Midnights is Taylor Swift’s 10th album. Since its midnight release on October 23, the album has set streaming records at breakneck speeds. Within 24 hours, Spotify announced the album had the most plays in a single day ever. It also debuted at number five on the Billboard chart on November 5. With weekly sales reaching 1.58 million, Midnights sold better than any other album since Adele’s 25 back in 2015. In fact, of the 22 albums that have sold more than a million copies in a week, five of them have been Swift’s. Midnights also has the third-most weekly streams of any album, at 550 million. The album also sold 575,000 copies on vinyl—an all-time record. In addition to dominating major charts like the Billboard 200, Hot 100, Artist 100 and Global 200 with Midnights and the single “Anti-Hero,” Swift has also broken a number of other records.

Every single one of the top 10 songs on the Hot 100 were tracks off Midnights. This was the first time that different tracks from the same album managed to sweep every single one of the top 10. Midnights is also Swift’s 11th number-one album, tying her with Barbra Streisand for the most number ones of any female artist. Looking at men, the Beatles have 19, Jay-Z 14, Drake 12 and Bruce Springsteen 11. With all 20 tracks doing so well on streaming services, it’s difficult to list all the accomplishments Midnights has made on the Hot 100.

It may seem a forgone conclusion that an album from Taylor Swift would be a success, but it’s important to pay attention to what she does and the details of her success because she represents both the newest and the pinnacle of marketing strategies in the music market today.

Swift first announced Midnights at the MTV Video Music Awards in August. There was a time when surprise album releases were the go-to strategy for major artists, but even Beyoncé, a pioneer of the approach, returned to a more traditional angle this year with the release of RENAISSANCE. Swift similarly announced her 2020 albums folklore and evermore just 16 hours before they were released. But such surprise releases are just one of many possible options in a world with social media and streaming  and they don’t necessarily guarantee better performance.

It wasn’t a return to Swift’s Lover days of 2019, though. She didn’t release any singles in the lead-up to the album. Instead, lyrics from the songs showed up on electronic billboards in major cities worldwide and teaser ads were aired during the NFL game the Thursday night before release. Meanwhile, she revealed exclusive hints about the album and the first week of promotions through social media. Shortly after the album was released Friday at midnight, Swift announced there would be a surprise coming soon, which turned out to be there was a 3am Edition that was released at three in the morning with seven additional songs. Extra songs and remixes have long been a strategy for garnering more streams, but no one has ever done it with the same timing and in the same context as Swift did. They weren’t new ideas, but the way she used them was.

This combination of tactics brings Swift’s fans closer not only to her but to the album and the events that go along with it. A close relationship with fans through social media is one of the greatest virtues the top artists have nowadays, and the loyalty of those fans is the only factor that has a major impact on physical album sales today. Midnights comes in a total of 20 different versions, including CDs and vinyl in four colors, signed copies, cassettes tapes and packaged versions exclusive to certain retailers and credit cards. But while it’s common for albums to come in different versions, contain random gifts or other perks with purchase, it’s not every day an album asks you what your shade of midnight is. Again, the individual elements aren’t new, but the overall idea is.

The album’s chart performance is impressive in itself, but it’s even more so when considering the context. It’s not as though Midnights and “Anti-Hero” just walked up and took the prize without any competitors. The second week the album charted, “Lift Me Up,” Rihanna’s first solo song since 2016’s “Anti,” was released. “Anti-Hero” held strong onto number one. During the third week, Drake and 21 Savage’s new album, Her Loss, came out. The album took over number one on the Billlboard 200, but “Anti-Hero” refused to cede its position on the Hot 100. Tracks off Her Loss went on to fill every spot from number two to nine. On the fourth week, Midnights rebounded to number one.

In the meantime, there’s even more to look forward to. First is Swift’s continuing rerecording project. Fans already spotted a hint in the elevator scene of the “Bejeweled” music video that Speak Now would be the next release in this project. Now that it’s been one year since the release of Red (Taylor’s Version) in November 2021, whether or not Swift’s rerecordings can replace the original versions is one of the biggest questions in the recording industry. The numbers speak for themselves: In the year since its release, Red (Taylor’s Version) was streamed 1.5 billion times; the original album saw 280 million streams. That’s how fans are streaming, but what about radio? During the same period, songs from Taylor’s version was aired 210,000 times, while those from the original Red were played just 38,000 times.

Second is the Grammy Awards. The Recording Academy announced their Grammy nominations on November 15, nominating Swift for Song of the Year for “All Too Well (10 Minute Version),” marking her sixth nomination in the category, meaning she ties with Paul McCartney and Lionel Richie for the most nominations in the category. It’s very likely we’ll see her break the record this time next year thanks to “Anti-Hero.” But there isn’t really any need to wait that long: If she does win Song of the Year come February, it will already mark an unprecedented turn in the battle for artists’ rights to their masters.

To top things off, the era of Taylor Swift will include concerts. She announced a tour on November 1 not just for Midnights but for her entire catalog starting from her 2006 debut and is calling it the Eras tour. She hasn’t performed any new music in concert since her last tour, Reputation, in 2018. The commercial she’s in for Capital One, her sponsor, also serves as a preview for the tour. How will she capture 16 years and 10 studio albums? Will she highlight her capacity to continuously adapt and evolve to maintain her hold on the traditional music market, streaming and social media? Her changing appearance from country girl to post-pandemic pop star that nonetheless keeps her squarely as the female singer-songwriter of the moment? Her pursuit of creative control through the songs she’s written, music videos she’s directed, streaming strategies and rights to her masters? However she chooses to show it, she’ll be showing us the era of Taylor Swift.