Midnights is the tenth studio album by the American singer-songwriterTaylor Swift. It was released on October 21, 2022, throughRepublic Records. Aconcept album about nocturnal ruminations, it contains confessional songs that explore regret, self-criticism, fantasies, heartbreak, and infatuation. The lyrical details allude to Swift's personal life and fame.
Swift announcedMidnights at the2022 MTV Video Music Awards and unveiled the standard tracklist on the video-sharing platformTikTok.Midnights topped the charts and has received multi-platinumcertifications in Australia, Canada, Denmark, New Zealand, Spain, and the United Kingdom. In the United States, it became Swift's fifth album to debut atop theBillboard 200 with over one million first-week copies and thebest-selling album of 2022, and it has beencertified seven-times platinum by theRecording Industry Association of America. Its songs made Swift the first artist to monopolize the top 10 of theBillboard Hot 100. It spawned three singles: "Anti-Hero" peaked at number one, and "Lavender Haze" and "Karma" both peaked at number two.
Music critics regardedMidnights as an amalgamation of Swift's earlier albums and lauded her autobiographical lyrics as engaging and more refined than before. Most reviews complimented the production as cohesive and tasteful, although some deemed it conventional. Numerous publications featured the album on their rankings of the best albums of 2022. At the66th Annual Grammy Awards (2024),Midnights made Swift the first artist to winAlbum of the Year four times, and it also wonBest Pop Vocal Album. To supportMidnights along with her other albums, Swift embarked onthe Eras Tour from March 2023 to December 2024.
Amidst the re-recording projects, Swift attracted media attention following her appearance atHaim'sOne More Haim Tour concert in London in July 2022; it was her first live performance since 2019.[2][7] At the2022 MTV Video Music Awards on August 28, during her acceptance speech forVideo of the Year, she announced a new original studio album.[8] After the show, Swift revealed the album title,Midnights, on her social media.[8] This was met with surprise from her fans, who had expected another re-recorded album in 2022.[5] Onmusic streaming platforms,Midnights was labeled "pop", which attracted media and public speculation on its sonic direction, after the "alternative" labelings ofFolklore andEvermore.[2][5]
Jack Antonoff co-wrote 11 and co-produced all 13 tracks with Swift on the standard edition.
Aaron Dessner worked on four tracks for the3 a.m. Edition.
For the standard edition ofMidnights, Swift wrote 11 of the 13 tracks withJack Antonoff, who had worked with her on every album since1989 (2014).[9][10] She wrote "Vigilante Shit" alone and "Sweet Nothing" withJoe Alwyn, who is credited under the pseudonym William Bowery. Other co-writers includeZoë Kravitz andSam Dew ("Lavender Haze"),Jahaan Sweet andSounwave ("Lavender Haze" and "Karma"), Keanu Beats ("Karma"), andLana Del Rey ("Snow on the Beach", also featured artist).[11] An extended3am Edition containing seven additional tracks was written by Swift, who co-wrote four tracks with Antonoff and three withAaron Dessner. Dew and Sounwave also shared writing credits on the track "Glitch".[12]
Swift framedMidnights as aconcept album inspired by her "sleepless nights", informed by five themes: self-hatred, revenge fantasies, "wondering what might have been", falling in love, and "falling apart".[13] She had used midnight as a lyricalmotif to depict romantic sentiments of vulnerability, yearning, sensuality, or being haunted by past memories.[14][15] Expanding on these connotations,Midnights situates Swift's narrator as a woman examining her own psyche during the afterhours, when she confronts her reckonings about both her past and her future.[16][17] A personal album, it again employed the autobiographical songwriting that had characterized Swift's albums beforeFolklore andEvermore, which consisted of fictional narratives and character studies.[18]
The songs inMidnights are backward-looking contemplations on Swift's life,[19][20] using confessional lyrical details that allude to her personal life and public image.[21][22] The songs address diverse moods and emotions: self-criticism, self-confidence, ruminations on past decisions, hopes, fears, regrets, fantasies, and infatuation.[a] Some music journalists argued that the broad themes resulted inMidnights being a loosely defined concept album;[19][27]Alan Light ofEsquire thought that the concept-album designation was questionable, despite the songs altogether constructing a cohesive record.[13] Many songs are about those emotions ensuing from love.[19][28] "Maroon" is about the haunting memories of a long-gone romance,[19] while "Snow on the Beach" describes two people falling in love with each other at the same time.[29] Swift ruminates over a broken relationship and how things could have turned out differently in "Question...?"[30] and ponders the anxiety of falling in love again in "Labyrinth".[31]
Many songs address Swift's fame and how it intertwines with her personal life.[32][33] According toThe New York Times' Lindsay Zoladz, these songs find Swift no longer seeing marriage as ideal, as depicted by her 2008 single "Love Story", and instead convey her ambivalent viewpoints on romance and adulthood.[34] "Lavender Haze" details the onlinetabloid scrutiny that she received for her relationship.[35] In "Anti-Hero", she details her insecurities and how her celebrity status hinders her from having meaningful relationships.[24][36] "You're on Your Own, Kid" is an introspection on Swift's rise to fame and how alienating it was.[37][38] In "Midnight Rain", Swift reflects on a forgone love back in her hometown and how she chose fame over a domestic life.[25][34] "Labyrinth" hints at the pressure she faces in the spotlight,[13] a sentiment that is also addressed in "Sweet Nothing", which describes a calming romantic relationship amidst the chaos of the outer world.[39] In the standard edition's closer, "Mastermind", Swift admits to her lover that she is the one strategizing every move of their relationship and makes fun of her image as a calculating woman.[28][40]
The songs "Vigilante Shit" and "Karma" have lyrics that conjecture revenge fantasies against one's rivals.[28][41] In the former, Swift's character sides with the ex-lover of her nemesis in a revenge plot.[31][42] The latter has comical lyrics about how Swift benefits fromkarma: her righteous actions reward her with good outcomes in life, and she need not worry about sabotaging her rivals.[42] Self-assurance is the theme of "Bejeweled", which depicts finding one's self-worth after a breakup.[23][43]
The3am Edition tracks have varied themes;The Atlantic's Shirley Li considered them more cathartic and metaphorical than the standard tracks.[44] "The Great War" referencesWorld War I as an analogy of heartbreak,[45] while "Would've, Could've, Should've" uses religious imagery to describe an adult woman's reflection on her traumatic loss of innocence during her adolescence.[24][44] The vague, mournful lyrics of "Bigger Than the Whole Sky" are about losing something so soon without mentioning what exactly was lost.[46] "Glitch" is about how an original plan of staying friends with somebody strays away to become a romance,[47] and "Paris" sees Swift fantasizing about a romance in Paris while in her bedroom.[46] In "High Infidelity", Swift's character takes responsibility for a failed relationship with no regrets.[47] The3am closing track, "Dear Reader", sees Swift beseeching her audience not to look up to her as a "guiding light".[19][44]
Swift recorded all of the tracks of the standard edition and some from the later release ofMidnights at Antonoff's Rough Customer studio inBrooklyn and atElectric Lady Studios inGreenwich Village, Manhattan.[48] Two tracks created with other producers are "Lavender Haze" (Sounwave, Jahaan Sweet) and "Karma" (Sounwave, Keanu Beats).[11] Sounwave created the first demo for "Lavender Haze" by experimenting with different sounds and "hitting one button by accident". He and Antonoff added vocal samples fromBraxton Cook, and Swift helped complete the final production.[49] After "Lavender Haze", Antonoff asked Sounwave if he had any additional music that could be suitable forMidnights. He then pitched to Antonoff a sample that Beats had created in 2019,[50] and the production for the final track, "Karma", was completed after one day.[51]
Contemporary reviews mostly categorizedMidnights assynth-pop[b] andelectropop.[c] Several reviews described the album asbedroom pop[38][62] anddream pop.[63][64] Music critics deemed the album a throwback to the pop sounds of Swift's1989,Reputation, andLover, but its atmospheric production makes it relatively subdued and understated.[d]NPR'sAnn Powers wrote that the sound "might be called ahistoricalchillout music", with a "soft and mutable glow" that stimulated an intimate and isolated atmosphere.[37] According to the popular culture academic Keith Nainby,Midnights has a cool sonic tone: compared to the insistent and urgent beats of1989 orReputation, its texture is smoother, with thepitch frequencies "closely matched from top to bottom" that make the instruments' colors blending into a unified palette.[69]
Midnights incorporates influences fromR&B,[19][43][68]electronica,[70] andhip-hop,[37][70] showcased through the synthesizers and vocal manipulations[19]—Swift's voice ismultitracked[37][20] and, on "Midnight Rain" and "Labyrinth", pitched down to a lowregister that critics found masculine[37][34] orandrogynous.[42][60] Powers wrote that Swift's vocals retained a country-influenced "relaxed"timbre but also interpolated hip-hopcadences that resulted in conversational sing-talking.[37] Elements of electronica are demonstrated on "Snow on the Beach" and "Bejeweled",[66][71]electro-hip-hop on "Lavender Haze", "Midnight Rain", and "Vigilante Shit",[26] and R&B on "Lavender Haze", "Maroon", "Midnight Rain", "The Great War", and "Glitch".[43] "Midnight Rain" and "Labyrinth" also incorporatedubstep-influenced bass andhouse-and-trap-inspired beats.[60]
InVulture, Craig Jenkins dubbedMidnights a "genre reset" attempting to hybridize synth-pop and R&B.[43] Two otherVulture critics—the journalist Charlie Harding and themusicologist Nate Sloan—said the album evoked a variety ofdance andclub genres, such astechno,UK garage, andjungle. This is demonstrated by theReese bass, a low-pitchedsynth-bass sound that is incorporated into tracks such as "Lavender Haze", "Anti-Hero", "Question...?", and "Karma". Harding said the Reese bass gave the album a "dark" and "subterranean" feel.[72] Elise Ryan from theAssociated Press and Lucy Harbron fromGigwise consideredMidnights anexperimental album.[21][73] Ryan deemed it a move towardindie pop,[21] and Andrew Unterberger fromBillboard described it as "alt-leaning synth-pop".[74] Ilana Kaplam of theAlternative Press andStephen Thomas Erlewine ofAllMusic said that in addition to the electronic sound,Midnights incorporated alternative elements and contemplative lyricism that evokedFolklore andEvermore.[30][61]
Employing aminimalist design, the standard edition's cover artwork contains a square photo of Swift in blueeye shadow, blackeye liner, and red lipstick, holding the flame of a lighter close to her face.[75][76] The photo is at the bottom right corner, occupying half of the cover, and bordered on the top and left sides by off-whitenegative space.[76] The tracklist is on the bottom left, and the titleMidnights is written in a blue gradient, printed on top of Swift's photo.[75]
The tracklist presentation is reminiscent of vinylalbum jackets common in the 1970s.[77][78] Several 1970s cultural items that were listed by journalists as potential reference points for theMidnights cover include the English bandRoxy Music's 1974 albumCountry Life, the French artistGuy Bourdin's photographs forVogue France, and the English modelJean Shrimpton, as discussed byJess Cartner-Morley[2] andAlex Bilmes.[31] Several other analyses aligned theMidnights cover with theindie sleaze trend of the 2000s decade;[e]Rob Sheffield ofRolling Stone named theUltra Chilleddance CD compilations from the early 2000s as a potential influence.[81] The cover created a trend and was parodied by many brands, celebrities, and athletic teams.[82][83]
Other promotional visuals forMidnights also feature 1970s aesthetics.[84][85] The photographs and videos that Swift posted onto social media featured a clock face, family-room furniture with retroupholstery, and arust velvet curtain in the background.[42][86][87] Her wardrobe incorporated embellishments thatVogue identified as "discosequins" and "corduroy flare".[88] The covers for three other physical editions all feature 1970s memorabilia: a retro piano, apush-button telephone, and awood-paneled wall.[75][78] Their reverse sides each portray a quarter sector of a dial and, when assembled together and combined with aclock mechanism sold separately, form a functioning clock.[89] Themusic videos for "Anti-Hero", "Bejeweled", and "Lavender Haze" feature Swift in1970s fashion:houndstooth polo sweaters, ribbed knit trousers, and sequined bodysuits.[f]
Swift extensively used social media to promoteMidnights.[1][8] After the announcement at the MTV Video Music Awards, Swift's website and the canvases of her songs onSpotify were updated with images of a clock.[93] Using the video-sharing platformTikTok, from September 21 to October 7, 2022, she released a 13-episode video series calledMidnights Mayhem with Me, where she announced the title of each track in a randomized order per episode.[94] In each episode, Swift rolled alottery cage containing 13 ping pong balls numbered from 1 to 13, each representing a track of the album; when a ball dropped out, she disclosed the title of the corresponding track through a telephone.[95][94] On October 17, Swift posted on her social media an itinerary titledMidnights Manifest, which included promotional events she had planned.[96] Swift partnered with Spotify to display some lyrics fromMidnights on billboards in five cities: New York, London,São Paulo, Nashville, and Mexico City.[97] Another partnership withApple Fitness+ included three exercise programs designed around Swift's music, featuring tracks fromMidnights.[98]
Although Swift extensively promotedMidnights and announced multiple release pre-orders, she did not conduct press interviews or preview music prior to the album's release.[2]Republic Records releasedMidnights on October 21, 2022.[48] The standard edition was made available for streaming, download, cassette, four CD variants, and fourvinyl LP variants.[99]Target stores exclusively sold aLavender Edition on CD and vinyl LP, andCapital One distributed abox set that contained the CD and a Swift-branded T-shirt.[100] The3am Edition wassurprise-released onto streaming and digital services three hours after the standard edition.[100] From October 21 to 26,iHeartRadio aired a program callediHeartRadio Brings You Midnights with Taylor, which featured tracks from the album and stories behind the songs told by Swift herself.[101] She appeared, but did not perform, on the talk showsThe Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on October 24[102] andThe Graham Norton Show on October 28.[103]
The lead single, "Anti-Hero", was released on October 21, 2022.[104] In the United States, it became the best-selling song of 2022[105] and made Swift the first artist to have a number-one song on theRadio Songs chart in the 2000s, 2010s, and 2020s decades.[106] "Bejeweled" and "Question...?" were released for limited-time digital download exclusively through Swift's website on October 25.[107] Republic Records released "Lavender Haze" to US radio as the second single on November 29, 2022,[108][109] and "Karma" as the third on May 1, 2023.[110][111] A remix of "Karma" featuring the rapperIce Spice was released on May 26, 2023.[112] On theBillboard Hot 100, "Anti-Hero" reached number one, and both "Lavender Haze" and "Karma" peaked at number two.[113]
The promotional rollout ofMidnights received media commentary. Unterberger andSlate's Chris Molanphy described it as a middle ground between a traditional album rollout and the surprise-release strategy ofFolklore andEvermore.[114][115] Molanphy argued thatMidnights employed an optimal promotion for every consumption metric: the multiple CD and LP offers would boost physical sales, the limited-time download tracks would increase digital sales, and the surprise3am Edition release would prompt higher streams.[115] The fact that there were no pre-release singles prompted speculation on the album's sound and content,[2][114][116] and the TikTok video series prompted Swift's fans to interpret possibleEaster eggs, heightening the anticipation for the album.[117]
To supportMidnights and her other albums, Swift embarked onthe Eras Tour, which she described as a retrospective journey through her "musical eras".[118] Running from March 2023 to December 2024, the tour spanned 149 dates and visited five continents.[119] It became the first concert tour to gross over $1 billion, totaling $2 billion, thehighest-grossing in history.[120] During the run of the tour, aTil Dawn Edition ofMidnights containing the bonus track "Hits Different" was released to digital platforms, and aLate Night Edition containing the bonus track "You're Losing Me" was sold as concert–exclusive merchandise starting from theEast Rutherford show on May 26, 2023.[121]
Midnights was a commercial success across all consumption metrics: streaming, digital sales, and physical sales.[74][122] It broke various records on music streaming platforms.[123] On Spotify,Midnights broke records for thehighest single-day streams and the highest single-week streams.[124][125] It also claimed the highest single-day streams for a pop album and an album released inDolby Atmos onApple Music, the highest single-week streams for an album onAmazon Music, and the highest single-day requests onAmazon Alexa.[126] All of its tracks entered theBillboard Global 200 simultaneously; it set the record for the most simultaneous top-10 entries (nine) and made Swift the first artist to occupy the entire top five.[127]
In the United States,Midnights became Swift's record-extending fifth album to sell one million first-week copies after five days of availability.[128] It debuted atop theBillboard 200 with first-week units of 1.578 million, consisting of 1.14 million sales and 549.26 million streams,[129] tying her withBarbra Streisand for the most number-one albums for a female artist (11).[129]Midnights was the best-selling album of 2022, the second-best-selling album of 2023, and the second-most-consumed album of both years.[130] Swift became the first artist to have ayearly best-seller six times sinceLuminate tracked US music sales in 1991.[105]Midnights spent six weeks atop theBillboard 200,[121] and 68 weeks in the top 10, the longest run in the top 10 for Swift.[131] Its songs, led by "Anti-Hero", made Swift the first artist to occupy the entire top 10 of theBillboard Hot 100 the same week;[132] all 20 tracks from the3am Edition charted in the top 45.[133] "Anti-Hero" andMidnights marked the fourth time Swift had a number-one album and song simultaneously.[132] It had sold 2.814 million US copies by January 2024.[134] In September 2025, theRecording Industry Association of America (RIAA)certified the album seven-times platinum, denoting seven millionalbum-equivalent units.[135]
Midnights debuted at number one on the album charts in at least 14 countries, including Belgium, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, and Sweden.[126] It was Swift's first number-one album in France and Germany[136][137] and made her the best-selling foreign artist in China of 2022 after selling nearly 250,000 copies within one day.[138] On theAustralian charts,Midnights was Swift's 10th consecutive number-one album,[139] and its tracks made her the first artist to have nine songs on the top 10 of the singles chart the same week.[140] In the United Kingdom,Midnights sold over 140,000 units in its first three days to become the fastest-selling album of 2022.[141] It debuted atop theUK Albums Chart with 204,000 units, helping Swift achieve the shortest duration (10 years) for a female act to accumulate nine UK number-one albums.[142]Midnights spent five weeks atop the UK Albums Chart.[143] It sold 80,000 vinyl copies in 2022, the highest annual figure for an album in the 21st century, propelling total UK vinyl sales past CD sales for the first time since 1987.[144]
According toUniversal Music Group, the album crossed three million album-equivalent units in its first week and six million in two months.[145]Bloomberg News reported that the album generated $230 million in sales for Universal in 2022, accounting for 3% of their annual revenue—the highest from any artist.[146] TheInternational Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) recognizedMidnights as the second-most-consumed album of 2022; it ranked third in pure sales (first in vinyl sales) and fifth in streams; they named Swift theGlobal Recording Artist of 2022, which made her the first act to win the accolade three times (after 2014 and 2019).[147][148] In the IFPI's 2023 report,Midnights was the year's fourth-most-consumed album (third in both streams and vinyl sales).[149][150] The album has beencertified platinum or higher in many countries, including triple-platinum in Poland,[151] the United Kingdom[152] and Australia;[153] five-times-platinum in New Zealand;[154] and eight-times platinum in Canada.[155]
Upon release,Midnights was met with widespread acclaim from music critics.[161][162] OnMetacritic, which assigns anormalized score out of 100 to ratings from mainstream publications, the album received aweighted mean score of 85 based on 28 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[157] The review aggregator site AnyDecentMusic? compiled 29 reviews and gaveMidnights an average of 8.0 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus.[156]
Swift's songwriting was a subject of praise.[161] Alex Hopper inAmerican Songwriter saidMidnights displayed complex songwriting,[158] andAlexis Petridis inThe Guardian found it to be "confident" and contain a "sure-footedness".[60]Ken Tucker of NPR complimented Swift's composition using rhymes "so tightly, so rigorously, that [...] you wonder if she did it on purpose to mess with your mind".[163] Some reviewers commented that her lyrics were more refined and inward. According toNME's Hannah Mylrea,Spin's Bobby Olivier, andThe Daily Telegraph'sNeil McCormick, the album featured Swift's intimate personal narratives that delved deep into her state of mind.[23][59][160] Hirsh commented that while the themes were a continuation of what Swift had explored, the album showcased a newfound maturity with "serene acceptance".[159] Mikael Wood of theLos Angeles Times admired the storytelling lyrics and argued that they blurred the distinction between "what's drawn directly from Swift's real life and what's not".[164] Hopper and Light considered the narrative-driven songwriting onMidnights an influence ofFolklore andEvermore;[158] the latter complimented Swift's ability to address a "broad canvas" of emotions that highlighted her mature perspective.[13] ForClash's Matthew Neale,Midnights was a culmination of Swift's songcraft throughout past albums.[165]
Reactions to the production were somewhat polarized;[16] most were complimentary and deemed the sound tasteful.[162] In laudatory reviews, Sheffield,[63] Brittany Spanos fromRolling Stone,[28] and Bilmes dubbedMidnights an "instant classic"; the lattermost called it "the pop album of the year".[31] Ryan and Quinn said the album was a demonstration of masterful musical structures and experimentation;[24] the former wrote that Swift effortlessly combined her sharp lyricism with new musical elements.[21]Under the Radar's Andy Von Pip described the subdued production as elegant,[52] while Johnston and Petridis regarded the sound as nuanced and restrained compared to the mainstream pop sound.[66][60] McCormick dubbed the album a collection of "clever pop songs" but said it suggested Swift's uncertainty about whether to proceed with "intimate songcraft" or "a commercial juggernaut".[160]
Less enthusiastic reviews complained that Swift and Antonoff's collaboration led to conformity.[161][16]Jon Caramanica ofThe New York Times,[20] Chris Richards ofThe Washington Post[166] and Paul Attard ofSlant Magazine deemedMidnights uninventive and too similar to Swift's past music.[41] Moreland, Erlewine, andThe Line of Best Fit's Paul Bridgewater agreed, but they complimented the album as cohesive.[25][61][167] Powers appreciated some sonic experimentation that attempted to innovate Swift's first-person songwriting but felt that it sometimes had a "half-finished quality".[37] ForCarl Wilson ofSlate and Spencer Kornhaber ofThe Atlantic,Midnights at first seemed dull but revealed texture and substance after multiple plays;[19][16]Robert Christgau believed that this "textural" approach made it less tunefully defined than Swift's previous albums.[168] Helen Brown ofThe Independent wrote that the "subtle melodies" took time to "sink their claws in" and brought a rich listening experience with "feline vocal stealth and assured lyrical control".[22]Will Hodgkinson ofThe Times said that despite some "off-putting" vocal treatments,Midnights was an appealing "old-fashioned singer-songwriter album" with resonant songs.[57]
Midnights received extensive press attention around its release.The Guardian's Laura Snapes commented that the album was "likely to hang around longer" than other "superstar releases" by Swift's contemporaries. She attributed this to Swift's popularity on streaming services and how she overturned the negative press to curate a positive public image since her 2017 albumReputation.[2] InFortune, Ashley Lutz argued that Swift's marketing strategy forMidnights proved she was a "business and marketing genius" akin to theMarvel Cinematic Universe superhero franchise.[1] For Snapes andBillboard's Katie Atkinson,Midnights came at a point when the public became invested in Swift's music after the critical success and reevaluation she received with the 2020 albumsFolklore andEvermore and the 2021 re-recordings ofFearless andRed.[2][213]
Publications said the album's commercial success attested to Swift's longevity in the music industry. According toBillboard, it was the only album in 2022 that succeeded "evenly" across every consumption metric, namely streaming, album sales, and song downloads.[105] FiveBillboard journalists collectively agreed that Swift, uponMidnights' release, was "the biggest pop star in the world right now",[213] and Yahr deemed 2022 a year of "all-Taylor all the time".[214] Molanphy argued that by employing savvy business tactics that tackled the constantly evolving chart rules, she broke previously "unthinkable" records by the likes ofthe Beatles andDrake, which was "mind-blowing" for a musician in the "17th year" of her career.[115] ForThe Guardian economics journalistGreg Jericho, it was a "wonderful" feat that Swift remained culturally relevant "18 years into a recording career", a mark that surpassed the peak popularity of such musicians asthe Rolling Stones,David Bowie,Bob Dylan,Bruce Springsteen, andU2.[125][i]
Unterberger said the physical sales ofMidnights were "not seen in decades",[215] and Anna Nicolaou in theFinancial Times said they were unseen since the "1990s boy bands" era, labeling Swift "the last pop superstar".[216] The music publisherMatt Pincus called Swift "basically anintellectual property franchise [... like] aDC movie".[216] Noting a 2021 article fromThe New York Times that asked "ifAdele couldn't sell more than a million albums in a single week, could any artist?" after her album30 missed the mark,Rolling Stone's Ethan Millman responded that Swift "has once again moved the goalposts regarding what the music industry can see as possible from a major pop star".[217] Swift shared onThe Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon that she was astounded by the success: "I'm feeling very overwhelmed by the fans love for the record. I'm 32, so we're considered geriatric pop stars."[218]
Billboard commented in November 2022 that although the commercial success ofMidnights was undisputable, "the legacy of the album within [Swift's] catalog [...] remains to be seen".[213] Molanphy observed that when the initial reviews were out, "few seem to thinkMidnights is Swift's very best album" and "nobody seems to agree on what [its] best or worst songs are".[115] Within one year of its release, on the rankings of Swift's 10 studio albums,Midnights appeared fifth onNME[219] andEntertainment Weekly[26] and sixth onPaste,[220]Spin,[221] andSlant Magazine.[222] In an October 2023 article forThe Guardian, Snapes dubbed the album Swift's "first consolidation effort" that signaled "a more sustainable, experimental, adult kind of music career".[223]
^Each year is linked to the article about the awards held that year, wherever possible.
^Swift began her recording career at 16 with herself-titled debut album in 2006.[213] The discrepancy in years calculated by Molanphy (17) and Jericho (18) might be due to some misunderstandings.
^TheLavender Edition CDs and all Japanese CDs, include three exclusive bonus tracks not available for the matching release on vinyl LP format. In the United States, allLavender Edition formats are exclusively available throughTarget.
^Only available for 24 hours exclusively via Swift's website
^ab第三十四屆國際流行音樂大獎 [The 34th RTHK International Pop Poll Awards] (in Chinese (Hong Kong)).RTHK.Archived from the original on November 16, 2023. RetrievedJanuary 13, 2024.
^"Czech Albums – Top 100".ČNS IFPI.Note: On the chart page, select43.Týden 2022 on the field besides the words "CZ – ALBUMS – TOP 100" to retrieve the correct chart. Retrieved October 31, 2022.
Hughes, Phoebe E. (2025). "'Midnight Rain': When Pop Music Asks A Lot".Cranking Up Taylor Swift: Her Musical Journey in 11 Songs.Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 115–126.ISBN978-1-4930-8473-9.
Nainby, Keith (2024). "More than Music: The Image 'Taylor Swift'".Examining Blank Spaces and the Taylor Swift Phenomenon: An Investigation of Contingent Identities.Lexington Books. pp. 81–128.ISBN978-1-6669-4272-9.
Somville, Damien; Benoit, Marine (2025).Taylor Swift All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track. Black Dog & Leventhal /Hachette Book Group.ISBN978-0-7624-8929-9.
Tribulski, Emily (2020–2021). "Look What You Made Her Do: How Swift, Streaming, and Social Media Can Increase Artists' Bargaining Power".Duke Law & Technology Review.19:91–121.
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