The Story:
Nielsen Music has reported that Taylor Swift’s album Reputation is off to a great start, having sold 700,000 copies on its first day in the United States.
Important Because:
Taylor Swift did an unusual thing for her sixth studio album, Reputation: she hasn’t made it available on Apple Music or Spotify for streaming. It’s for sale only.
The ploy appears to have had the desired effect, putting Swift’s album on track for possibly the biggest first week sales.
Not offering a deal to streaming services could set a precedent for other music artists to follow.
Streaming music contributes 60% of America’s music consumption.
That means there’s also potential proof of the pudding that it’s the streaming industry that’s dependent on musicians, not the other way around.
This Happened:
If sales keep racking up at this pace, Reputation could sell way over 1 million copies by November 16, the end of the first week after release.
That would mean her fourth consecutive album with a million-selling week.
If successful, this will also be her largest single-week sales ever.
Taylor Swift’s “1989” sold 1.29 million copies as of October 2014.
Since 1991, Swift is the only artist to have not one but three one-million-sold-in-a-week albums to her credit.
Streaming services had to wait seven months for 1989 to be available to them.
