On Oct. 3, 2025, Grammy-winning singer and songwriter Taylor Swift released her 12th studio album titled “The Life of a Showgirl (TLOAS).” It included 12 new tracks, including “Opalite,” “CANCELLED!,” “Wood,” and her new hit song “The Fate of Ophelia.”
Before the album’s debut, it had broken Spotify’s record for the most pre-saved album. It “surpassed five million pre-saves on the platform, surpassing the record held by ‘The Tortured Poets Department,’” according to Rolling Stone.
On its release day, TLOAS became Spotify’s most-streamed album of 2025 with over 250 million streams in its first 24 hours. Tracks averaged 20.8 million streams on the first day, and all had surpassed 100 million streams across all streaming platforms as of Oct. 29.
TLOAS also broke Adele’s record for first-week album sales by selling more than 3.5 million units. Swift’s individual tracks also broke some records. Her hit song “The Fate of Ophelia” set a new Spotify record for most streams in a single week, passing the number of streams of Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers”, according to Variety. All tracks from the album appeared on Spotify’s top 15 global charts, including three from the album’s clean version.
Despite all the acclaim and love the album received, controversy and backlash also followed.
Swift faced backlash on social media for allegedly using AI to generate videos to promote her album. Fans could access these videos by scanning QR codes displayed on 12 orange doors located in cities around the world.
“These Easter egg videos were promoted on X by YouTube, and were originally shared to Taylor’s YouTube page, but appear to have since been deleted — which may be due to the backlash they received,” according to Yahoo Entertainment.
The album sparked controversy over allegations that some songs contained lyrics with racial undertones. According to some users, several lines in her eighth track “Wi$h Li$t” reference blonde hair and blue eyes, which many interpreted as having racist connotations.
The album also faced criticism for its musical quality and lyrics. Netizens have called the album “rushed”, “not finished”, “nowhere near as good as it should be”, and just blatantly “bad.” Others felt the album lacked variety, with every song sounding alike. Swift responded to the backlash in an interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music.
“I have such an eye on legacy when I’m making my music,” Swift said. ”I know what I made. I know I adore it, and I know that on the theme of what the Showgirl is, all of this is part of it.”
