Sunday, November 10, 2024

Taylor Swift’s “Lover” Debuts at Number 1 But Falls Short of Magic Million Mark at 885K, Ends Streak

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Taylor Swift had her chance this week, but her streak is over.

Still, she can’t complain about selling 885K equivalent copies of “Lover,” her new CD. And 700,000 of those were actual CDs and downloads. (Well, downloads, since you can’t buy CDs anywhere. I just tried to buy Lana Del Rey’s new CD in Manhattan, and the few record stores that exist don’t carry it. They have vinyl, which doesn’t fit in my car’s audio slot.)

Anyway: Taylor also had three of the top five most streamed songs this past week. On the rest of the top streaming chart you can find most of the tracks from “Lover.”

The number 50 album of the week was Ed Sheeran’s 2017 album, “Divide,” with 11,545 copies sold including 942 paid CDs and downloads. The majority of sales came from streaming.

Missy Elliott’s “Iconology” sold 17,486 copies. Of those, 10,000 were CDs and downloads. Elliott had a lot of push this week from the MTV Video Music awards.

All this streaming produces a small amount of revenue for the artists. According to BuzzAngle and hitsdailydouble, the number 1 streamed song from August 21-28st was something called “Ransom” by Lil Tecca. It made $215,775. Half goes to taxes, so now you’re at $110,000. Then you split that with the record company, the music publisher, the guy who promoted it to Spotify and AppleMusic, and so on. Lil Tecca needs to keep a second job.

But I digress: “Lover” has already been dethroned from number 1. Even though it will cross the million mark next week, Swift’s album has seen its greatest glory. Digital chews you up and spits you out, baby.

Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.

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