Taylor Swift's The Tortured Poets Department: Fans react as new ...

By Noor Nanji, BBC News

Taylor Swift fans have been sent into something of a frenzy after her new album, The Tortured Poets Department, appears to have leaked online early.

Many people have shared the tracks on social media, with some saying they came from a Google Drive link containing the whole 17-song list.

While some Swifties have dived straight in, others insisted true fans will wait for the official release on Friday (4pm New Zealand time).

The BBC has approached Swift's representatives for comment.

The singer announced the existence of her 11th studio album at February's Grammy Awards. It is her first collection of entirely new material since October 2022's Midnights.

On X, formerly Twitter, some fans were quick to say they would not be indulging in the music ahead of schedule; while others flooded the site with false links to "bury" the apparent leak and stop people finding it.

"Raise your hand if you're an ACTUAL Taylor Swift fan and aren't listening," wrote one social media user.

"People need to understand that this isn't just about being a fan. It's about respecting others of their hard work!," wrote another.

"She and her team [have] planned and worked so meticulously for this album release, don't disrespect and ruin it for others as well."

Another said they wanted to wait to listen to the whole album on Friday "and really get the first listen experience".

Other fans speculated the tracks could be fakes generated by artificial intelligence, although some "AI" tracks that were shared online turned out to be older, less well-known Swift songs.

It would not be the first time that the star has had a run-in with AI. In January, X blocked searches for "Taylor Swift" after explicit AI-generated images of the singer began circulating on the site.

The arrival of a new album has been hotly anticipated by her fan community as it means there will be new material to add to the star's blockbuster Eras tour, which hits Europe this summer.

Midnights, which featured the singles 'Anti-Hero', 'Bejeweled' and 'Karma', also leaked online ahead of its drop date. But the leak did not hurt Swift's commercial prospects, and the album sold 1.6 million copies in its first week in the US.

It went on to win album of the year at the Grammys, making Swift the first person to win the award four times.

Earlier this month, Swift joined Elon Musk as ranking among the world's wealthiest people, according to a new rich list.

The pop star entered the Forbes World's Billionaires List for the first time with US$1.1billion (NZD$1.865b), along with Sam Altman, creator of the AI chatbot ChatGPT on US$1b.

- BBC

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