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Photo Credit: TAS Rights Management<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
It\u2019s an artifact of a bygone era, but Taylor Swift is more than famous enough to pull it off. Before streaming and downloading became the predominant way to get one\u2019s music fix, stores held midnight openings for highly anticipated album releases so fans could get their hands on them the moment the embargo lifted on their sale. Now, Taylor Swift\u2019s forthcoming album is bringing back the trend.<\/p>\n
On Sunday, Target announced that around 500 stores will be open at midnight local time on October 3rd to sell copies of Taylor Swift\u2019s The Life of a Showgirl<\/em>\u2014including exclusive variants<\/a>. The chain has also released a locator page<\/a> showing which outlets will be participating in the midnight release.<\/p>\n Fans who can\u2019t (or don\u2019t want to) make it to Target to pick up Taylor\u2019s new album in person will still be able to preorder all editions on the retailer\u2019s website.<\/p>\n Interestingly, unlike midnight sales of the past, participating Target stores will stay open past their normal hours rather than close and then reopen. Stock will then be available at midnight local time at these locations.<\/p>\n The retailer saw a massive influx of customers in its brick-and-mortar stores last year when it released an exclusive vinyl edition of the deluxe version of The Tortured Poets Department<\/em> the day after Thanksgiving. Accompanying the vinyl was an exclusive Eras Tour Book<\/a>, both of which sold out almost immediately in most stores.<\/p>\n Though Swift has been a bigger seller of vinyl than CDs, as per trends in the physical music market, it makes sense why she\u2019s going the extra mile with compact discs on this release. For starters, she\u2019s already put three exclusive CD editions of the album up for sale on her web store, which rapidly sold out.<\/p>\n Moreover, CDs are cheaper to produce and more affordable for fans<\/a> than vinyl records\u2014and fans of K-pop are no strangers to seeking out CDs and cassette tapes with exclusive collectible album art. Likewise, as a master of merchandising, Taylor Swift is no stranger to taking a page from the K-pop industry playbook<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/div>\nTarget also announced it will be carrying three exclusive CD editions of the album as part of its longtime partnership with Taylor Swift. Each new edition\u2014\u201dIt\u2019s Frightening,\u201d \u201cIt\u2019s Rapturous,\u201d and \u201cIt\u2019s Beautiful\u201d\u2014includes an exclusive poster.<\/h4>\n