Taylor Swift’s Platinum ‘1989’ Has Most Successful Record Debut Since 2002
1989, Taylor Swift’s new album, has gone platinum after only one week of sales. Approximately 1.28 million copies of the record have sold since last Monday, making it the most successful debut since 2002. Taylor has also produced the first platinum record of 2014.
Wednesday, the Washington Post reported that until 1989 released, no albums were projected to go platinum this year. That would make 2014 the first year in decades that no artist’s release would be certified with over one million units. Swift’s record seems to be good news for the music industry. They also report that over half of all purchases have been of physical copies, according to the Nielsen ratings.
Swift and other artists have rallied behind making albums during the past few months. In July, Taylor wrote an opinion article for the Wall Street Journal. She said that she believed the idea of the record (versus individual singles) was not dead.
“There are many (many) people who predict the downfall of music sales and the irrelevancy of the album as an economic entity. I am not one of them.”
Taylor is happy about the platinum news too.
Industry experts predicted 1989 would sell 650k first week. You went and bought 1.287 million albums.… http://t.co/7qumF3laPs
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) November 5, 2014
The last time an album sold as many copies as 1989 did first week, it was 2002, I was 12, and going… http://t.co/BOpWSi6cdl
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) November 5, 2014
This announcement comes only days after Swift revealed that her music catalog would be removed from streaming services such as Spotify. The Inquisitr reported on Monday that Taylor pulled her songs because artists and record labels do not make enough money from the services. The CD’s platinum status could be seen as an indication that she is correct about the industry if free streaming services are not available.
The New York Times broke down the numbers behind Taylor’s climb to platinum. 1989 accounted for 22 percent of all U.S. sales for the previous week. Only 19 records since 1991 have sold over a million copies, when Nielsen SoundScan started tallying music purchases. The physical copy includes extra tracks for the CD sold at Target.
“Ms. Swift’s album sold more than the next 106 titles on this week’s chart combined.”
Before the release of the CD, Taylor was worried that it would be leaked. It is Swift’s first entirely pop album. She has promoted 1989 since August, when “Shake it Off” released. Watch her answer questions about her change in music style and look below.
[Photo Source: Yahoo]
