Taylor Swift's upcoming album, The Tortured Poets Department, appears to have leaked online ahead of its official release on Friday. Fans have been sharing tracks from the 17-song album on social media, with some claiming access via a Google Drive link.
While some Swifties have eagerly listened to the leaked material, others have urged restraint, emphasising respect for the artist's work. One fan wrote on X: 'Raise your hand if you're an ACTUAL Taylor Swift fan and aren't listening.' Another added: 'She and her team [have] planned and worked so meticulously for this album release, don't disrespect and ruin it for others as well.'
Some fans speculated that the leaked tracks might be AI-generated fakes, though some purported AI songs turned out to be older, lesser-known Swift tracks. This is not the singer's first encounter with AI issues; in January, X blocked searches for 'Taylor Swift' after explicit AI-generated images of her circulated on the platform.
The Tortured Poets Department is Swift's 11th studio album and her first collection of entirely new material since Midnights, which also leaked ahead of its release in October 2022. That leak did not harm its commercial success; it sold 1.6 million copies in its first week in the US and won Album of the Year at the Grammys, making Swift the first artist to win the award four times.
The album's arrival is highly anticipated by fans, as it will add new material to Swift's blockbuster Eras tour, which is set to hit Europe this summer. Earlier this month, Swift entered Forbes' World's Billionaires List for the first time, with a net worth of $1.1 billion.
