Taylor Swift was criticized online this week for releasing three new renditions of “The Tortured Poets Department” one day before Billie Eilish released “Hit Me Hard and Soft.”
Thursday night, the “Tortured Poets Department” variations were released online. Each edition includes a bonus version of “The Black Dog,” “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?” or “Cassandra.”
Eilish has teased “Hit Me Hard and Soft” since April. Given the hype surrounding the nine-time Grammy winner's new album, several fans accused Swift of trying to outperform “Hit Me Hard and Soft” on the charts.
On X, formerly Twitter, one user wrote: "I love you Taylor, but this is greedy." couldn't release last week or next? Since #1 is up for grabs this week, you must perform these stunts. it's exhausting.”
Another X user said Eilish's criticism of excessive album versions “really got into” Swift, adding that “doing this on her album release day is so nasty.”
Others defended Swift by saying that was typical of the music industry. “This is a competitive industry, shes not playing any stunt shes following the rollout,” one wrote. Even if it wasn't, why should Taylor move?
Since April 19, “The Tortured Poets Department” has topped the Billboard 200 chart, which ranks the 200 most popular albums in the country. First week sales exceeded 2.6 million copies of the album.
The new “Tortured Poets Department” versions are only available online, although Eilish has slammed musicians who produce several vinyl editions of their albums and singles to boost sales.
"It's right in front of our faces and people are just getting away with it left and right, and I find it really frustrating as someone who goes out of my way to be sustainable and do the best I can and try to involve my team in being sustainable,
and then some of the biggest artists in the world make f–king 40 different vinyl packages that have a different unique thing just to get you to keep buying more."