Thursday, March 28, 2024

Taylor Swift Sandbags Olivia Rodrigo with Record Breaking Vinyl Release and Retakes Number 1 with “Evermore”

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Quoth the Swifties: “Evermore.”

Taylor Swift released the vinyl edition of her album, “Evermore,” rode a wave back to number 1 this week.

Out of the blue, “Evermore” sold more than 100,000 LPs — records, the kind you turn over– and blew past Olivia Rodrigo to the top of the album charts.

“Evermore” broke the record, excuse the pun, for LPs sold in a single week since SoundScan, Buzz Angle, and modern measurement took over from hiding cartons of albums in your A&R guy’s garage.

Swift sold 187,000 copies of “Evermore”– which wasn’t even in the top 50 last week — vs. Rodrigo selling 184,000 units of “Sour.”

The irony here is that Rodrigo has a song on her album credited to Swift and producer Jack Antonoff. I’m told it’s not because she wanted to cover it. It’s because she recorded it and realized she’d lifted it. Arrangements were made among the parties for Swift and Antonoff to get the proceeds.

Even with that mistake, Olivia has made a pretty good album with “Sour,” largely thanks to producer Dan Nigro.

Swift’s merchandise machine and fan club, meanwhile, pushed that vinyl edition of “Evermore,” which sells for $22.98. (When us old folks bought records, they cost $5.98 tops.) So she’s found a second life for “Evermore” and a new revenue stream.

Now Swift is also busy being part of David O. Russell’s film, tentatively titled “Canterbury Glass,” and maybe writing and singing a theme song for it. And it’s only June. The betting is good that Taylor has an album of new material ready this fall, maybe even before September 30th Grammy deadline. And Adele? She’s at home trying to make it six years in November since her last album.

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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