The Taylor Swift Thread

[Meredith]

Her performance at the Grammys yesterday made me remember why I'm a Taylor Swift fan.   It was like a scene from a movie.  Her dress was phenomenal.  I can only imagine what her wedding dress is gonna look like.  It would probably outshine Kate Middleton's.  I'm glad that Taylor Swift is being her authentic self and not stripping down to her underwear like so many other female pop stars.  That's one of the reasons why so many legendary artists like Paul McCartney and Mick Jagger respect her.  

[Toups]

 

 

 

 

 

 

First week numbers are in and they're pretty good - I think 1989 will get the biggest sales out of all the re-records. 

 

I'm glad she keep the re-records as close as possible to the originals.  Her voice has improved over the years which makes songs like "Change" and "The Way I Loved You" and "Forever and Always" so much better. 

 

I love all the vault songs with "Don't You" and "Mr. Perfectly Fine" being my favourites.  

 

What a blessing in disguise that she doesn't own the masters for her first 6 albums because now we're getting the re-records and new-old songs. 

 

[Toups]

Another record for Taylor. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

[Toups]

Love seeing all the promotion for All Too Well which I believe is her best song - the lyrics, the vivid imagery, the emotional storytelling, the production of the music. 
It was always an album favorite of fans, and it usually made the top 5 whenever you see lists of her best songs.   For years fans have been wanting to hear the 10 minute version ever since it was rumoured that this existed.  This is just another example of Taylor being so incredibly generous to her fans.  We also got a short film and a SNL performance.  
 

The 5 minute version is still my favourite because of the production.  The 10 minute version has more of a softness to it, with less drums and less electric guitar but I still love it.  It makes it different instead of just being a copy of the 5 minute version with added lyrics. 
 

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I love the outro! What a perfect ending. 
 

 

I watched Sadie Sink on Stranger Things but this made me notice her.  She’s a pretty good actress.  Glad to see Taylor continuing to explore directing and getting more experience. I can definitely see her making a feature film one day. 
 

 

Can’t wait to see what Taylor has in store for the next re-release.  I predict it’s going to be 1989.  

[Toups]

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I think the song is my favourite so far out of the new vault songs we haven't heard before. 

[Toups]

So close to beating Drake! Fantastic numbers for the re-release of Red, especially getting 61% in pure album sales (369,000 of the 605,000 units).  
 

 

 

[Toups]

Taylor Swift’s ‘Midnights’ Off to Record-Breaking Start in U.S.

- It already has the largest sales week for any album since 2017, is the top-selling album of 2022, and sets a modern-era record for single-week vinyl album sales.

- Taylor Swift’s Midnights is off to a record-breaking start in the U.S. after its first day in release.  According to initial reports to Luminate, the album, which was released on Oct. 21, has sold more than 800,000 copies in the U.S. through its first day across all available formats (multiple digital album download, CD, vinyl and cassette variants). It has already logged the largest sales week for any album since 2017, is the top-selling album of 2022 year-to-date, and has set a modern-era record for single-week vinyl album sales.

- 2022’s Top-Selling Album After One Day: Midnights’ initial sales sum already makes it the biggest-selling album of 2022 year-to-date. Previously, 2022’s top-selling album, year-to-date, was Harry Styles’ Harry’s House, with 620,000 copies sold through the week ending Oct. 13.

- Biggest Sales Week for Any Album Since Swift’s reputation in 2017: With just one day of sales, Midnights logs the largest sales week for any album in the U.S. since Swift’s own reputation

- Modern-Era Vinyl Sales Record: Further, Midnights handily breaks the modern-era record for single-week vinyl album sales in the U.S., with over 400,000 copies sold so far. That’s the largest week for an album on vinyl since Luminate began tracking music sales in 1991. It surpasses the previous high, set earlier this year, when Harry’s House debuted with 182,000 vinyl copies (week ending May 26, 2021).

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Midnights is doing INSANE numbers after just one day of release. It sold 800,000 copies, as in pure album sales in one day??  What!??  It now has a great chance to go over 1 million units in one week, maybe 1 million pure album sales??  Wow.  Didn't think 1 million pure albums sales was possible, in the post-bundles era, once Adele didn't achieve it with '30'. 

 

 

It also broke the Global Spotify record. 

[BrendaB]

She is the music industry, no exaggeration for the past decade.  The best song on the album is the closer "Dear Reader." 

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You should find another guiding light...

[Toups]

I love Dear Reader too! I hope people take to heart the message of the song.  "Find another guiding light..." was the perfect way to put it. 

 

She's going to have her best first week EVER, however, that's in units.  After four days, the album already crossed 1 million in pure sales, but I don't think I've seen the exact number yet.  So, Midnights might still have a chance to beat 1989 in pure sales. 

[Faulkner]

Taylor is expected to occupy the entire top 10 of the Hot 100:

 

[Toups]

Taylor Swift’s ‘Midnights’ Blasts in at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Chart With Biggest Week for an Album in 7 Years

 

Taylor Swift achieves her 11th No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart (dated Nov. 5) as Midnights arrives with the biggest week for any album in nearly seven years. The set launches with 1.578 million equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending Oct. 27, according to Luminate. The last album to tally a larger week was the debut frame of Adele’s 25, when it bowed with 3.482 million units (Dec. 12, 2015-dated chart).

Midnights was released on Oct. 21 after being announced two months earlier by Swift at the MTV Video Music Awards (Aug. 28). No music from the album was released until the set dropped on Oct. 21, when she also issued the music video for Midnights’ first single, “Anti-Hero.” Midnights is Swift’s 10th full-length studio album and initially bowed as a 13-track standard release. Three hours after Midnights’ arrival, Swift released a deluxe version of the album (its “3am Edition”) with seven bonus tracks.

Swift now ties Barbra Streisand for the most No. 1 albums among women. Swift is also the sixth act with more than 10 No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 since the chart began regularly publishing on a weekly basis in 1956. She joins The Beatles (who lead with a record 19 No. 1s), Jay-Z (14), Drake, Bruce Springsteen and Streisand (each with 11).

Midnights is already the year’s top-selling album by overall sales through the year, and tallies the largest sales week for an album since her own reputation debuted in 2017, the third-largest streaming week ever for an album, and the biggest sales week for a vinyl album in the modern era (since Luminate began tracking music sales in 1991).

Of Midnights’ 1.578 equivalent album units earned, album sales comprise 1.140 million, SEA units comprise 419,000 (equaling 549.26 million on-demand official streams of the set’s 20 total tracks) and TEA units comprise 19,000.

Third-Biggest Streaming Week Ever: Midnights logs the third-largest streaming week ever for an album, by total on-demand official streams. It also captures the biggest streaming week for a non-R&B/hip-hop album and any album by a woman. The Nos. 1 and 2 biggest streaming weeks were logged by the debut frames of Drake’s Scorpion (745.92 million) and Certified Lover Boy (743.67 million), respectively.

Previously, Swift’s biggest streaming week for an album was tallied by the first week of Red (Taylor’s Version), with 303.23 million in 2021.

2022’s Top-Selling Album: With 1.140 million sold, Midnights is easily 2022’s top-selling album already. Previously, 2022’s top-seller — adding up all sales generated through the year — was Harry Styles’ Harry’s House, with 633,000 copies sold through Oct. 27. (In terms of total equivalent album units, Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti is 2022’s biggest album, with 2.911 million units earned.)

Breaking down Midnights’ first-week sales of 1.140 million, physical sales comprise 980,000 (575,000 on vinyl, 395,000 on CD and 10,000 on cassette) and digital album downloads comprise 161,000.

Biggest Sales Week Since Swift’s Own reputation: The 1.140 million sales number for Midnights marks the largest sales week for any album since Swift’s own reputation debuted with 1.216 million copies sold (chart dated Dec. 2, 2017).

Swift Has Five Albums With Million-Plus Sales Weeks: Midnights is the 22nd album to sell at least 1 million copies in a single week since Luminate began tracking music sales in 1991. In total, there have been 24 instances — by 22 different albums — in which an album sold at least 1 million copies in a week. One of those albums, Adele’s 25, sold more than 1 million in three separate weeks. Swift is the only artist with five different albums to each sell at least 1 million copies in a single week in the Luminate era — Midnights, reputation, 1989, Red, and Speak Now.

 

Further, now with five, Swift remains the only act with at least three different albums that hit the million-sales weekly threshold. Three acts have a pair of albums that each managed a million-plus sales week: Backstreet Boys, Eminem and *NSYNC.

New Modern-Era Vinyl Sales Record: Midnights handily breaks the modern-era record for single-week vinyl album sales in the U.S. with 575,000 vinyl LPs sold. That’s the largest week for an album on vinyl since Luminate began tracking music sales in 1991. It surges past the previous high, set earlier this year, when Harry’s House debuted with 182,000 vinyl copies (week ending May 26, 2021).

Midnights is also already 2022’s top-seller on vinyl year-to-date. Previously, the year’s top-seller on vinyl was Harry’s House, with 377,000 sold through the year.

Midnights’ 395,000 in CD sales is the largest sales week for an album on CD since reputation launched with 507,000 copies sold.

 

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1.578 million equivalent album and 1.14 million in pure albums!!  This is Taylor's best week EVER, in units, and 4th best ever in pure albums.  What a huge achievement in the streaming era and post-bundle era.  Getting over 1 million in pure albums is not suppose to happen, it doesn't matter how many variants there are.  That vinyls number of 575,000 is insane. 

The numbers are shocking because there was no massive lead single, and there wasn't a lot of promotion.  All she basically did was slowly release the title tracks, and did one TV interview.  There was no other TV interviews, no magazine/print interviews, no radio interviews.  If she was able to get these numbers, I wonder how big it would've been if she did a ton of promo.  

16 years into her career and on her 10th original album, and she's still doing incredible numbers. With making 6 albums in 3 years, there is no doubt she is the hardest working music superstar, and there's no signs of slowing down. 

[Faulkner]

@Toups et al. Just wondering what your thoughts are re: the fan backlash over Taylor’s apparent relationship with Matty Healy from The 1975. I don’t have a dog in this fight, so I don’t care either way, but I’m curious:

 

[DRW50]

I don't think fans have any right to be upset over her love life. There's a case you can make that it's against her brand and image to be with a man who is the opposite of the values she seems to espouse regarding diversity and feminism, but that's her choice. The main problem is that a big part of the Taylor brand has also been being a victim, being done wrong by the media, the recording industry, and nearly every man she's ever dated. Her going into a relationship with someone who is such a known scumbag flies in the face of the narrative built around her.

[Toups]

Man, do I wish she was still with Joe Alwyn.  LOL  I do think Matty is kind of a douche, and says dumb/ignorant things, and the stuff he does on stage at his concerts are pretty stupid.  So I don't really like this relationship, but whatever, it doesn't change things for me as a fan of hers.  I'm just chalking this up as Taylor losing her mind after breaking up with someone she was with for 6-7 years, someone she probably thought she was going to marry.  And this is probably the case of dating someone who is the total opposite of your ex (Joe is a private person who never said/did anything controversial/stupid, to someone who's immature/ignorant and says whatever is on his mind).  You do very stupid things when you're hurt.   I think most of us fans are just waiting/hoping for the inevitable break up.   One thing is for sure though, he next album is going be highly anticipated because of the breakup with Joe, and hopefully her breakup with Matty. 

[Soaplovers]

The common thread in all these relationships is Taylor.

Perhaps maybe Taylor look within herself to see what she can fix about herself before she throws herself into another relationship.  It comes a time when someone needs to understand that they're responsible for their bad taste in people.. and not blame others.