Taylor Swift’s new album, “Speak Now,” can be downloaded from amazon.com for $3.99. That’s right: four bucks to get 14 new songs.
Amazon sells the physical CD for eight bucks.
So that’s the main reason that “Speak Now” is heading to a possible first week sales of 1 million copies.
By contrast, ITunes is holding out with old fashioned pricing for “Speak Now.” They’ve got the album download for $13.99 or a whopping $1.29 per track.
Good for them.
Swift is just 20 years old and won a Grammy for Best Album. She’s a country singer, more than pop. Let’s face it. “Speak Now” is a country record. And that’s kind of remarkable, too. But I will say her songs are incredibly well written, very solid, and more deft than any number of so-called pop stars who sample older music, etc. She’s a keeper, and will be with us for a long, long time.
All her lyrics can be found at www.taylorswift.com. Check them out. She’s pretty damned impressive. The best example is in “Dear John,” which clocks in at over 6 minutes and addresses the singer’s “blind optimism.” Whoa.(This is the song about her brief encounter with John Mayer. If so, Taylor gets the Carly Simon Award for best use of personal material for a song.)
“Well maybe it’s me and my blind optimism to blame
Or maybe it’s you and your sick need to give love then take it away
And you’ll add my name to your long list of traitors who don’t understand
And I’ll look back and regret how I ignored when they said
Run as fast as you can.”
Too bad they couldn’t have made the Grammy deadline. Ink in Taylor Swift‘s name for Best Album, 2012.
