It's official: Taylor Swift's 1989 is pumping some much-needed dollars into the music industry. Not only did the album debut at number one on the Billboard 200 albums chart, it also had the largest sales week for any album since 2002. Swift's fifth studio album sold a whopping 1.287 million copies in its premiere week. The last album to move that many units was The Eminem Show, which sold 1.322 million in 2002.
The accolades for Swift don't stop there. According to Billboard, she's "the only act to earn three million-selling weeks with an album." Her latest album is already the biggest-selling album released this year. Swift's last two albums, Speak Now and Red, also had million-selling debut weeks. 1989 is the second-best-selling album of 2014, though. The Frozen soundtrack, which technically came out in November 2013, is still the top performer. Let it go, people.
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Could Swift's ability to move albums have anything to do with all of her songs being yanked from Spotify? Is it a testament to her strong social media game and ability to involve fans in a way few other artists are doing? For example, we don't see Beyoncé inviting her biggest supporters over for cookies.
Here's an idea: What if Taylor Swift did an album of Frozen covers? Would the music industry implode? Would Tumblr survive? Just a few things to think about as we move forward in this, the year of our Swift, 1989. (Billboard)
Ahead, see how Taylor celebrated her success on Instagram. Hint: It involves rapping and a "braids phase."
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