By MARIA SHERMAN AP Music Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — Lights, camera, action. Taylor Swift’s 12th studio album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” arrives Friday. Are you ready for it?
Swift announced her latest era back in August, when she began teasing the release.
Here’s everything you need to know ahead of its drop date: how to stream, which variants exist, and of course, how the album came together. Enjoy the show!
How to listen to Swift’s “The Life of a Showgirl”
“The Life of a Showgirl” will be available to stream on all major platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music.
Fans can pre-save the album ahead of its release on Oct. 3. Pre-saving ensures the new music automatically appears in a fan’s library the moment it is available. It is also a way for an artist to promote streams ahead of the drop date.
On Monday, Spotify announced that Swift’s album surpassed five million pre-saves on their platform to become the most pre-saved album in its history. The previous title holder? Her 2024 album “The Tortured Poets Department.”
In addition to the many streaming options, there will also be a digital-download variant of “The Life of a Showgirl” available via iTunes, featuring a new cover image and a nearly three-minute “exclusive video from Taylor herself detailing inspirations behind the album” labeled “A Look Behind the Curtain.”
What physical variants are there?
Target is once again a major partner with Swift. Their stores will carry three CD variants, titled as “It’s Frightening,” “It’s Rapturous” and “It’s Beautiful” editions. There is also an exclusive vinyl release, “The Crowd Is Your King” edition in “summertime spritz pink shimmer vinyl.” Many Target locations will remain open past midnight on the day of release for superfans to pick up in real time.
There are a number of other vinyl variants as well: “The Tiny Bubble in Champagne Collection,” which features two vinyl variants described as “under bright lights pearlescent vinyl” and “red lipstick & lace transparent vinyl.”
There is also “The Baby That’s Show Business Collection,” in two colorways: “lovely bouquet golden vinyl” and “lakeside beach blue sparkle vinyl.”
Then there’s “The Shiny Bug Collection” in “violet shimmer marbled vinyl” and “wintergreen and onyx marbled vinyl.”
And of course, there is the standard LP and cassette, in “sweat and vanilla perfume Portofino orange vinyl.”
Artwork varies throughout.
What do we know about the album so far?
Swift partially announced her 12-track new album “The Life of a Showgirl” on the “New Heights” podcast hosted by Travis Kelce — Swift’s fiance and Kansas City Chiefs tight end — and his brother, Jason Kelce, the former Philadelphia Eagles center.
In the full episode, Swift revealed she worked on the album in Sweden while she was on the “Eras Tour” — flying between dates to record, truly embodying the album’s title, “The Life of a Showgirl.” The entire album was completed with producers Max Martin and Shellback, who Swift previously collaborated with on 2012’s “Red,” 2014’s “1989” and 2017’s “Reputation.” Her frequent producing partner Jack Antonoff was not mentioned.
She described the release as full of “bangers.” “I care about this record more than I can even overstate,” she said, agreeing with Travis Kelce when he described the release as “a lot more upbeat” than 2024’s “The Tortured Poets Department.”
Across the album, there is only one feature listed: the title track, “The Life of a Showgirl,” will include Sabrina Carpenter.