HITS 4/26: #1 Taylor Swift 2.6M/1.92M pure, #5 Pearl Jam 60k

[Ling-Ling]

Apr 22, 2024 13:47:46 GMT -5 HEADOFTHEPACK said:

Apr 22, 2024 12:07:54 GMT -5 Ling-Ling said:

I've seen comparisons to Tori/Fiona and... just no, lmao. This is not that. Boys For Pele for example was a truly challenging album musically and lyrically. This is just a long ass Taylor Swift album IMO.

WHOM is comparing this to Tori and Fiona?!

There were a few posts scattered in the Taylor thread, lol. And I'm not saying Taylor's song-writing is lesser, or lacks depth or can't be complex. But her song-writing is always very digestible. Something an artist like Tori never really gave a sh*t about.

[HEADOFTHEPACK]

Apr 22, 2024 14:03:06 GMT -5 Ling-Ling said:

Apr 22, 2024 13:47:46 GMT -5 HEADOFTHEPACK said:

WHOM is comparing this to Tori and Fiona?!

There were a few posts scattered in the Taylor thread, lol. And I'm not saying Taylor's song-writing is lesser, or lacks depth or can't be complex. But her song-writing is always very digestible. Something an artist like Tori never really gave a sh*t about.

Totally. And let's be clear, this isn't some alt album. It's still a mainstream pop album. Doesn't have to sound like a Max Martin synth smash to be pop.

[KeepDeanWeird]

Reputation (TV) being the next release couldn't be more appropriate: it'll be a sonic contrast to TTPD and, frankly, TS is on the tipping point of overexposure with the GP, which happens to every major star.

Compared to F, E, M and TTPD, Lover comes across as basic pop fluff. Does Lover have some great tracks, of course! But lyrically and musically, it pales.

TTPD's longevity depends on whether they push additional singles to radio/video and if it gets added to Eras.

[BlueSwan]

Apr 22, 2024 14:17:30 GMT -5 KeepDeanWeird said:

Reputation (TV) being the next release couldn't be more appropriate: it'll be a sonic contrast to TTPD and, frankly, TS is on the tipping point of overexposure with the GP, which happens to every major star.

Compared to F, E, M and TTPD, Lover comes across as basic pop fluff. Does Lover have some great tracks, of course! But lyrically and musically, it pales.

TTPD's longevity depends on whether they push additional singles to radio/video and if it gets added to Eras.

Really? I think Lover was melodically brilliant, featured very diverse production and is probably my favourite TS album even though I recognize that 1989 is probably objectively the better record.

The problem with TTPD is neither that it lacks hits or is inaccessible, but rather that it's just too much mid material. I've heard the whole thing (31 track version) 4 times now and it's been a slog to get through it. It's not a terrible album by any means, but quality control just went out the window for this one.

[livelikedying111]

Yeah, I'm such a hater, that I'm flying in a month to see her in a different continent...
Everyone knows I love her music and told everyone I know to check TTPD out. People said and it was boring and I agreed.
But some people will like anything she releases regardless of anything, so I'm done with these futile debates.
Waiting for the numbers and that's it.

[Deleted]

Ladies and gentlemen, the breaking point

[Baby Yoda Hot100Fan]

A SWIFT UPDATE: HOW HIGH CAN TTPD GO?

Monday, April 22, 2024

After three full days of activity, the final number for Taylor Swift’s blockbuster debut is starting to become clearer. Data nerds are now saying 2.3m+ is the new benchmark for THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT (Republic), which means Swift cleared that bar with ease. Is 2.4m+ in play? Could it go higher? Anything is possible when it comes to Taylor Swift. We’ll continue to ride the over.

[Caviar]

Jesus. OMG!

Time to release deluxe, remixes, and more vinyl variants! 3.4M is a stone throw away.

[👑 Eloquent ™]

Eat them all alive Taylor! Who knew all those 2's she was hinting at was 2 milli!

[WolfSpear]

Maybe 3 million isn’t so far fetch’d here; 2.5 is basically locked.

[ccchui]

Apr 22, 2024 15:49:37 GMT -5 Caviar said:

Jesus. OMG!

Time to release deluxe, remixes, and more vinyl variants! 3.4M is a stone throw away.

I would definitely buy the Anthology double album physical version if she releases that even though I got a few of the variant physical edition already.

[theycallmedualian]

I’m sure they’re lowballing with that 2.3M number.

Billboard’s first day report already said she had moved 1.4M physicals, adding on top of the expected 600K SEAs, that’s 2M already. so are they guessing she’ll only move another 300K more for 6 days? Not likely. I’m willing to bet she’ll have at least have another 600K pures left🤷‍♂️

[clsvltn]

Apr 22, 2024 17:21:19 GMT -5 theycallmedualian said:

I’m sure they’re lowballing with that 2.3M number.

Billboard’s first day report was already said she’s moved 1.4M physicals, adding on top of the expected 600K SEAs, that’s 2M already. so are they guessing she’ll only move another 300K more for 6 days? Not likely. I’m willing to bet she’ll have at least have another 600K pures left🤷‍♂️

It is certainly possible but i also would have to assume that many of her fans showed up to get this the stroke of midnight.  I don't think there is going to be an onslaught on people coming out later in the week now but maybe she will do some remixes and extras etc

[Verisimilitude]

www.billboard.com/music/chart-beat/taylor-swift-the-tortured-poets-department-first-day-sales-release-week-1235662005/

1.9M equivalent units in 3 days
1.5M pure sales, 700K vinyl breaking record in modern era (To compare, 25 was at 2.3M first 3 days)

[Mayman]

Apr 22, 2024 3:38:59 GMT -5 theycallmedualian said:

ok, even as a diehard Swiftard, i MUST vent a bit on how STUPID she is for serving this slow ballad crap when the WHOLE WORLD is looking forward for her next project. TTPD is the stuff you'd surprise drop during a hiatus or something. totally not what you'd serve at the HEIGHT of your commercial peak. the opportunity she has right now is literally once in a generation, and shes squandering it by doing this homemade project with jack antonoff in his basement. what a waste.

Will the TTPD projct be hugely successful still? yes. but not nearly as successful as it wouldve been had she served something faster and more basic. just the average poppy soulless bop. not sharing her own personal nightmares written into word salads. I'm willing to bet she's not getting these accolades now because of this terrible move:


• 10 week+ #1 on the hot100. dont see how its possible with how slow fortnight is. it's not very radio friendly either so good luck charting high for long. what a shame, it was projected to debut at 75M freakin streams initially.

• IFPI #1 single. fortnight was the most streamed song EVER worldwide in a single day, as reported by chartmaster. well i doubt it'll go the distance and finish at #1 by the end of the year given how slow it is.

• 30+ country #1 single. same thing as above. though she could get into the 20s range given the strong first day numbers.

• 30+ countries #1 album. this could still happen i guess given even midnights finished at 28 or 29 and it is already the record. but TTPD did start out #1 on 45 countries on spotify and dropped to 41 already, so it'll definitely miss the 40-countries mark.

• 10-15 weeks+ #1 on the BB200. with how much the stream is dropping in the states, i bet it'll fail to beat her personal best of 11 weeks at the top of the albums chart.

she'll still have the BB200 YE #1, IFPI #1 album, album with the biggest global debut week numbers beating 25 (most likely), Hot 100 #1 artist, IFPI #1 artist, Billboard #1 artist, climbs up to ATOD #1 artist and such, but the other big ones ive mentioned above? those are basically free for the taking at her current popularity, and she's wasting it all.

This is one of the most insane posts I have ever read on this website.

[Choco]

Apr 22, 2024 17:21:19 GMT -5 theycallmedualian said:

I’m sure they’re lowballing with that 2.3M number.

Billboard’s first day report already said she had moved 1.4M physicals, adding on top of the expected 600K SEAs, that’s 2M already. so are they guessing she’ll only move another 300K more for 6 days? Not likely. I’m willing to bet she’ll have at least have another 600K pures left🤷‍♂️

1.4m first day includes ALL pre orders. The fanbase already got their copies so it'snot impossible for it "only" 300k. It's just how massive releases perform these days in a more frontloaded manner.

[Verisimilitude]

Looking back to how incredible Adele's 25 total day by day pure sales were in the first week, wow:

Day 1: 1.49M
Day 2: 1.9M
Day 3: 2.3M
Day 4: 2.433M
Day 5: 2.8M
Day 6: 3M
Day 7: 3.38M (3.48M equivalent units)

[Grün]

Why would she release a hardcore pop album? She just got out of a relationship where she literally thought it was forever, and quickly got into a toxic, manic relationship.

As she couldn't have stated more clearly; this album she needed to write.

Say none of the above happened, she would still need to partially step on the brakes, she is in the news for everything.

A more mellow, low-key era might actually help her more in the long run. Heck some of the reviews aren't even about the music just that they are sick of her (very annoying in my opinion )

I have a strong suspicion she might try to release Reputation in March or something - those songs will probably be overtly pop. I trust Taylor, and I am not worried one bit.

I will enjoy this heart wrenching album and all that comes with it.

[Rose "Payola" Nylund]

Apr 22, 2024 18:26:52 GMT -5 Mayman said:

Apr 22, 2024 3:38:59 GMT -5 theycallmedualian said:

ok, even as a diehard Swiftard, i MUST vent a bit on how STUPID she is for serving this slow ballad crap when the WHOLE WORLD is looking forward for her next project. TTPD is the stuff you'd surprise drop during a hiatus or something. totally not what you'd serve at the HEIGHT of your commercial peak. the opportunity she has right now is literally once in a generation, and shes squandering it by doing this homemade project with jack antonoff in his basement. what a waste.

Will the TTPD projct be hugely successful still? yes. but not nearly as successful as it wouldve been had she served something faster and more basic. just the average poppy soulless bop. not sharing her own personal nightmares written into word salads. I'm willing to bet she's not getting these accolades now because of this terrible move:


• 10 week+ #1 on the hot100. dont see how its possible with how slow fortnight is. it's not very radio friendly either so good luck charting high for long. what a shame, it was projected to debut at 75M freakin streams initially.

• IFPI #1 single. fortnight was the most streamed song EVER worldwide in a single day, as reported by chartmaster. well i doubt it'll go the distance and finish at #1 by the end of the year given how slow it is.

• 30+ country #1 single. same thing as above. though she could get into the 20s range given the strong first day numbers.

• 30+ countries #1 album. this could still happen i guess given even midnights finished at 28 or 29 and it is already the record. but TTPD did start out #1 on 45 countries on spotify and dropped to 41 already, so it'll definitely miss the 40-countries mark.

• 10-15 weeks+ #1 on the BB200. with how much the stream is dropping in the states, i bet it'll fail to beat her personal best of 11 weeks at the top of the albums chart.

she'll still have the BB200 YE #1, IFPI #1 album, album with the biggest global debut week numbers beating 25 (most likely), Hot 100 #1 artist, IFPI #1 artist, Billboard #1 artist, climbs up to ATOD #1 artist and such, but the other big ones ive mentioned above? those are basically free for the taking at her current popularity, and she's wasting it all.

This is one of the most insane posts I have ever read on this website.

A tweet I saw earlier today mentioned the line "Quick, tell me something awful, like you are a poet trapped inside the body of a finance guy" as being in reference to artists who are in it only for the money and it instantly made me think of this guy's posts lol

[ificanthaveyou]

Apr 22, 2024 15:35:21 GMT -5 @stateofgrace said:

Ladies and gentlemen, the breaking point

We’re in the Endgame now…

[Ｓｏｕｎｄｃｌ🕤ｃｋ]

Growing up is realizing that the best feeling in the world is doing things on your own terms, and Taylor accomplished just that. If you're truly her fan, be happy for her. I know we all have hopes and dreams for our favorite artists, but if you don't like the current direction of her career and music, you can always stream her older songs, God knows she has plenty of them.

[hughster1]

Apr 22, 2024 18:19:34 GMT -5 Verisimilitude said:

www.billboard.com/music/chart-beat/taylor-swift-the-tortured-poets-department-first-day-sales-release-week-1235662005/

1.9M equivalent units in 3 days
1.5M pure sales, 700K vinyl breaking record in modern era (To compare, 25 was at 2.3M first 3 days)

Even more insane, in this era of much-reduced sales, she already after three days has the seventh-biggest first week sales total since Soundscan began accurate measures in 1991! By the end of the week she'll likely be at least number 5 in pure sales!

[👑 Eloquent ™]

Apr 22, 2024 20:58:54 GMT -5 Ｓｏｕｎｄｃｌ🕤ｃｋ said:

Growing up is realizing that the best feeling in the world is doing things on your own terms, and Taylor accomplished just that. If you're truly her fan, be happy for her. I know we all have hopes and dreams for our favorite artists, but if you don't like the current direction of her career and music, you can always stream her older songs, God knows she has plenty of them.

This is exactly my feeing. Even with TTPD the way she spoke about this album and saying it was the album she needed to write more than any other, I feel like regardless of reception and expectations, this was an album she made for herself first and foremost and that's what I really appreciate most about it. She could have easily (and will likely with her next release knowing how she pivots with response) written and released an album full of high-gloss, radio-ready bangers if she wanted to, but I just don't feel like that's the place where she was at. I'm sure those who were disappointed with this release will get their wishes with album 12, but in the meantime I am just happy for her and happy I get to share in something so personal from one of my favs. She's in her My December era. :)

[imbuemyblue]

Apr 22, 2024 12:58:58 GMT -5 Choco said:

I'm very curious about Billie! HTE had a lot of confusing single and promo choices but I do feel like the Barbie song helped her recover a bit. And the title track was just such a nice moment that sadly never quite aligned chart wise. But it's a career best song.

If the quality is there I can see it being a nice rebound commercially, even if it doesn't quite match her first full album numbers wise.

Or it could be a bunch of ballads like "TV" and she gets diminishing returns. Hopefully not.

This. The album (and in particular title track) would have fared so much better with no pre-releases. By the time she released the the jaw dropping HTE video/single she had already thrown people so off track by releasing a smattering of tracks that made little sense outside the context of the album. I'm still bitter about that #11 peak.

[Enigma.]

Apr 23, 2024 8:12:12 GMT -5 imbuemyblue said:

Apr 22, 2024 12:58:58 GMT -5 Choco said:

I'm very curious about Billie! HTE had a lot of confusing single and promo choices but I do feel like the Barbie song helped her recover a bit. And the title track was just such a nice moment that sadly never quite aligned chart wise. But it's a career best song.

If the quality is there I can see it being a nice rebound commercially, even if it doesn't quite match her first full album numbers wise.

Or it could be a bunch of ballads like "TV" and she gets diminishing returns. Hopefully not.

This. The album (and in particular title track) would have fared so much better with no pre-releases. By the time she released the the jaw dropping HTE video/single she had already thrown people so off track by releasing a smattering of tracks that made little sense outside the context of the album. I'm still bitter about that #11 peak.

Agree! However, with only ten tracks, the new album is going to be an underdog right out of the gate without absolutely massive hit single which is unlikely to happen.

[nickd]

Apr 22, 2024 11:14:03 GMT -5 ccchui said:

Apr 22, 2024 10:28:09 GMT -5 avamaxstan said:

I know, I said that the Folkmore era "jumpstarted" her career renaissance - it took public opinion of her as an artist to new heights, expanded her fanbase and restored her critical darling status. I think there's fairly broad agreement it was a calculated risk that paved the way for the domination of 2022-present and for her to smash again with mainstream pop. 

I also agree Folklore is really a game-changer for her career. Even though it is not pop music, but that switch up make her gain a different type of fans that may not necessary vibes with her until Folklore and a lot of those fans stay with her when Midnight, all the re-recording and The Eras Tour as they are able to look at her old catalogue with fresh eyes. And I will say Cruel Summer and the Lover Album resurgence since last year is definitely a by-product from Folklore era because we know Lover was seemed by many as a commercial disappointment back in 2019 if looking back of how all the press/public describe her back then. (It still amused me that now that album goes back to sell well even better than Midnights - Australia #1 Album last week - crazy).

So I think Taylor is smart this time to do a switch up on TTPD with less pop sounds to make it less similar to Midnights but a bit more Folklore/Evermore-ish but not exactly the same, so people will not say she is doing "Midnights 2" which is not good for her career neither if people think she is just copy and paste something she did in her last album. Anyway let's just say it is tough to have longevity in commercial success for everyone. No matters how success you were in one point. Eventually you will still replace by others no matter who you are. I think Taylor has 2 commercial peaks is already a rarity actually. I hope she just enjoy the ride and do whatever she feels is right for her.

Folklore was one of my favorite albums from her (along with Speak Now, Red and 1989), and I do think it was beneficial for her career revival, but I would hardly attribute her turn-around entirely to that album.

It started in late reputation era, with rep tour, Delicate, and snakegate gradually becoming old news that people stopped caring about. Miss Americana, the political endorsements, and Lover did help. I think switching to Republic likely helped too, like with Spotify playlists. Her performance on Spotify was noticeably improving through 2018-2020. I think even just releasing Lover directly to Spotify (unlike with reputation where she kept it off of streaming for 3 weeks) helped. And then Tik Tok was also a big deal, she has a lot of songs, and a lot of them went viral, Don't Blame Me, Enchanted, Love Story, You Belong With Me, Wildest Dreams, The Way I Loved You, even The Story of Us and Better Than Revenge gained traction there to a lesser extent, as well as newer songs like August, Paper Rings, Right Where You Left Me, Exile, etc. The fact that she was releasing a lot of music during the pandemic (Folklore, Evermore, re-recordings, even Midnight at the tail-end) when other pop artists weren't doing much also helped. Re-recordings as a whole definitely helped. Eras Tour helped. TBH I think her lowkey longterm relationship with Joe Alwyn might have helped too, there was a lot of negativity over her short lasting relationships and breakups.

I think there was always high upside potential for her post 2015 career, it's just that it was temporarily held back by a couple obstacles (snakegate and general backlash against 1989's overexposure, as well as the Spotify streaming boycott). Once she got past those obstacles, it was a steadily upwards trajectory.

A large proportion of her fans have Folklore or Evermore as one of their favorite albums, so they were definitely important to her career, but there were actually more fans that became fans during Midnights era, and who have older pop albums as their favorites. From r/TaylorSwift's 2023 survey, taken by 8k fans.


If you combine the OG and TV versions, you get favorite albums being
0.93% Debut
1.64% Fearless
8.54% Speak Now
7.32% Red
12.52% 1989
19.78% Reputation*
4.95% Lover
22.08% Folklore
16.74% Evermore
5.49% Midnights

*if that's surprising to some, keep in mind this doesn't mean reputation would rank #2 if her reddit fans all had to rate their albums on a scale of 1-10, it could just mean that reputation is the only album that appeals to a certain subset of her fanbase, while Folklore appeals to the same fans as those who like Evermore, Red and Speak Now and they're more split as to which of those 4 they prefer. The reputation portion of Eras tour is also by far the most popular, which might help give it a boost considering the survey was done shortly after the US leg of the tour.


So there's a big portion of her fans that like the sentimental singer-songwriter side of her music, and another big portion that like the more uptempo or high energy songs (which doesn't necessarily mean ME! or Shake It Off, but maybe more like Style, Don't Blame Me, New Romantics, Red, Holy Ground, The Story of Us, Karma, Cruel Summer, etc).

[Baby Yoda Hot100Fan]

TOP 20: TAYLOR TIME

Tuesday, April 23, 2024

TOP 20: TAYLOR TIME

Taylor Swift will collect the largest-ever number of total album streams as The Tortured Poets Department (Republic) is poised to log more than 800m. Meanwhile, Pearl Jam’s Dark Matter (Monkeywrench/Republic) is headed for a Top 5 opening, and Republic could hold as many as eight of the week’s Top 10, with the two Future & Metro Boomin albums shared with Epic.

Now if you’ll excuse us, we’ve got to break in our cowboy boots.

[👑 Eloquent ™]

Pure slayage and I love to see it!

[suburbandreams]

Apr 23, 2024 11:20:32 GMT -5 nickd said:

Apr 22, 2024 11:14:03 GMT -5 ccchui said:

To me,  i think it was her regular release scheldule that increased her fanbase along with the mythology component. internet communites feed up content and especially content that feeds speculation.  its fun to be a part of swift tok, swift reddit , etc  due to the content she provided . eras tour accelerated it even more. of course it's all helped by people loving the music.

[wavey.]

All my work is selling