grown" man when she was 19, his treatment of her, and the persisting emotional trauma. "Dear Reader" is an electro-pop tune about Swift's distress over her fans viewing her as the "guiding light". Deluxe track "Hits Different" is an emotional breakup song about Swift imagining her past partner with someone else, as well as reflecting the time during their relationship.

Art direction

Upon the album's announcement, press outlets speculated that Swift's Moschino outfit for the VMAs afterparty—a navy blue micro mini romper embellished with silver stars—teased the album's aesthetic. Analyzing the album's promotional pictures, '' The Ringer'' described the aesthetic as "glam, but a chill, interior kind of glamor as opposed to big popstar glamor", with midnight blue dominating the color palette and retro photographs featuring upholstery. Clock faces and "60s/'70s family-room decor" are also a part of the ''Midnights'' era. ''Vogue'' noted 1970s styles in Swift's fashion, marking a departure from the rural, cottagecore attire she had adopted for ''Folklore'' and ''Evermore''. Fashion critic Jess Cartner-Morley found it reminiscent of the album cover of '' Country Life'' (1974) by English art rock band Roxy Music and the photographs by French artist Guy Bourdin for ''Vogue France''.

Cover artwork

The standard cover artwork of ''Midnights'' is minimalist. It takes inspiration from old-fashioned LP jackets whose songs were listed on the front cover. The photograph of Swift featured in the artwork depicts her in blue eye shadow, black eye liner, and her signature red lips, observing a glimmering lighter held near her face. It depicts trāṭaka according to ''Beats Per Minute''. The typeface used is Neue Haas Grotesk. The album title and track listing are in a blue gradient. The vinyl edition of the cover, posted by Swift across her social media, splits the track list into an A-side and B-side, indicating a two-sided LP. Three limited-edition color variants of the physical album, featuring different cover artworks were also issued. '' The Cut'' said the covers depict Swift in "various states of glamorous late-night stress." The ''Dallas Observer'' noted similarities to the indie sleaze aesthetic. Additionally, the reverse side of the standard and three alternate editions each portray a quarter sector of a dial; when assembled together and combined with a clock mechanism sold separately, they form a functioning clock.

Release and promotion

''Midnights'' was released on October 21, 2022. The album was available to pre-save and pre-order on her website. Swift engaged in a traditional roll-out for ''Midnights'', following limited promotion of her surprise-released albums during the COVID-19 pandemic. Two music videos—for "Anti-Hero" and "Bejeweled"—were released on October 21 and 25, respectively. On the ''Midnights Manifest'', Swift also teased a "very chaotic surprise" occurring hours after the album's release, which was revealed to be an extended album, entitled ''Midnights (3am Edition)'', containing seven bonus tracks that Swift said were written for the album but ultimately excluded from the standard thirteen; it was released at 03:00 EDT. The ''Midnights'' CDs and vinyl LPs were available in five editions each, as well as a cassette.

Marketing

To "defy" her usual routine of incorporating Easter eggs to hint at information, Swift released a video series on TikTok called ''Midnights Mayhem with Me'', consisting of thirteen episodes between September 21 and October 7, 2022. She unveiled the track-list in a randomized order in the series, one song per episode, in front of a curtain backdrop, accompanied by an elevator music tune. A lottery cage containing 13 ping pong balls numbered from one to thirteen, each representing a track of the album, was rolled, and when a ball drops out, Swift disclosed the title of the corresponding track on the album, through a telephone. The first episode revealed the thirteenth track "Mastermind", and the final episode revealed "Snow on the Beach" and its Del Rey feature.

Some lyrics from ''Midnights'' were displayed on Spotify's billboards across the world in the days leading up to the album's launch, starting with Times Square on October 17. Swift also posted an itinerary, entitled ''Midnights Manifest'', detailing the promotional events scheduled for the album. She limited her press appearances and did not perform, only appearing on ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'' on October 24, and ''The Graham Norton Show'' on October 28. An iHeartRadio program called ''Midnights with Taylor,'' featuring commentary from Swift, ran on its pop stations from October 21 to 26, during which the album received airplay. She also answered some fan-submitted questions for Sirius XM Hits 1.

Visuals

The teaser trailer for the album's music videos exclusively premiered during Amazon Prime Video's ''Thursday Night Football'' broadcast on October 20, 2022, with a pre-taped introduction by Swift, which was first announced by American sportscaster Charissa Thompson on October 14 as "something very, very special". It revealed a trailer compiling clips of several visual works based on ''Midnights''. The cast includes Swift, Jack Antonoff, Laura Dern, the Haim sisters (Este, Danielle, and Alana), Mike Birbiglia, Laith Ashley, Dita Von Teese, Mary Elizabeth Ellis, John Early, and Pat McGrath, with cinematography by Rina Yang, who previously worked with Swift on ''All Too Well: The Short Film''. Swift wrote and directed the music videos. The music video for the lead single, "Anti-Hero", premiered on October 21, 2022, eight hours after the release of ''Midnights''. She described it as a depiction of her "nightmare scenarios and intrusive thoughts." Besides "Anti-Hero", the ''Midnights Manifest'' itinerary specified a music video release for "another track", which Swift later confirmed to be "Bejeweled". The video premiered on October 25, at midnight, and depicts an alternate take on the Cinderella plot.

Media response

''Pitchfork,'' ''Time,'' and the Recording Academy named ''Midnights'' as one of the most anticipated records of fall 2022; ''USA Today'' called it the most anticipated release of Swift's career. The incorporation of Swift's lucky number 13 in the number of tracks, a tradition she had implemented in her career several times, was also highlighted. ''Time'' found the track list's length a "concise lineup" for Swift, whose last album, ''Red (Taylor's Version)'', consisted of 30 tracks. ''The New York Times'' called Swift a "restless creative force" for releasing her fifth album in three years and expected ''Midnights'' to become one of 2022's best-selling albums, despite its October release. ''Los Angeles Times'' compared Swift's "prolific run of albums" to those of "the all-time greats". ''Quartz'' projected ''Midnights'' to achieve record-setting vinyl sales.

The lack of a pre-released single led to speculation over the album's sound on the internet. ''Variety'' opined ''Midnights'' could either "continue in that more subdued, acoustic, Americana vein" of ''Folklore'' and ''Evermore'', or return to the "pure pop" of '' Lover'' (2019) and its immediate predecessors. ''The Washington Post'' commended the "excellent marketing strategy". ''Fortune'' dubbed Swift an "unparalleled marketing genius", and praised the album's promotional roll-out, such as ''Midnights Mayhem with Me,'' for Swift's "ever-changing burlesque act of selectively revealing details while maintaining an aura of mystery and excitement." ABC News described the album's release as a "dramatic" event. ''Slate'' described ''Midnights'' as "the result of a winning formula"—hybridizing the "surprise-drop approach", which is more streaming-friendly but unfavorable for physical sales, with the traditional rollout by preannouncing the album, but withholding all of the tracks including the lead single until the release day. '' I-D'' said Swift mixed "both old-school pop moves and with hyper-modern manoeuvres", and added that "while other popstars front-load their album campaigns with pre-release singles to appease streaming platforms, Taylor chose not to release any music ahead of ''Midnights,'' cementing its release as a proper newsworthy event."

Singles

"Anti-Hero" is the lead single of ''Midnights''. Republic Records released the song to the US hot adult contemporary radio on October 24, 2022, followed by contemporary hit radio on October 25. "Bejeweled" and "Question...?" were released for limited-time digital download exclusively through Swift's website on October 25, as promotional singles. "Lavender Haze" was released to the contemporary hit radio as the second single on November 29.

Tour

On October 18, 2022, Swift's United Kingdom website indirectly confirmed a forthcoming concert tour. Pre-ordering ''Midnights'' on the UK store resulted in "special presale code access for forthcoming and yet to be announced Taylor Swift UK show dates." On ''The Tonight Show'', Swift stated she "should o on tour When it's time, willdo it". She said "it's going to happen" at ''The Graham Norton Show''. On November 1, Swift revealed on ''Good Morning America'' and announced via social media her sixth concert tour, the Eras Tour. She described the tour as "a journey through the musical eras of ercareer". US dates have been revealed, while international dates are pending.

Critical reception

''Midnights'' received widespread acclaim from music critics, most of whom praised its subdued production and vocals; some named it Swift's best album yet. On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized score out of 100 to ratings from publications, the album received a weighted mean score of 85 based on 28 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave it 8.0 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus.

''Rolling Stone''s Brittany Spanos and Rob Sheffield, and Alex Bilmes of ''Esquire'' dubbed ''Midnights'' an instant classic; Spanos praised Swift's "brilliant and fresh" songwriting style, Sheffield highlighted the moody production, and Blimes called it "the pop album of the year". Reviews published by ''Billboard'' Jason Lipshutz, ''Variety'' Chris Willman, ''Clash'''s Matthew Neale, '' Under the Radar'' Andy Von Pip, and ''The Guardian'' Alexis Petridis all appreciated ''Midnights'' for favoring an elegant and understated production over the market-oriented chart hits of Swift's contemporaries. Alex Hopper in ''American Songwriter'' said the album harkens back to the synth-pop of ''1989'', but " grungier", combined with the lyrical highs of ''Folklore'' and ''Evermore''. ''PopMatters'' Rick Quinn stated that Swift "demonstrates her mastery of pop structure and style". In ''Paste,'' Ellen Johnson considered ''Midnights'', while containing some of Swift's "sleekest pop tunes yet" tracks, more nuanced than mainstream pop. Elise Ryan of the Associated Press called the album a product of Swift's maturity and artistic evolution, while ''Gigwise'' critic Lucy Harbron praised the reinvention and experimentation.

Reviews also noticed a more nuanced aspect to Swift's songwriting approach in ''Midnights''. According to ''NME'' Hannah Mylrea, the "candid" lyrics depart from the narrative-driven songwriting Swift had been known for and offer a glimpse into her expanding artistry. Mikael Wood of the ''Los Angeles Times'' admired Swift's strong vocals and wrote that while much of ''Midnights'' relies on her well-known first-person songwriting, it is "so strong ..that eventually you stop caring what's drawn directly from Swift’s real life and what's not". Helen Brown of ''The Independent'' wrote although the music might take time for listeners to absorb, ''Midnights'' is enriched by Swift's "assured lyrical control" and "feline vocal stealth". ''The Observer'' Kitty Empire described ''Midnights'' as "an album of fascinating small-hours contemplation".

Some critics were more reserved in their praise, taking issue with the production as somewhat redundant. Jon Caramanica of ''The New York Times'' and Paul Attard of ''Slant Magazine'' felt that Swift played it safe, and Ann Powers of NPR felt that the experiments result in a "half-finished quality" sometimes.'''' For ''Pitchfork'''s Quinn Moreland and ''The Line of Best Fit'''s Paul Bridgewater, ''Midnights'' is Swift's most cohesive work thematically, but an underwhelming record sonically. ''Entertainment Weekly'' Marc Hirsh felt the tracks are not Swift's "stickiest", but still manage to effectively depict moods and emotions as desired. ''The Daily Telegraph'''s Neil McCormick appreciated ''Midnights'' as an intimate album, but said it suggests Swift's uncertainty "to press deeper into intimate songcraft or restart a commercial juggernaut". Carl Wilson of ''Slate'' liked the album's concept, sound and vocals, but identified some weak lyrics.

Year-end lists

Commercial performance

''Midnights'' broke a string of sales, streaming, digital, vinyl and official chart records globally. ''Billboard'' described the album as a blockbuster. It achieved the all-time Spotify record for the most streamed album in a single day with 186 million streams in its opening day, surpassing the previous record of 155 million streams by Drake's ''Certified Lover Boy'' (2021). Swift also became the most-streamed artist in a single day on Spotify, with 228 million streams across her discography, the first artist to cross the 200-million mark. The album also broke the Apple Music record for the most-streamed pop album in a single day, the Amazon Music records for the most-streamed album in a single day and week, the Amazon Alexa record for the most single-day requests ever, the Apple Music Spatial Audio record for the most single-day streams, and the Spotify record for the fastest album to amass 700 million streams (within a week). All of the album's tracks entered the ''Billboard'' Global 200; nine and eight of those charted within the top 10 of the Global 200 and Global Excl. US charts, respectively, setting records for the most simultaneous top-10 entries on both and making Swift the first artist to occupy the entire top five of the Global 200. She became 2022's second most streamed artist on Spotify, behind Bad Bunny. According to Universal Music Group, ''Midnights'' moved three million global album-equivalent units in its first week, and over six million within 2022.

Americas

In the US, ''Midnights'' sold over 800,000 pure copies in its first day, becoming the best-selling album of 2022; it logged the biggest sales week for an album since Swift's own ''Reputation'' (2017). It surpassed 1.2 million units in its first three days, becoming Swift's fifth album to open with one million sales and making her the first act to do so. It reached 1.4 million units by the fifth day, with 1.05 million pure sales, marking the largest opening week of the last seven years and Swift's best, surpassing ''1989''.

''Midnights'' has topped the ''Billboard'' 200 for five weeks. It opened with 1,578,000 units, of which 1.14 million were pure sales, including 575,000 vinyl LPs and 395,000 CDs. It became the year's best-selling vinyl LP, and the best-selling CD since ''Reputation''. ''Midnights'' garnered 549.26 million streams in its first week—the third-largest of all time. Overtaking '' Oops!... I Did It Again'' (2000) by Britney Spears, it marked the second-largest first week for an album by a female artist in the US, after Adele's '' 25'' (2015). Swift tied Barbra Streisand for the most number-one albums among women (11), and most consecutive number-one debuts, surpassing Eminem and Kanye West. ''Midnights'' earned over 200,000 units in each of its first four weeks—the first album to do so since ''25''.

All of the album's 20 tracks debuted in the top 45 of the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, giving Swift a total of 188 Hot 100 entries; the 13 standard tracks arrived in the top 15, led by "Anti-Hero", Swift's ninth US number-one song, and occupied all the spots except the 11th and 12th. Swift became the first act to control the entire top 10 of the Hot 100 concurrently; the woman with the most top-10 entries (40), surpassing Madonna (38); the first act to debut atop the ''Billboard'' 200 and Hot 100 simultaneously four times; and the first act to occupy the entire top 10 of the Hot 100, Streaming Songs, and Digital Songs charts together. ''Midnights'' is the first album in history with ten top-10 songs, surpassing ''Certified Lover Boy'' (9). ''Billboard'' noted that its streams were strong enough to place 10 tracks inside the top 10 without airplay or digital sales. Swift ranked as the top female artist of 2022 on the ''Billboard'' Year-End charts.

In Brazil, ''Midnights'' marked the biggest first-week Spotify streams ever for an album in the country. On the Canadian Albums Chart, ''Midnights'' opened with the biggest first-week of the year and scored Swift's 11th number-one album. All of the album's 20 tracks debuted within the first 35 spots of the Canadian Hot 100, with the top 10 spots entirely occupied by the album, led by "Anti-Hero".

Asia-Pacific

In China, the album sold over 200,000 digital albums in its first day on QQ Music, and opened with the year's best units for an international artist in both China and Taiwan. Three, four and eleven ''Midnights'' tracks debuted on the Indonesia Songs, Hong Kong Songs, and Malaysia Songs charts, led by "Anti-Hero" at numbers one, six and one, respectively. All of the album's standard tracks charted on the Vietnam Hot 100, and within the top-15 of Singapore Top 30 Chart. In the Philippines, it garnered the biggest first-week Spotify streams ever for an album in the country, and monopolized the entire top-13 spots of the Philippines Songs chart, with "Anti-Hero" at number one. On India's IMI International Top 20 Singles chart, ''Midnights'' debuted seven tracks, led by "Anti-Hero" at number four.

The album became a record tenth consecutive number-one album for Swift in Australia, with the biggest opening week since ''Reputation''. It set the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) records for the biggest streaming and vinyl sales weeks for an album. All of its standard tracks entered the ARIA Singles Chart, occupying the entire top 14 region, except the seventh spot. With the debut of "Anti-Hero" atop the singles chart, Swift earned a record third Australian "Chart Double" of her career, extending the feat for five consecutive weeks. ''Midnights'' was Swift's 11th consecutive number-one album on the New Zealand Albums Chart. Four of its tracks debuted within the top-five of the New Zealand Top 40 Singles chart.

Europe

''Midnights'' opened with Swift's best first-week units in France, Germany, Italy, Poland, and the UK. In the latter, ''Midnights'' sold over 140,000 units in its first three days, surpassing the opening-week tally of Harry Styles' ''Harry's House'' (113,000 units) to become the fastest-selling album of 2022. Ultimately, the album debuted atop the UK Albums Chart, beating ''The Car'' by Arctic Monkeys to the top spot with 204,000 units—Swift's highest first-week tally. She broke Madonna's record for the shortest time for a female act to accumulate nine UK number-one albums, and became the first woman since Miley Cyrus in 2013 to simultaneously debut atop both the albums and singles chart, following the number-one debut of "Anti-Hero" as well. ''Midnights'' topped the albums chart for three non-consecutive weeks.

The album marked Swift's eighth number-one album on the Irish Albums Chart and the biggest opening week since Ed Sheeran's ''÷'' (2017). In Germany, Swift scored her first number-one album on the Top 100 Albums chart with the largest streaming week for an album by an international artist in the country in 2022, at 20 million. It also marked the year's biggest overall opening week for an international artist in Germany. In Spain, ''Midnights'' marked the biggest debut-week Spotify streams for an English-language artist. Seven and eight tracks from ''Midnights'' debuted on Norway's Topp 40 Singles and ''Billboard'' Luxembourg Songs charts, respectively. The album marked Swift's fourth number-one debut on Portugal's Top 50 Albums chart. It debuted at number one in Sweden, where it remained for five non-consecutive weeks.

Accolades

Swift achieved over 20 ''Guinness World Record'' entries with the release of ''Midnights''. She won all of her three nominations at the 48th People's Choice Awards, including the Female Artist of 2022.

Impact

Swift's unanticipated announcement of the album at the Video Music Awards was a "headline-grabbing" moment, according to ''Billboard''. Bruce Gillmer, the show's producer, stated that ''Midnights'' gave a "massive lift" to the viewership ratings. The album's cover artwork became an internet trend, mimicked and parodied by social media users, including official accounts of brands, organizations and celebrities. Apple Fitness+ released three exercise programs designed around Swift's music, featuring tracks from ''Midnights'', curated for yoga, treadmill and HITT workouts. Spotify's servers crashed for several minutes when the album was released.

The commercial success of ''Midnights'' across all formats was unprecedented in the streaming era. Various publications described Swift as the paramount pop star of the 21st century, wielding a commercial and cultural dominance surpassing those of her contemporaries and on par with the music industry's "golden era" in the late 20th century. ''Financial Times'' pondered whether Swift is "the last pop superstar", underscoring the 1.5 million first-week units—a figure unseen since the "1990s boy bands" era, which was regarded as the peak for the US music business. Music publisher Matt Pincus called Swift "basically an intellectual property franchise now. Like a DC movie". ''Fortune'' compared her to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. '' I-D'' dubbed Swift the "last remaining real popstar", capable of "shifting more albums and filling more stadiums than her contemporaries ..unseen since the industry's golden era". Noting a 2021 article from ''The New York Times'' that asked "if Adele couldn't sell more than a million albums in a single week, could any artist?" after her album '' 30'' missed the mark, ''Rolling Stone'' responded that Swift "has once again moved the goalposts regarding what the music industry can see as possible from a major pop star". ''Slate'' underscored how Swift's career has lasted longer than that of the Beatles, and broke the band's once-deemed "unbeatable" records. Business journalist Greg Jericho, in ''The Guardian'', lauded her ability to remain culturally relevant and successful 18 years into her music career, highlighting how the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, David Bowie and Bruce Springsteen were past their prime at that stage.

Track listing

All songs written and produced by Taylor Swift and Jack Antonoff, except for where noted.

Notes
* signifies an additional producer
* signifies a co-producer
* "Question...?" interpolates Swift's 2014 song " Out of the Woods" written by herself and Antonoff.

Personnel

Musicians

* Taylor Swift – vocals
* Jack Antonoff – percussion, programming, synthesizer (all tracks); background vocals (1, 3–5, 7, 9, 10, 13), drums (1, 3, 4, 6, 11–13), Mellotron (1, 3–5, 7), Wurlitzer organ (1, 3, 8), bass (2–5, 9, 15, 18, 20), electric guitar (2, 4, 5, 10, 12, 13, 15, 17, 18, 20), piano (2, 12, 15, 16, 20), acoustic guitar (3, 4, 5, 9, 15), crowd noises (7), slide guitar (15)
* Aaron Dessner - percussion (14, 17), keyboards (14, 17), synth bass (14), piano (14, 17), electric guitar (14, 19), synthesizer (17, 19), acoustic guitar (17), bass guitar (19), harmonica (19)
* Sam Dew – background vocals (1, 18)
* Zoë Kravitz – background vocals (1, 18)
* Jahaan Sweet – synth pads (1, 11); bass, flute, synthesizer (1); keyboards (11),
* Sounwave – programming (1, 11)
* Dominic Rivinius – snare drum (1), drums (7-8)
* Evan Smith – saxophone (2, 12, 13); clarinet, flute, organ (2, 12); synthesizer (4, 5, 7–9, 13, 16), percussion (16)
* Bobby Hawk – violin (3, 4, 13)
* Dylan O'Brien – drums (4), crowd noises (7)
* Lana Del Rey – vocals (4)
* Rachel Antonoff – crowd noises (7)
* Austin Swift – crowd noises (7)
* Sean Hutchinson – drums (5, 7), percussion (5)
* Mikey Freedom Hart – keyboards (9); programming (12-13), synthesizer (12-13, 16), theremin (16), organ (16)
* Keanu Beats – synthesizer (11)
* Michael Riddleberger – drums (13)
* Zem Audu – saxophone (12-13)
* Kyle Resnick – trumpet (14)
* Yuki Numata Resnick – violin
* Benjamin Lanz – drums, trombone (17)
* James Krivchenia – drums (17)

Technical

* Jack Antonoff – engineering
* Laura Sisk – engineering
* Serban Ghenea – mixing
* Bryce Bordone – mixing assistance
* Randy Merrill – mastering
* Jahaan Sweet – engineering (1, 11)
* Ken Lewis – engineering (1, 7, 8)
* Evan Smith – engineering (2, 4, 5, 7–9, 12, 13)
* Jon Gautier – engineering (3, 13)
* Dave Gross – engineering (4)
* Sean Hutchinson – engineering (5, 7)
* David Hart – engineering (9, 13)
* Sounwave – engineering (11)
* Keanu Beats – engineering (11)
* Michael Riddleberger – engineering (13)
* Zem Audu – engineering (13)
* John Rooney – engineering assistance
* Jon Sher – engineering assistance
* Megan Searl – engineering assistance
* Jonathan Garcia – engineering assistance (1, 7, 8)
* Mark Aguilar – engineering assistance (1, 11)
* Jacob Spitzer – engineering assistance (4)
* Laurene Marquez – additional engineer
* James McAlister – drums programming (14, 17)
* Jonathan Low – mixer, engineering (17)
* Bella Blasko – engineering (14, 17)

Charts

Weekly charts

Monthly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

See also

* List of ''Billboard'' 200 number-one albums of 2022
* List of number-one albums from the 2020s (Denmark)
* List of number-one albums from the 2020s (New Zealand)
* List of number-one albums of the 2020s (Czech Republic)
* List of number-one albums of 2022 (Australia)
* List of number-one albums of 2022 (Belgium)
* List of number-one albums of 2022 (Canada)
* List of number-one albums of 2022 (Ireland)
* List of number-one albums of 2022 (Portugal)
* List of number-one albums of 2022 (Spain)
* List of number-one hits of 2022 (Austria)
* List of number-one hits of 2022 (Denmark)
* List of number-one hits of 2022 (France)
* List of number-one hits of 2022 (Germany)
* List of number-one hits of 2022 (Switzerland)
* List of number-one singles and albums in Sweden#2022
* List of Official Albums Streaming Chart number ones of 2022
* List of UK Albums Chart number ones of the 2020s
* List of UK top-ten albums in 2022
* Milestones and achievements for albums on Spotify

Footnotes

References

External links

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{{Taylor Swift

2022 albums
Albums produced by Taylor Swift
Albums produced by Jack Antonoff
Albums produced by Aaron Dessner
Bedroom pop albums
Chill-out music albums
Concept albums
Dream pop albums by American artists
Electronica albums by American artists
Republic Records albums
Synth-pop albums by American artists
Taylor Swift albums