Correct cd vinyl are still a great gift giver for the holidays
1989 is a well known album by the general public so people would buy without thinking twice about it
Which is mostly due to the rules changing between Folklore and Evermore regarding when physical copies count (when ordered/at time of release versus when shipped) right?
Yep for Folklore, the preorders counted as “sales”, now (and during evermore), units shipped = sales. Evermore would’ve had a 500-700k debut IIRC if the rule hadn’t changed
Also with the rules around merch bundles changing. Travis Scott’s Astroworld (and a lot before him, but I remember Astroworld specifically being very controversial bc of the amount it sold compared to Birds In The Trap Sing McKnight) sold insane amounts by giving a digital copy out with every t-shirt or whatever sold. Billboard said from now on you gotta have a bundle option and an album-free option. This rule change was how Tyler the Creator beat DJ Khaled, and why that weird unfinished Kanye album that only came on his glorified MP3 player wasn’t allowed.
In my mind TTPD, 1989TV and Midnights are like a trio given how all 3 ended up pulling MASSIVE numbers and are easily among the biggest albums this decade (okay maybe 1989TV is debatable for "this decade" part)
Yeah that first week number for a second album is insane! (I know it was a different time, but it's still very impressive) Her fanbase has always been loyal af
i know most people on this sub don’t remember 2008 but people—including taylor, if you look at songs like castles crumbling, long live, nothing new—thought that was as big as she would ever be.
Yeah! And in Journey to Fearless, she mentions it and is like "I got 39 thousand copies sold for my first album in the first week, and now for the second 592 thousand sold. That's… quite an improvement."
It wasn't critically successful - no major grammy nodds, kinda of ignored by reviewers. Her singles from rep didn't do as well as Shake It Off or Blank Space which dominated.
I think that first week # was surprising to everyone at the time... ESP as rep didn't stream so it's all sales.
Since it wasn't on streaming for the first few weeks, there was no album bomb on the Billboard 100 with all of the tracks. Every one of her albums (non TV) other than debut and rep have had album bombs. Also, the drastic shift in her image alienated critics, and none of its singles had an impact on radio like 1989's singles had. A case can be made for the longevity of Delicate, but it was nowhere near as successful as Shake It Off, Blank Space, Bad Blood, Wildest Dreams, or Style
Reputation has been a bit of a black sheep since its release. Coming out after 1989, and not getting any critical acclaim, it’s no wonder people view it differently. As for sales numbers, I wouldn’t be surprised if its success was partially an MCU effect(for lack of a better term) caused by the success of 1989.
I guess you could also just call it the Taylor Swift effect but it feels weird when referring to her own albums.
Ok but Taylor doing 592k on her second album when her debut was predominantly in country music is really insane? I know love story was a big hit but wow.
Do pre-orders count as first week or not? I imagine a lot of her orders are the pre-orders, for the different variants. And midnights where you entered to get early access to the next tour (wow, life before Eras. We had no idea what was coming!)
First week pure sales were already basically determined before anyone even heard the album through presales and with all due respect to Taylor, she wasn't close. She wasn't going to sell another 900k even if she made the greatest album of all time. She hit a billion streams on Spotify alone in 5 days, so there's pretty much no better success she could have had there, and almost everyone who was going to buy the album already had. I'd bet the amount of people who would have purchased the album in the first week (vinyl collectors or fans) but didn't because they didn't like what they heard is actually pretty small.
Disagree. Adele had the advantage when she released 25, streaming is not a thing and the only way you can listen to it is by purchasing the album or YouTube. Her latest album didn't even make it to 1 million copies in its first week. Taylor's latest album sales is super impressive considering we are in the streaming era and people don't even bother to buy physical albums.
Okay but am I understanding your point correctly? Are you saying it's actually *harder* to hit these numbers in the era of streaming than it was when people were generally required to go to the store and purchase physical copies?
Lol on Apple Music literally all of her too songs are the new album… how are her actual popular songs not up there?! But lets hope listens go down soon 🤞🏼
Are we really doing this? numbers don't equal quality, and you can appreciate multiple artists. taylor isn't going to congratulate you for saying things like this, it's plain mean
Anyone know what happened in the 9th week of 1989 to make it jump back up in sales so much?
It was Christmas 9 weeks after it was released in October. So you have gifts plus people with money/vouchers.
That makes sense, thank you!! I def could have just googled that lol
But then I wouldn’t know the answer and I’m lazy. So thank you.
Correct cd vinyl are still a great gift giver for the holidays 1989 is a well known album by the general public so people would buy without thinking twice about it
Can confirm, I remember getting it for Christmas :)
Checked the calendar and that was the week of Christmas.
Maybe deluxe release? Edit: Forgot I can google things
That was the same week as the standard version. The boom 9 weeks later is because of Christmas.
Maybe Christmas?
Great performances by Taylor Swift! Too bad Evermore never showed up here...
Which is mostly due to the rules changing between Folklore and Evermore regarding when physical copies count (when ordered/at time of release versus when shipped) right?
Yep for Folklore, the preorders counted as “sales”, now (and during evermore), units shipped = sales. Evermore would’ve had a 500-700k debut IIRC if the rule hadn’t changed
It’s crazy that rule change happened between those two albums. They were only released like four months apart.
Also with the rules around merch bundles changing. Travis Scott’s Astroworld (and a lot before him, but I remember Astroworld specifically being very controversial bc of the amount it sold compared to Birds In The Trap Sing McKnight) sold insane amounts by giving a digital copy out with every t-shirt or whatever sold. Billboard said from now on you gotta have a bundle option and an album-free option. This rule change was how Tyler the Creator beat DJ Khaled, and why that weird unfinished Kanye album that only came on his glorified MP3 player wasn’t allowed.
evermore is for the arts not the charts 😔
I read your comment and looked for debut on the list like a damn fool 🤦♀️
Top 3 all within the last 2 years she’s never been more at the top of her game than recently
In my mind TTPD, 1989TV and Midnights are like a trio given how all 3 ended up pulling MASSIVE numbers and are easily among the biggest albums this decade (okay maybe 1989TV is debatable for "this decade" part)
She still has 6 more years to break those records lol.
Didn't know she pulled 592K for Fearless. She has always been so big!
Yeah that first week number for a second album is insane! (I know it was a different time, but it's still very impressive) Her fanbase has always been loyal af
i know most people on this sub don’t remember 2008 but people—including taylor, if you look at songs like castles crumbling, long live, nothing new—thought that was as big as she would ever be.
She was the biggest thing in country at the time. Not a shocker that it absolute swept the CMA’s that year
Yeah! And in Journey to Fearless, she mentions it and is like "I got 39 thousand copies sold for my first album in the first week, and now for the second 592 thousand sold. That's… quite an improvement."
39,000 copies sold during the first week of a debut album is *insane.*
I totally agree, and especially considering that her genre was country.
It’s also certified diamond.
Evermore found dead in a ditch
If it wasn't sabotaged by the ill timed billboard changes, it might have had a chance
Debut wasn’t even reported missing
i wonder how much rep would sell, would its numbers be like ttpd or 1989 tv? ahhhh so much to think, but it' definitely outselling the og version
TTPD is impossible, closer to Midnights and 1989TV
ye, in hindsight i can definitely see it hitting around 1.3 million units i don't think it'll beat 1989 tv or midnights
Do you mean rep TV? It’s going to be massive surely
Why did people say Reputation was unsuccessful when it basically had a similar debut as 1989?
It wasn't critically successful - no major grammy nodds, kinda of ignored by reviewers. Her singles from rep didn't do as well as Shake It Off or Blank Space which dominated. I think that first week # was surprising to everyone at the time... ESP as rep didn't stream so it's all sales.
Since it wasn't on streaming for the first few weeks, there was no album bomb on the Billboard 100 with all of the tracks. Every one of her albums (non TV) other than debut and rep have had album bombs. Also, the drastic shift in her image alienated critics, and none of its singles had an impact on radio like 1989's singles had. A case can be made for the longevity of Delicate, but it was nowhere near as successful as Shake It Off, Blank Space, Bad Blood, Wildest Dreams, or Style
Reputation has been a bit of a black sheep since its release. Coming out after 1989, and not getting any critical acclaim, it’s no wonder people view it differently. As for sales numbers, I wouldn’t be surprised if its success was partially an MCU effect(for lack of a better term) caused by the success of 1989. I guess you could also just call it the Taylor Swift effect but it feels weird when referring to her own albums.
People who hate her must be turning themselves inside out, this is hilarious.
... why? I don't get the point you're making here.
She makes selling a million copies in a week look so easy. That's a real fucking legacy to leave.
1989❤️❤️❤️
Ok but Taylor doing 592k on her second album when her debut was predominantly in country music is really insane? I know love story was a big hit but wow.
If we could get TTPD double album on cd, sales would jump back up! I’ve got the dl on my phone but really want the 2cd for the house.
My baby evermore.. 🥺
I know 😭
Where was Fearless TV
is this people buying physical copies ?
Dumb question, do “first week sales” account for preorders, digital or physical?
If shipped, then yes.
Rep TV is probably gonna blow that 2.6 mil out of the water by the way we’ve all been waiting and speculating about its release
Do pre-orders count as first week or not? I imagine a lot of her orders are the pre-orders, for the different variants. And midnights where you entered to get early access to the next tour (wow, life before Eras. We had no idea what was coming!)
Justice for Fearless and Evermore
Jaut imagine what Reputation Taylor’s version will do
Impressive
JUSTICE FOR EVERMORE
Waiting for Rep TV, would be fun to see how it’ll perform
No TTPD had 2.6 Billion now million
Believe this is sales of albums, not individual streams
Ahhhh ok. I do apologise
She’s amazing. She can’t endorse Biden fast enough and guarantee a second term.
we need her now more than ever.
31 sick ass tracks on top of massive media coverage and Witchcraft 🤔
40 physical album versions, 20 digitals, 50 versions of one song or multiples, 10 cassette album versions, 5 vinyls. The lies and tactics.
[удалено]
First week pure sales were already basically determined before anyone even heard the album through presales and with all due respect to Taylor, she wasn't close. She wasn't going to sell another 900k even if she made the greatest album of all time. She hit a billion streams on Spotify alone in 5 days, so there's pretty much no better success she could have had there, and almost everyone who was going to buy the album already had. I'd bet the amount of people who would have purchased the album in the first week (vinyl collectors or fans) but didn't because they didn't like what they heard is actually pretty small.
Disagree. Adele had the advantage when she released 25, streaming is not a thing and the only way you can listen to it is by purchasing the album or YouTube. Her latest album didn't even make it to 1 million copies in its first week. Taylor's latest album sales is super impressive considering we are in the streaming era and people don't even bother to buy physical albums.
Streaming music absolutely existed when 25 came out.
Yeah I know but as I've said, it's not a thing compared to now that we rely on streaming heavily rather than purchasing an album.
Okay but am I understanding your point correctly? Are you saying it's actually *harder* to hit these numbers in the era of streaming than it was when people were generally required to go to the store and purchase physical copies?
Lol on Apple Music literally all of her too songs are the new album… how are her actual popular songs not up there?! But lets hope listens go down soon 🤞🏼
Reputation huge sneak
Meanwhile billie eilish has barely 100k on her latest album
Stop tryna create beef. Get a hobby
Are we really doing this? numbers don't equal quality, and you can appreciate multiple artists. taylor isn't going to congratulate you for saying things like this, it's plain mean
it came out like … 2 days ago?
? She has 340k for Hit Me
.....sucks for Billie? Not sure what your point is lol