Billboard 200 7/22/23: Taylor Swift's "Speak Now" #1 716k

[areyoureadytojump]

www.billboard.com/music/chart-beat/taylor-swift-speak-now-taylors-version-biggest-week-2023-1235369840/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social

Taylor Swift’s Re-Recorded ‘Speak Now’ Already Has 2023’s Biggest Week After 4 Days of Release
By Keith Caulfield
07/11/2023

The set earned more than 575,000 equivalent album units in its first four days in the U.S., according to initial reports to Luminate.

Taylor Swift’s third re-recorded album, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), has earned over 575,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in its first four days of release (July 7-10), according to initial reports to Luminate — marking the biggest week for any album in 2023. Of that sum, album sales comprise over 400,000 copies – the largest sales week for an album this year, too.

Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) is a re-recorded version of Swift’s 2010 No. 1 Billboard 200 studio album Speak Now. The 22-track re-recorded edition includes new recordings of the original album’s 14 standard tracks, along with bonus cuts and previously unreleased “From the Vault” recordings. Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) follows Swift’s re-recorded Red and Fearless albums, released in 2021. Both debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart.

If Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) debuts at No. 1 on the July 22-dated Billboard 200 chart (which reflects the tracking week ending July 13), Swift’s count of No. 1 albums will rise to 12, surpassing Barbra Streisand (with 11 leaders) for the most No. 1 albums among female artists. Swift would also tie Drake for the third-most No. 1s among all acts, with only The Beatles (19) and Jay-Z (14) ahead of them. (The Billboard 200 began publishing on a regular, weekly basis in March 1956.) The top 10 of the July 22-dated Billboard 200 chart is scheduled to be announced on Sunday, July 16.

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album.

2023’s previous largest week, by equivalent album units earned, was tallied by Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time, which launched with 501,000 units in the week ending March 9, as reflected on the Billboard 200 chart dated March 18. The year’s largest sales week was held by the debut frame of Stray Kids’ 5-STAR with 235,000 copies sold in the week ending June 8, as reflected on the June 17-dated charts.

Sales: With over 400,000 sold in only four days, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) already has the largest sales week for any album since Swift’s own last studio album, Midnights, debuted with 1.14 million copies sold last year (week ending Oct. 27, 2022; as reflected on the Nov. 5-dated Billboard charts).

Vinyl sales comprise over half of Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)’s sales – as the three-LP set has sold over 225,000 copies on wax. The latter marks the second-largest sales week for a vinyl album in the modern era (since Luminate began electronically tracking sales in 1991). It is second only to the first week of Midnights’ vinyl LP, with 575,000 sold in its opening frame. Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) is available in three color variants on vinyl – orchid marbled, violet marbled and a Target-exclusive lilac marbled color.

The remainder of Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) sales is comprised of CDs, digital album download purchases and cassette tape sales.

Streaming: The collected 22 songs on Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) generated more than 200 million on-demand official streams in the U.S. July 7-10, according to Luminate. The most-streamed tune on the album, by audio on-demand official streams, is the “from the vault” cut “I Can See You (Taylor’s Version),” with over 13 million on-demand official audio streams in those four tracking days.

[Gary]

Will ‘Speak Now’ Be Taylor Swift’s Biggest ‘Taylor’s Version’ Debut Yet?
In this week's The Contenders, the world's biggest pop star recreates one of her most fan-beloved albums – and scores the year's best debut so far.
www.billboard.com/pro/taylor-swift-speak-now-biggest-taylors-version/

BY ANDREW UNTERBERGER



The Contenders is a midweek column that looks at artists aiming for the top of the Billboard charts, and the strategies behind their efforts. This week (for the upcoming charts dated July 22), Taylor Swift once again leaves the rest of the pop world in the dust with perhaps her best-performing Taylor’s Version full-album recreation yet.

Taylor Swift, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) (Republic): When it was released in 2010 as her third album, Speak Now became Taylor Swift’s first set to sell over a million copies in its first week. Her Taylor’s Version re-recording of the fan-favorite album might not post a seven-digit debut, but it’s already come closer than any other album in 2023. Billboard reported on Tuesday (July 11) that this Speak Now had passed 575,000 equivalent album units in just its first four days — already blowing past the 501,000 moved by previous mark-setter, Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time, in its first frame.

Those would be incredible numbers for any new release in 2023, let alone one where 16 of the 22 tracks included are near-soundalike re-dos of 13-year-old songs. Making the 400,000 in direct sales that the album has already accrued even more impressive is that the album is only available in a handful of physical editions – three vinyl variants (including an exclusive color for Target), a CD, a cassette, and a digital release – compared to many 2020s best-sellers (including Swift’s own 2022 blockbuster Midnights), which are released in dozens of physical editions to maximize fan purchases.

Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) has already put Swift’s peers in its rearview, but how will it compare to her own recently set standards? It’s unlikely to get close to the first-week numbers of Midnights, which scored an unthinkable-for-2022 1.578 million units. But it has a very good chance of passing 2021’s Red (Taylor’s Version), which debuted with 605,000 units, to become the biggest first week for any of her three re-recordings to date.

To pass Red (Taylor’s Version) would also be pretty staggering for this Speak Now, considering it has fewer tracks (22 to Red (TV)’s 30) and lacks a song driving as much pre-release excitement as that set’s “All Too Well (10-Minute Version),” which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 the same week the new Red topped the Billboard 200. (“I Can See You,” one of the set’s six first-time recordings, did receive a music video co-starring Speak Now-era Taylorverse fixtures Joey King, Taylor Lautner and Presley Cash, and looks to be due for a major Hot 100 debut next week.)

In the Mix
Lucki, S*x M*ney Dr*gs (EMPIRE): One of the most acclaimed rappers from the current rising wave of Chicago MCs, Lucki reached a career-best No. 12 on the Billboard 200 with 2012’s Flawless Like Me set. He may do even better with this month’s S*x M*ney Dr*gs mixtape, which only features one guest (fellow cult favorite Veeze) on its 15 tracks, but is already posting career-best streaming numbers that most rappers would be, well, lucky to have in 2023.

Dominic Fike, Sunburn (Columbia): If you listened to Spotify’s New Music Friday playlist last week, you might have noticed that the lead track was not from Taylor Swift’s latest, but rather from the long-awaited second album for singer-songwriter Dominic Fike. Columbia executives still have big hopes for Fike, who greatly increased his profile last year with a big role on HBO phenomenon Euphoria, and he may have something of a breakout hit with the album’s “Mona Lisa” — written for and briefly included on the deluxe edition of Metro Boomin’s Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse soundtrack — which climbs to No. 36 on Billboard’s Pop Airplay chart this week.

Lana Del Rey, Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd (Polydor/Interscope): Lana Del Rey’s ninth album debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 in April — and while it’s remained on the chart for the past 15 weeks, it’s dropped all the way to No. 184. It should rebound significantly next week, though. thanks to a recent vinyl reissue with a cover featuring a partially nude photo of Del Rey. (She had previously considered the image for the album’s original cover, before deciding to “let the songs do the talking for now.”)

[areyoureadytojump]

Now up to 640k SPS:

www.billboard.com/music/chart-beat/taylor-swift-speak-now-taylors-version-biggest-week-2023-1235369840/

UPDATE (July 13): Taylor Swift’s third re-recorded album, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), has now surpassed 640,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in its first six days of release (July 7-12), according to initial reports to Luminate.

Of that sum, 450,000 are in traditional album sales, largely powered by strong vinyl sales (240,000-plus).

[Baby Yoda Hot100Fan]

Taylor Swift’s Re-Recorded ‘Speak Now’ Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard 200 With 2023’s Biggest Week

7/16/2023

By Keith Caulfield

She achieves her 12th No. 1 album, surpassing Barbra Streisand for the most chart-toppers among women.

Taylor Swift’s third re-recorded album, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), blasts in at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart (dated July 22), launching with the year’s biggest week for any album, and gives Swift her 12th No. 1, surpassing Barbra Streisand for the most No. 1 albums among women.

Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) bows with 716,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending July 13, according to Luminate, of which 507,000 are in traditional album sales. Both figures represent the largest week for any album in 2023 and the best since Swift’s last studio album, Midnights, debuted with 1.58 million units, of which 1.14 million were in album sales, last year (week ending Oct. 27, 2022; as reflected on the Nov. 5-dated Billboard 200). 

2023’s previous largest week, by equivalent album units earned, was tallied by Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time, which launched with 501,000 units in the week ending March 9, as reflected on the Billboard 200 chart dated March 18. The year’s largest sales week was held by the debut frame of Stray Kids’ 5-STAR with 235,000 copies sold in the week ending June 8, as reflected on the June 17-dated charts.

Further, Swift has a total of four albums in the top 10 at the same time on the new Billboard 200, as Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) is joined by her former chart-toppers Midnights (falling 4-5), Lover (8-7) and Folklore (13-10). She is the first living act to have four albums in the top 10 at the same time since the April 2, 1966-dated chart, when Herb Alpert also had four albums in the top 10 (Going Places at No. 2, Whipped Cream & Other Delights at No. 3, South of the Border at No. 9, and The Lonely Bull at No. 10).

Between Alpert and Swift, only one other act has placed at least four titles in the top 10 concurrently, and that was Prince, following his death in 2016, when he had five albums in the top 10 dated May 14, 2016. (Swift is the only woman with four albums in the top 10 at the same time since the Billboard 200 was combined from its previously separate mono and stereo album charts into one all-encompassing list in August of 1963.)

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new July 22, 2023-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on July 18. For all chart news, follow billboard and billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.

Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) is a re-recorded version of Swift’s 2010 No. 1 Billboard 200 studio album Speak Now. The 22-track re-recorded edition includes new recordings of the original album’s 14 standard tracks, along with bonus cuts and previously unreleased “From the Vault” recordings. Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) follows Swift’s re-recorded Red and Fearless albums, released in 2021. Both debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart.

Swift announced the release of Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) on May 5, the same day she began taking pre-orders for the album via her official webstore. The set sold as a digital download album, double-CD, double-cassette and in three color vinyl LP variants (orchid marbled, violet marbled and a Target-exclusive lilac marbled color). It was also available to stream in its standard 22-track edition. On the final day (July 13) of the album’s debut tracking week, Swift released a deluxe digital album download of the set exclusively sold through her official webstore, which added two bonus live tracks recorded during her ongoing The Eras Tour (“Dear John” and “Last Kiss,” both of which were originally released in their studio form on the Speak Now album in 2010).

Swift celebrated the release of Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) during her Kansas City stop of The Eras Tour on July 7, where she premiered the music video for the album’s “From the Vault” track “I Can See You.” On stage, Swift was joined by the clip’s three co-stars, actors Taylor Lautner, Joey King and Presley Cash.

12 No. 1s: Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) marks Swift’s 12th No. 1 on the Billboard 200, pushing her past Streisand (with 11 No. 1s) for the most chart-toppers among women since the chart began publishing on a regular, weekly basis in March of 1956. Swift ties Drake for the third-most No. 1s among all acts, with only The Beatles (19) and Jay-Z (14) ahead of them.

Five Years in a Row of New No. 1 Albums: Swift is the only act to have achieved a new No. 1 album in each of the last five calendar years — 2019-23. She topped the list in 2019 with Lover; in 2020 she led with Folklore and Evermore; in 2021 she ruled with Fearless (Taylor’s Version) and Red (Taylor’s Version); in 2022 Midnights arrived; and in 2023 Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) has now debuted. Swift is the only woman with five consecutive years of new No. 1 albums. Previously, she was tied with Miley Cyrus for the most consecutive years of new No. 1s (Cyrus did it four years in a row, from 2006-09, including titles billed to her former Disney Channel alter ego Hannah Montana). The only other acts with at least five years in a row of new No. 1s are The Beatles (seven years, 1964-70), Drake (five years, 2015-19), Jay-Z (five years, 2000-04) and Paul McCartney (five years, 1973-77).

Of Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)’s 716,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending July 13, album sales comprise 507,000, SEA units comprise 206,000 (equaling 269.33 million on-demand official streams of the set’s 22 songs – the third-largest streaming week of 2023 and the second-largest streaming debut frame of the year) and TEA units comprise 3,000.

Country Time: Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) scores the largest week, by equivalent album units earned, for a country album since the Billboard 200 began ranking titles by units in December of 2014. It surpasses the previous best week in that span of time, notched by the opening week of Swift’s own Red (Taylor’s Version), with 605,000 units in 2021. Plus, with 507,000 copies sold in its first week, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) garners the largest sales week for a country album in nearly 10 years, since the debut frame of Luke Bryan’s Crash My Party (528,000 on the chart dated Aug. 31, 2013). (Country albums are those that have charted on, or are eligible for, Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart.)

Version Vs. Version: Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) logs the biggest week of the three re-recorded Swift albums, surpassing the opening frames of Red (Taylor’s Version) (605,000 in 2021) and Fearless (Taylor’s Version) (291,000; 2021). First-week sales of Red (Taylor’s Version) were enhanced by the availability of CDs signed by Swift sold in her webstore and via independent retailers. Fearless (Taylor Version)’s first-week did not include any signed copies or vinyl LP sales — which are traditionally quite large for Swift — as its vinyl did not arrive until months after the set’s initial release.

Swift Has Four of the Top Five Biggest Weeks Since 2019: Since January 2019, four of the top-five biggest weeks, by units earned, have been tallied by the debut frame of a Swift release: Midnights (1.578 million; 2022), Lover (867,000; 2019), Folklore (846,000; 2020) and Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) (716,000; 2023). The only non-Swift week among the top five largest frames since January 2019 is the opening week of Adele’s 30, with 839,000 units in 2021.

Second-Largest Vinyl Sales Week in Modern Era: Of Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)’s 507,000 first-week copies sold, vinyl sales comprise 268,500 — the second-largest sales week for a vinyl album since Luminate began electronically tracking music sales in 1991. It is second only to the first week of Midnights’ vinyl LP, with 575,000 sold in its opening frame.

2023’s Second-Biggest Selling Album After One Week on Sale: After only one week on sale, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) is 2023’s second-largest selling album. The year’s top-seller remains Swift’s own Midnights, with 636,000 sold in 2023. Midnights was the top-selling album of 2022, with 1.818 million sold that year.

Nine Albums With Half-Million-Plus Sales in a Single Week: Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) marks the ninth Swift album to have sold at least 500,000 copies in a single week in the U.S. Since Luminate began electronically tracking music sales in 1991, Swift is the only act with nine different albums to sell at least a half-million copies in a single week.

As for the rest of the top 10 on the new Billboard 200… Morgan Wallen’s chart-topping One Thing at a Time is a non-mover at No. 2 with 104,000 equivalent album units (down 6%). One Thing at a Time has earned in excess of 100,000 equivalent album units in all 19 of its chart weeks. It extends its own record as the album with the most weeks of 100,000-plus units since the Billboard 200 began ranking titles by units in December of 2014.

Lil Uzi Vert’s Pink Tape falls 1-3 on the Billboard 200 in its second week (61,000 equivalent album units earned; down 64%), Peso Pluma’s Génesis dips 3-4 (59,000; down 14%) and Swift’s Midnights is pushed down 4-5 (55,000; though up 2%).

Wallen’s chart-topping Dangerous: The Double Album falls 5-6 (46,000 equivalent album units; down 4%); Swift’s Lover climbs 8-7 (45,000; up 3%); SZA’s former No. 1 SOS descends 6-8 (44,000; down 1%); and Gunna’s A Gift & a Curse falls 7-9 (42,000; down 3%). Swift’s Folklore returns to the top 10 for the first time in nearly two years, as the set rises 13-10 (33,000; up 5%). Folklore was last in the top 10 on the chart dated Aug. 7, 2021, when it ranked at No. 9.

Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.

[Push The Button]

Most #1 albums by women:

1. Taylor Swift (12)
2. Barbra Streisand (11)
3. Madonna (9)
4. Janet Jackson (7)
4. Beyoncé (7)
5. Lady Gaga (6)
5. Britney Spears (6)
5. Mariah Carey (6)
6. Ariana Grande (5)
6. Celine Dion (5)
6. Miley Cyrus (5)
6. Alicia Keys (5)

[fridayteenage]

Since bundles ended, 100k+ debuts in sales:
Taylor 5
Adele, Bey, Billie
Metallica, ACDC, Paul McCartney
Harry Styles, Morgan Wallen
Stray Kids 3, BTS 2, BTS solos 2, other k-pop 4 = 11 k-pop albums

Or:
Taylor 5, other western artists 8
BTS members 4, other k-pop artists 7

[KeepDeanWeird]

Now we know why Taylor added that Bonus Songs version on her website.

She wasn't *worried* about clearing 700K, she was going for the 2023 Largest Sales Debut over OTAAT.

[iHype.]

Jul 16, 2023 18:23:18 GMT -5 KeepDeanWeird said:

Now we know why Taylor added that Bonus Songs version on her website.

She wasn't *worried* about clearing 700K, she was going for the 2023 Largest Sales Debut over OTAAT.

OTAAT did 501k SPS, not pure sales. It had the largest sales and SPS debut of the year regardless.

[ificanthaveyou]

It’s really cool that her TVs are trending upwards. Hopefully 1989 could hit 800k

[Choco]

When does the bubble burst though? If she's doing 1989 then reputation. then debut then of course debut does the worst but I can't see reputation. outdoing 1989 either.

Moot point because all three are going to outsell everyone else but still.

[KeepDeanWeird]

Jul 16, 2023 18:34:38 GMT -5 iHype. said:

Jul 16, 2023 18:23:18 GMT -5 KeepDeanWeird said:

Now we know why Taylor added that Bonus Songs version on her website.

She wasn't *worried* about clearing 700K, she was going for the 2023 Largest Sales Debut over OTAAT.

OTAAT did 501k SPS, not pure sales. It had the largest sales and SPS debut of the year regardless.

My bad! The way that sentence was written made it seem like it mattered! One can only imagine what '1989 TV' will do. Dare I say that 1MM is not out of the question...

[ificanthaveyou]

Jul 16, 2023 20:23:25 GMT -5 Choco said:

When does the bubble burst though? If she's doing 1989 then reputation. then debut then of course debut does the worst but I can't see reputation. outdoing 1989 either.

Moot point because all three are going to outsell everyone else but still.

I guess it also depends on how much effort gets put into it. Will 1989 and Reputation have signed copies? Will they have poppier “From the Vault” lead singles. I can totally see Taylor going all-in for those two albums since they are still so fresh and a vault song could do some damage on CHR.

[Deleted]

1989 and Rep could trend upwards. Debut TV will definitely be her lowest selling first week since debut OG

[Baby Yoda Hot100Fan]

[Baby Yoda Hot100Fan]

Taylor Swift Has 11 Albums on the Billboard 200 Chart for the First Time

7/17/2023

By Keith Caulfield

She's the first woman and only living soloist to achieve the feat since the chart combined stereo and mono albums in 1963.

It’s a mighty week for Taylor Swift on the Billboard 200 albums chart (dated July 22). Not only does the superstar collect her 12th No. 1 with Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), surpassing Barbra Streisand for the most among women, while she also becomes the first living artist in nearly 60 years with four concurrent albums in the top 10, but she also places 11 albums on the entire 200-position chart for the first time.

In turn, Swift is the first woman – and first living soloist – to have 11 concurrently charting albums on the Billboard 200 since the list was combined from its previously separate mono and stereo album charts into one all-encompassing list in August of 1963.

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new July 22, 2023-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on July 18. For all chart news, follow billboard and billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.

Previously, Swift tallied 10 simultaneous albums on the chart, over four different weeks, all in 2023.

On the Billboard 200 dated July 22, Swift charts the following titles:

No. 1 – Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)
No. 5 – Midnights
No. 7 – Lover
No. 10 – Folklore
No. 18 – Red (Taylor’s Version)
No. 19 – 1989
No. 21 – reputation
No. 23 – Fearless (Taylor’s Version)
No. 38 – Evermore
No. 67 – Speak Now
No. 138 – Taylor Swift

As shown above, Swift has six of the top 20, nine of the top 40 and 10 of the top 100 – all feats she has achieved previously, in 2023.

Since August of 1963, Swift is:

the only living act with six of the top 20 (Prince also had six of the top 20, after his death in 2016, on the May 14-dated chart that year)
the only act to have placed nine simultaneous albums in the top 40
the only living act with 10 of the top 100 (Prince had 15 in the top 100 on the May 14, 2016 chart)

Swift has effectively been promoting her entire catalog of music throughout this spring and summer, since her career-spanning The Eras Tour launched on March 17. She performs dozens of songs from most of her albums each night on the tour. The blockbuster sold-out stadium trek has played more than 40 dates thus far, and is scheduled to conclude its U.S. run on Aug. 9. It will then extend to international venues through August 2024.

While Swift’s most recent new studio album is 2022’s Midnights, her 2019 studio set Lover has seen a resurgence on the Billboard 200 as of late. The latter album’s songs are prominently featured in The Eras Tour, with the track “Cruel Summer” one of the first two songs she plays each evening. The song is currently being officially promoted to radio, alongside her other current radio single, “Karma,” from Midnights. The Eras Tour is Swift’s first in which she’s been able to spotlight songs from Lover, which was released the year before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in the spring of 2020, which scuttled all touring for a substantial time.

Here are the acts who have placed at least 11 albums on the Billboard 200 simultaneously (since August 1963):

Taylor Swift – July 22, 2023 (11 albums)
Prince – May 28, 2016 (13)
Prince – May 14, 2016 (a record 19)
The Beatles – March 1, 2014 (13)
The Beatles – Dec. 4, 2010 (14)
The Beatles – Jan. 9, 2010 (11)

Prince’s achievements came shortly after he died, following a surge of interest in his catalog from music fans. The Beatles surged onto the list with 13 titles in 2014 largely to gains owed to promotion around the CBS-TV concert special The Night That Changed America: A Grammy Salute to The Beatles, which celebrated 50 years of The Beatles’ success in the U.S. timed to the 50th anniversary of the band’s first live American TV performance on The Ed Sullivan Show (Feb. 9, 1964). Both Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, the living members of The Beatles, performed on the TV special, in solo sets and together. In December 2010, The Beatles were heavy on the chart after its catalog finally arrived in the iTunes Store for download purchase. In January 2010, The Beatles were popping on the list not long after the group’s catalog was digitally remastered for CD reissues in September 2009 – and shortly after the Billboard 200 began allowing older albums (referred to as catalog titles) to chart after many years of exclusion.

While the Billboard 200 has ranked the country’s most popular albums each week for decades, dating back to March of 1956 when the list began regularly publishing on a weekly basis, the chart’s rules have changed dramatically over the years – making it easier for some albums to linger on the list in recent years than in decades past. For example, catalog albums (generally those 18 months or older) were mostly barred from charting from mid-1991 through the end of 2009. Then, at the end of 2014, the chart transitioned from a pure-album sales formula to a multimetric methodology – and adding streaming activity. Because of the changes in the chart’s methodology (primarily the inclusion of streaming data) and the ability for catalog albums to chart, many albums now continue to rank on the list (including Swift’s gaggle of titles) for a much longer time than albums in previous decades, when the chart was effectively a sales-only ranking for current and/or new releases.

[SPRΞΞ]

you would think she would want to end with 1989, not presumably the least likely to sell.

[Baby Yoda Hot100Fan]

Nearly 1 in 4 Albums Sold Last Week Were Taylor Swift’s Re-Recorded ‘Speak Now

7/17/2023

By Keith Caulfield

The set sold 507,000 copies in the U.S. in its first week – while album sales industry-wide totaled 2.131 million.

Taylor Swift’s third re-recorded album, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), was a hot seller in its first week of a release in the U.S., according to the data tracking firm Luminate. In the week ending July 13, the set sold 507,000 copies across all of its physical and digital retail formats (CD, vinyl, cassette and digital download album). That sum represents nearly a quarter of all album sales in the U.S. that week (2.131 million). 

Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)’s share of the album sales market is similar to when she dominated the landscape during the debut week of Midnights in 2022. That album sold 1.14 million copies in the week ending Oct. 27, 2022 – accounting for 41% of all albums sold in the U.S. that week (2.79 million).

Swift can capture a large chunk of the album sales market in a given week because she remains a solid seller at a time when yearly album sales have declined in 10 of the last 11 years, as more music fan adopt streaming services as their primary means of consuming music. Thus, Swift’s outsized album sales dwarf the rest of the industry.

In 2022, Swift was the top-selling act for the year in terms of total album sales, with 2.93 million copies sold across her entire catalog – about 3% of total album sales across all albums from all artists (100.09 million). She also had the year’s top-selling album, with Midnights selling 1.818 million copies (more than twice the sum of the year’s second biggest seller, Harry Styles’ Harry’s House, with 757,000).

In 2023 so far, through July 13, Swift’s total album sales across all of her releases stands at 2.096 million – 3.8% of all album sales this year, by all artists (54.519 million).

Swift’s selling power is further evidenced on Billboard’s latest 100-position Top Album Sales chart (dated July 22, reflecting the sales week ending July 13), where Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) debuts at No. 1 with 507,000 copies sold, the Nos. 2-100 titles – combined – sold just 381,000.

Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart ranks the top-selling albums of the week based only on traditional album sales. The chart’s history dates back to May 25, 1991, the first week Billboard began tabulating charts with electronically monitored piece count information from SoundScan, now Luminate. Pure album sales were the sole measurement utilized by the Billboard 200 albums chart through the list dated Dec. 6, 2014, after which that chart switched to a methodology that blends album sales with track equivalent album units and streaming equivalent album units. The new July 22, 2023-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on July 18. For all chart news, follow billboard and billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.

Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) is a re-recorded version of Swift’s 2010 studio album Speak Now, which topped both the Billboard 200 and Top Album Sales chart. The 22-track re-recorded edition includes new recordings of the original album’s 14 standard tracks, along with bonus cuts and previously unreleased “From the Vault” recordings. Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) follows Swift’s re-recorded Red and Fearless albums, released in 2021.

Of Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)’s 507,000 copies sold, physical sales comprise 410,000 (268,000 on vinyl; 134,000 on CD and 8,000 on cassette) while digital album download purchases comprise 97,000. The album’s vinyl sales mark the second-largest week for a vinyl album since Luminate began tracking data in 1991 – only the debut week of Midnights posted a bigger vinyl week (575,000).

Swift announced the release of Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) on May 5, the same day she began taking pre-orders for the album via her official webstore. The set sold as a digital download album, double-CD, double-cassette and in three color vinyl LP variants (orchid marbled, violet marbled and a Target-exclusive lilac marbled color). The iTunes Store also carried an exclusive edition of the album with a short video clip as a bonus feature. On the final day (July 13) of the album’s debut tracking week, Swift released a deluxe digital album download of the set exclusively sold through her official webstore, which added two bonus live tracks recorded during her ongoing The Eras Tour (“Dear John” and “Last Kiss,” both of which were originally released in their studio form on the Speak Now album in 2010).

All told, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) is the 12th No. 1 on Top Album Sales for Swift.

Elsewhere on the latest Top Album Sales chart, Swift has five more titles in the top 10, as her former No. 1s Midnights (a non-mover at No. 3 with 18,000; up 49%), Folklore (8-6 with 13,000; up 45%), Lover (10-7 with 12,000; up 50%), Fearless (Taylor’s Version) (14-9 with 11,000; up 81%) and Red (Taylor’s Version) (19-10 with 10,000; up 89%). It’s the second time Swift has placed at least six titles in the top 10 concurrently. She did it previously on the July 22-dated list. No other act has charted six or more albums in the top 10 at the same time. 

As for the non-Swift titles in the top 10: Stray Kids’ former No. 1 5-STAR is a non-mover at No. 2 (27,000; up 70% after the release of a new CD edition), aespa’s MY WORLD falls 1-4 in its second week (14,000; down 65%), Lana Del Rey’s Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd. jumps 33-5 (13,000; up 265% after a new vinyl edition of the album was released) and King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard’s PetroDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth and the Beginning of Merciless Damnation debuts at No. 8 (11,000).

In the week ending July 13, there were 2.131 million albums sold in the U.S. (up 22% compared to the previous week). Of that sum, physical albums (CDs, vinyl LPs, cassettes, etc.) comprised 1.729 million (up 21.8%) and digital albums comprised 402,000 (up 23.2%).

There were 705,000 CD albums sold in the week ending July 13 (up 8% week-over-week) and 1.008 million vinyl albums sold (up 33.4%). Year-to-date CD album sales stand at 18.893 million (up 4.1% compared to the same time frame a year ago) and year-to-date vinyl album sales total 25.371 million (up 21.7%).

Overall year-to-date album sales total 54.519 million (up 8.1% compared to the same year-to-date time frame a year ago). Year-to-date physical album sales stand at 44.556 million (up 13.4%) and digital album sales total 9.962 million (down 10.5%).

[musiclife]

Jul 17, 2023 21:12:32 GMT -5 SPRΞΞ said:

you would think she would want to end with 1989, not presumably the least likely to sell.

I'd say get 1989 out of the way ASAP. It's selling extremely well still and Big Machine needs to stop profiting from it.

[ificanthaveyou]

Jul 17, 2023 23:14:07 GMT -5 musiclife said:

Jul 17, 2023 21:12:32 GMT -5 SPRΞΞ said:

you would think she would want to end with 1989, not presumably the least likely to sell.

I'd say get 1989 out of the way ASAP. It's selling extremely well still and Big Machine needs to stop profiting from it.

I don’t think Big Machine is profiting since they sold the masters to Scooter who then sold them off to a third party. But I agree that 1989 is making the most noise and Taylor should be profiting most from its resurgence.