It’s Taylor Swift’s world and we just live in it.
On July 24th she surprised everyone with a new album called “Folklore.” The first week of sales were big, although a little less than her last album. It looked like it might not have “legs.”
But “Folklore” has really been a surprise in that it launched a lot of simultaneous singles hits. Two versions of the song “Cardigan” and another song, “The 1,” have really taken root. And that’s how you keep an album alive. The individual tracks have to catch fire.
So “Folklore” passed the 1 million mark on Sunday including streaming, it came to 1,037,000. Of that, 675,000 is downloads. There are no CDs.
This week right now, “Folklore” is ahead of all other albums with 43,060 total including streaming. Around 12,000 are downloads.
Streaming is a big factor this time around for Taylor, especially since there are no CDs. And she has plenty more tracks to push, including “Betty,” which I think might wind up being the longest lasting song. Swift has 7 of the top 50 streaming songs on Spotify. She doesn’t have number 1, but she’s got her soldiers on the battlefield, and pretty well placed. That’s all you can ask.
And so we wait for more videos, some live performances on TV, etc. “Folklore” is going to be the #1 hit of 2020 in the music world. Let’s hope the Grammys don’t screw her again. But it will all depend on whether she hooks up with the American Music Awards again in November, or lets them pass.