Billboard has released its sales projections for a number of country artists including Taylor Swift, who is looking to make it 4 consecutive number ones on the Billboard 200 with her release 1989. Expecting to topple 750k in a year of streaming is a joyous occasion for both herself and the record label Big Machine.
At only 24 years old, Taylor Swift is among the powerhouses of this generation with over 26 million albums sold worldwide. After relocating to Nashville, Tennessee to chase the dream of wanting to become a country singer, it was until 2006 where her talents would truly pay off. Releasing her self-titled debut Taylor Swift at a mere 16 years old, she began to gain recognition resulting in sales north of 5 million units in the US. Two years later, Fearless reached the summit to land Taylor Swift her first chart-topper on the Billboard 200. With sales peaking just over 6.8M, it remains as of today her biggest ever release. The Fearless Tour played a huge part in regards to her colossal figures. The infamous VMA stunt in 2009 catapulted her level of success and without a doubt the anticipation for her third album release was to be at an all-time high. Since The Carter IIIby Lil Wayne, no record in its first week had crossed one million copies, which was until the release of Speak Now. With all the buzz surrounding her, there was nothing stopping Taylor Swift at the time. The masses all showed love for the young country singer. In September 2012, We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together gave Swift her first Hot 100 chart topper. 10 weeks later she had blown away her previous record of sales, by selling a whopping 1.21M units in the first week. This marked the biggest release for any album since The Eminem Show lodged 1.32M ten years prior.
Taylor Swift releases her fifth studio album 1989 on October 27th but what’s more striking is that it will be first pop record. Her lead single Shake It Off sold 544k copies, eventually debuting at number one on the Hot 100 thus becoming only the 22nd song ever to achieve this feat.
With over 70 million likes on Facebook and just shy of 45 million followers on Twitter, the anticipation for 1989 is quite immense to say the least. Streaming may have dented sales figures for both albums and singles nonetheless reaching the heights of 750k is a huge achievement. The current record this year is held by Coldplay’s Ghost Stories selling over 383k copies. I’m convinced by the end of the year Taylor Swift will bow out as the runaway leader. Her previous two efforts Speak Now (1.04M) and Red (1.21M) generated huge first week numbers but with 1989 way off one million, could this be the nail in the coffin for album sales? Will Adele next year replicate the huge figures 21 managed to pull? When will there be another million seller?
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