Taylor Swift’s forthcoming seventh album Lover has broken the record for the most pre-added album by a female artist ever on Apple Music.
The album achieved 178,600 pre-adds worldwide in the first day of availability (June 13), breaking the previous record set by Thank U, Next by Ariana Grande.
Since opening pre-adds on Thursday, June 13, Lover has seen 222,400 pre-adds worldwide and that number continues to grow exponentially.
Swift’s album has also set the record for the most pre-added pop album in its first day worldwide, the music streaming service has confirmed.
Lover is released in all territories globally on August 23.
A pre-add on Apple Music is the streaming era equivalent of a pre-order.
Each pre-add represents an individual subscriber on the platform voluntarily registering their interest in a full album ahead of release, by scheduling the album’s arrival on their personal account.
Back in March, Billie Eilish had racked up 800,000 pre-ads one week ahead of the release of her debut album When We All Fall Asleep Where Do We Go?, breaking the all-time record on the service.
“To actively pre-add an album, much like the pre-order we invented with iTunes, means that the fan is excited about the content and wants to be among the first to enjoy it the moment its available. That kind of engagement is very valuable to an artist and to us.”
Speaking exclusively to MBW at the time, Oliver Schusser, Head of Apple Music worldwide, said: “While most services focus the majority of their efforts around playlists, Apple Music still emphasizes albums because we understand their value as a storytelling tool for artists to create context around their music.
“To that end, pre-adds are great early indicators of engagement around an artist and the intention of the fans. To actively pre-add an album, much like the pre-order we invented with iTunes, means that the fan is excited about the content and wants to be among the first to enjoy it the moment its available. That kind of engagement is very valuable to an artist and to us.”Music Business Worldwide
