Music

This Taylor Swift Fan Theory Predicts Her 12th Album

Yes, Swifties think more new music is coming.

by Jake Viswanath
Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour Merch Might Hold A Clue About Her 12th Album
Kevin Mazur/TAS24/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

Taylor Swift just gave fans a whopping 31 new songs on The Tortured Poets Department, and updated her Eras Tour to include her latest album. But some fans think she’s giving us even more. A viral TikTok theory predicts that the singer will release yet another new album before the record-breaking trek is over, and it all stems from her tour merch.

As TikToker @caitpatton pointed out, the original Eras Tour poster featured images from 10 of Swift’s studio albums in each era’s respective color, organized in chronological order. However, Midnights took up three of the artwork’s 12 squares rather than just one, leading the fan to speculate that she would release two more albums before the Eras Tour.

The Updated Eras Tour Merch

Her theory proved to be at least partially true when Swift announced The Tortured Poets Department on Feb. 4, less than halfway through her tour’s scheduled run. When she revamped the Eras Tour at her Paris show on May 9 to add the new album to the setlist, she also updated her merch with a new tour poster.

Now, the Tortured Poets image takes up the center two squares with every era around it, and Midnights lies in the bottom right corner.

Taylor Swift's new Eras Tour merch with the Tortured Poets image.Taylor Swift

This has led the TikToker to speculate that Swift will release her 12th studio album before the Eras Tour is over, filling all 12 squares on the poster. The singer is currently scheduled to perform through the end of 2024, with the tour ending on Dec. 8 in Vancouver. However, if she adds more dates in 2025 as some fans suspect, then there’s more room to release another album in that timeframe.

The Orange Color Theory

Adding to this theory, back when the Eras Tour started in March 2023, fans suspected that the color of Swift’s next album would be orange, one of the few she’s never used, thanks to the many orange-hued Easter eggs in her “Karma” performance. This didn’t pan out for Tortured Poets, with white being the era’s defining color, but perhaps she has this planned for a different album.

Taylor Swift performing on the Eras TourMarcelo Endelli/TAS23/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

Swift has also made a habit of announcing her new “Taylor’s Version” albums onstage and releasing them while on tour, like with Speak Now (TV) and 1989 (TV). It’s possible she’ll do the same with her final two re-recordings, Reputation and Taylor Swift, rather than make yet another album.

Or as @caitpatton speculates, she’ll release both of those re-recordings plus her 12th studio album before the Eras Tour eventually wraps up. Knowing how Swift operates, she tends to be generous about how much music she’ll give the Swifties.