500 supermarkets in the US put Taylor Swift's album The Life of a Showgirl on sale at midnight

This is an unprecedented event in the music industry for Taylor Swift, when 500 supermarkets across the US opened simultaneously at 0:00 on October 3 to release the album The Life of a Showgirl.

Target opens midnight sales at 500 stores for Taylor Swift's new album - Photo: Variety

It sounds like a throwback to the 1980s and 1990s, but Target announced it would be holding a "midnight release" event for the album. The Life of a Showgirl by Taylor Swift.

"Midnight release" was a popular entertainment industry term from the 1980s to 2000s, when records were in their heyday. It meant that record stores opened at midnight so fans could gather and line up to buy new albums, turning the release into a community cultural event.

This tradition usually only takes place in big cities, with a few dozen flagship stores of Tower Records, HMV or Virgin Megastore.

But in the digital age, where listening is just a click away, midnight pop-ups have all but disappeared, appearing only occasionally in small retail stores when there's a particularly popular artist.

Midnight album buying trend revived thanks to Taylor Swift

And now, the heat from Taylor Swift is reviving this phenomenon. According to Variety , about 500 Target stores across the US will continue to stay open until midnight (local time) on October 3 to sell the album, including both the standard version and the exclusive editions only available at the system.

The surprise announcement also comes with the introduction of three exclusive CD versions of The Last of a Showgirl , as part of a long-term partnership between Target and Taylor Swift.

Before the era of streaming and online music downloads, lining up to buy albums as soon as they were released was a familiar tradition for fans - Photo: Variety

For those who don't want to wait in line in their pajamas at midnight, all of the special editions are still available for pre-order on Target's official website.

With a huge fan base always eager to own Taylor Swift's music in their hands, it is not difficult to understand why many people will choose to experience the first album as a memory - to hold and look at - instead of simply listening through an online platform.

While Black Friday is now largely an online affair with less of a physical presence, Target still saw a huge surge in traffic last November when it launched an exclusive vinyl release of The Tortured Poets Department (Deluxe) and Eras Tour Book . Within a short time, most stores reported selling out.

Mint green and black version of The life of a showgirl: Shiny bug collection vinyl with new cover art - Photo: TaylorSwift Store

Following the general market trend, Taylor Swift is the "queen" of vinyl sales, far surpassing CDs. However, with The Life of a Showgirl, she continues to invest heavily to boost CD sales. The 3 exclusive CD versions that were sold on the singer's own webstore quickly "sold out".

These editions are also confirmed to be one-off prints, with no future reissues. In a recent podcast, the singer also clarified that there are no exclusive songs on this vinyl version, but the difference lies in the format and design.

The Life of a Showgirl is produced by Max Martin and Shellback, with Sabrina Carpenter featuring on the title track, and is scheduled for release on October 3.

Sharing about the process of making the album, Taylor said this is a very private and emotional perspective, recording what happened inside her when doing The Eras Tour which lasted longer and was more successful than expected.

"This album is my voice at the most vibrant, intense and brilliant moment of my life. Those explosive emotions are blended into each melody" - the female singer described.

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