Taylor Swift debuts on New Heights and is wearing these Sony headphones that you can buy for under $100

Taylor Swift at the 2025 Grammy Awards next to an image of a new Taylor Swift curated Spotify playlist
(Image credit: Getty Images / Kevin Winter)

Taylor Swift broke the internet again, as the acclaimed superstar has a habit of doing, by queuing up a surprise countdown on her website. This led to the confirmation of her twelfth studio album – The Life of a Showgirl – getting a formal reveal soon, and we’re set to learn more on the latest episode of the New Heights podcast that drops tonight, August 13, 2025, at 7 PM ET. The show is hosted by Travis Kelce, NFL Star and Swift's boyfriend, along with his brother Jason Kelce.

You can bet that we’ll learn more about the forthcoming album – including a proper title, track listing, who produced it, and when it will arrive – so that we can all go and pre-save it on some of the best music streaming services, like Spotify and Apple Music. But, from the episode’s teasers, we’re in for a fun, lively, and hopefully long podcast, complete with the superstar rocking a pretty well-acclaimed pair of headphones from Sony.

While these aren’t the new WH-1000XM6, they are more designed for podcasters, musicians, and folks in the studios. Sony’s MDR-7506 are professional mixing cans with 40mm drivers in each cup and a cushioned, foldable design. The latter makes a lot of sense when you think that a podcaster is wearing them for the duration of the recording or for an artist mixing their next big thing.

Sony MDR-7506 headphones

(Image credit: Sony)

The MDR-7506 are also well-fitted enough for Swift to wear them while also pulling out a custom briefcase designed to hold a brand-new vinyl – we’ll see the full reveal when the podcast drops.

And if you want to rock the same pair as Swift, these wired Sony headphones are readily available on Amazon and are 9% off at $99.95 (from $109.95).

If you’re looking for a bit more full-featured set, and one that TechRadar has tested, we’d point you in the direction of the Sony WH-1000XM6. These launched earlier this year in May, and we called them “a fantastic pair of over-ear headphones that combine the best design elements of their predecessors, while levelling up the sonic and ANC capabilities.”

These cost a bit more, with an MSRP of $449.99, though they’re slightly discounted to $428 at Amazon as of this publishing.

Either route, I bet The Life of a Showgirl, will sound great on the XM6, and we’re all excited to learn more about it when the Taylor Swift episode of New Heights drops later this evening. It’ll be live on the show's YouTube channel with video, as well as in audio form, wherever you stream your podcasts, including Apple Podcasts.

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Jacob Krol
US Managing Editor News

Jacob Krol is the US Managing Editor, News for TechRadar. He’s been writing about technology since he was 14 when he started his own tech blog. Since then Jacob has worked for a plethora of publications including CNN Underscored, TheStreet, Parade, Men’s Journal, Mashable, CNET, and CNBC among others.


He specializes in covering companies like Apple, Samsung, and Google and going hands-on with mobile devices, smart home gadgets, TVs, and wearables. In his spare time, you can find Jacob listening to Bruce Springsteen, building a Lego set, or binge-watching the latest from Disney, Marvel, or Star Wars.

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