SUNDAY AUGUST 29TH: Taylor Swift’s biggest music flop ever comes in the form of the song she wrote for “Cats.” As of today the much maligned movie has earned less than $18 million in its 10 days of release.
Originally published December 27th:
EARLIER The biggest loser in this whole “Cats” mess is Taylor Swift. She became instantly identified with the movie even though she’s only in one scene. Some reviews the other day called the movie “Taylor Swift’s Cats.”
Swift wrote a song for the movie with Andrew Lloyd Webber called “Beautiful Ghosts.” It was not short listed for the Oscars’ Best Song category. That was a blow.
But now that the movie is a box office debacle with just $13 million in one week, Swift has another problem. “Beautiful Ghosts” has sold just 35K copies including streaming since it was released. Minus the streaming, there are only 12,000 downloads. It’s the biggest flop release of her career. And the song is good! What a mess.
The “Cats” soundtrack has done much worse. From December 20th through the 25th, the album has sold just 2.6K copies. That’s all downloads or CDs. There is no streaming.
Yes, it’s a disaster, but it shouldn’t be. There’s nothing wrong with the music on the “Cats” album. And Jennifer Hudson’s version of “Memory” is outstanding. Where are all those “Cats” fans from Broadway and the touring company?
Hey just a PS: one of the best Elton John songs for diehard fans is called “Friends.” It was from a 1971 movie no one ever saw– and I mean no one, not even Elton probably. Good songs outlast movies all the time!
