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\n\tFor nearly a full decade, Adele<\/a> has held the record for most first-week sales for an album. In December 2015, her grand comeback 25 <\/em>sold 3.482 million equivalent album units. Few artists have come close to breaking the record. Now, Taylor Swift<\/a> has broken it. <\/p>\n \n\tAccording to Billboard<\/a><\/em>, Swift has already earned 3.5 million equivalent album units for The Life of a Showgirl<\/em>.<\/a> Released on Friday, Oct. 3, the record is still in its first tracking week. Its final first-week count will be announced on Sunday, Oct. 12, the outlet said, giving it a few more days to widen the close gap in sales.<\/p>\n \n\tFor reference, The Tortured Poets Department <\/em>debuted with 2.61 million equivalent album units, making it the second-highest week since 25<\/em>. 1989 (Taylor\u2019s Version) <\/em>opened with 1.653 million, Midnights<\/em> with 1.578 million, and Reputation<\/em> with 1.238. After that, Adele holds two more non-debut weeks for 25<\/em>, which surged in its second week in December 2015 and again in January 2016. Swift rounds out the list<\/a> with Lover and Folklore <\/em>in the company of Drake\u2019s Views<\/em>.<\/p>\n \n\tThe Life of a Showgirl <\/em>has sold 3.2 million copies in traditional formats, including physical and digital purchases. This approaches, but has not yet surpassed<\/a>, the record that Adele set with 3.387 million copies of 25 <\/em>sold in 2015.<\/p>\n \n\tSwift\u2019s physical boost comes courtesy of the multiple variations of The Life of a Showgirl <\/em>she premiered in the lead-up to the album release. There are CD variant versions titled \u201cSweat and Vanilla Perfume,\u201d \u201cIt\u2019s Frightening,\u201d \u201cIt\u2019s Rapturous,\u201d and \u201cIt\u2019s Beautiful,\u201d plus vinyl variant versions titled \u201cThe Shiny Bug,\u201d \u201cBaby, That\u2019s Show Business,\u201d \u201cTiny Bubbles in Champagne,\u201d and \u201cThe Crowd Is Your King.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tSwift also launched four CD releases \u2014 titled the \u201cAlone in My Tower Acoustic Version,\u201d \u201cDressing Room Rehearsal Version,\u201d \u201cThe Life Is a Song Acoustic Version,\u201d and \u201cSo Glamorous Cabaret Version\u201d \u2014 that include acoustic renditions<\/a> and songwriting voice memos from select songs from the album. The \u201cDressing Room Rehearsal Version\u201d and \u201cAlone in My Tower Acoustic Version\u201d were also made available in deluxe formats.<\/p>\n \n\tA number of the variants were made available for 24 hours only.<\/p>\n