Taylor Swift’s humdrum streaming numbers changed considerably over night. Like, wow.

After performing two of her new hits on MTV’s Video Music Awards last night, Swift overwhelmed the streaming charts for both Spotify and Apple Music.

On Spotify, Swift has four of the top 5, plus two more in the top 10, and of course, number 1. The latter is the title song, “Lover,” which came off very well live on the show.

The rest of the singles from her “Lover” album are scattered through the top 20 and 30.

Over on Apple Music, Swift has numbers 5, 6, 7, and 8 plus 13 and 16 and then another tranche in the 20s.

On iTunes, “Lover” is number 2, however, to Lizzo. But all of Swift’s singles are on the iTunes top 100 singles chart and the album is number 1.

The low expectations for sales– 750K– may improve now to get her the 1 million by Thursday night she craves.

Swift’s embracing of the LGBTQ community, especially for her two opening singles, “Me!” and “You Better Calm Down,” has brought her a new, supportive audience.

I wonder what her cousin Jonathan Swift would say. She’s now like Gulliver in the land of the Lilluputians.

Madonna’s Madame X tour will be delayed by five days. The first three performances are being moved to other dates on the schedule, which will now begin on September 17th instead of September 12th.

Madonna, addressing her fans in the third person as the character of Madame X, says in a statement:

“Madame ❌ Is a perfectionist and wants to give you the most unique, magical, and musical experience.  She underestimated the amount of time it would take to bring this kind of intimate theatrical experience to you and wants it to be perfect!!!

“Thank you so much for your understanding.”

The massive tour is being conducted in theaters, not arenas, with long sit down periods in each city. The opening is at the Howard Gilman Opera House as part of BAM in Brooklyn. One insider told me: “It’s going to be like an arena show in a theater. It’s amazing.”

Madonna’s “Madame X” hasn’t been a great sales success. Since its release in June, “Madame X” has sold about 100,000 copies. But that’s par for the course with “legacy artists.” Her fans want to hear the hits, not new songs, which makes even touring more difficult because the acts have to re-invent ways of presenting old material over and over. The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, and Elton John have found innovative ways of doing just that. Madonna will, too.

Madonna’s tour covers New York, Paris, Chicago, Miami, Los Angeles, Boston, Philadelphia, and Las Vegas. She’ll play her recent hometown, Lisbon, Portugal, but so far nothing in her real hometown, Detroit, or San Francisco. They’ll probably be in the next wave.

The MTV Video Music Awards were the usual circus tonight, but kind of tame. They were like a VR of the VMAs, artificial and harmless. The only tricky moment at the podium was John Travolta, looking like Barney the Purple Whale, dropping curse words. He’s so cool. (Oy.)

Lil Nas X won Best Song for his 19 week number 1 hit, “Old Town Road.” He picked up the award in an outfit so red he could go right into “Moulin Rouge” on Broadway. He’s pretty amusing, actually, unraveling a big scroll that he claimed would be his speech. But he just said, Thank you.

Taylor Swift, on a campaign to win over everyone, won Best Video for “You Better Calm Down.” The video won two awards, and Taylor brought her Rainbow Coalition to the stage. She hugged drag queens. She’s worked this demo beautifully. Taylor will be Governor of Pennsylvania in 15 years. Bet on it.

Best performance: Miley Cyrus appeared on the VMAs for the first time since her twerking scandal in 2013. This time, she showed a new maturity and sang the hell out of “Slide Away.” It was a stellar performance, showcasing her remarkable voice.

My personal fave: HER, aka Gabi Wilson. She couldn’t have been better. Expect big things from her in the coming year.

Much of the show still looks like it’s in a strip club. Most of the performances are lip synched. Nothing about the VMAs should be taken seriously. Just fun for an end of summer Monday night. Can’t hurt you.

WINNERS FOR THE 2019 MTV VMAS

MICHAEL JACKSON VIDEO VANGUARD AWARD

Missy Elliott

VIDEO OF THE YEAR

Taylor Swift – “You Need to Calm Down” – Republic Records

ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Ariana Grande – Republic Records

SONG OF THE YEAR

Lil Nas X ft. Billy Ray Cyrus – “Old Town Road (Remix)” – Columbia Records

BEST NEW ARTIST, presented by Taco Bell ®

Billie Eilish – Darkroom/Interscope Records

BEST COLLABORATION

Shawn Mendes & Camila Cabello – “Señorita” – Island Records

PUSH ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Billie Eilish – Darkroom/Interscope Records

BEST POP

Jonas Brothers – “Sucker” – Republic Records

BEST HIP HOP

Cardi B – “Money” – Atlantic Records

BEST R&B

Normani ft. 6lack – “Waves” – Keep Cool/RCA Records

BEST K-POP

BTS ft. Halsey – “Boy With Luv” – Columbia Records

BEST LATIN

ROSALÍA & J Balvin ft. El Guincho – “Con Altura” – Columbia Records

BEST DANCE

The Chainsmokers, Bebe Rexha – “Call You Mine” – Disruptor/Columbia Records

BEST ROCK

Panic! At The Disco – “High Hopes” – Elektra Music Group

VIDEO FOR GOOD

Taylor Swift – “You Need to Calm Down” – Republic Records

BEST DIRECTION

Lil Nas X ft. Billy Ray Cyrus – “Old Town Road (Remix)” – Columbia Records – Directed by Calmatic

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Taylor Swift ft. Brendon Urie of Panic! At The Disco – “ME!” – Republic Records – Visual Effects by Loris Paillier & Lucas Salton for BUF VFX

BEST EDITING

Billie Eilish – “bad guy” – Darkroom/Interscope Records – Editing by Billie Eilish

BEST ART DIRECTION

Ariana Grande – “7 Rings” – Republic Records – Art Direction by John Richoux

BEST CHOREOGRAPHY

ROSALÍA & J Balvin ft. El Guincho – “Con Altura” – Columbia Records – Choreography by Charm La’Donna

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Shawn Mendes & Camila Cabello – “Señorita” – Island Records – Cinematography by Scott Cunningham

BEST GROUP

BTS

BEST POWER ANTHEM

Megan Thee Stallion ft. Nicki Minaj & Ty Dolla $ign “Hot Girl Summer”

SONG OF THE SUMMER, presented by Samsung

Ariana Grande & Social House – “boyfriend”

I told you last week this was happening:

Taylor Swift’s new “Lover” album will debut with significantly lower numbers than her four previous albums.

“Lover” sold 230,000 copies on Friday and Saturday per Buzz Angle Music. Of that number 175,000 represented paid downloads and CD sales. The rest was from streaming.

Swift is not a big streaming act, and the results are going to be lower  sales overall. Hitsdailydouble and Republic Records have scaled back expectations for first week US sales to around 750K. That’s not a small number, but a 25% drop for Swift if it bears out.

What’s going on? Swift’s record buying population is aging out now, sorry. She had a great run, but her teen girls are now in college or older. Plus, the new music doesn’t sound a lot different than the old music. There’s nothing innovative going on at this point. Does Swift even have a manager or anyone she listens to? It’s unclear.

Her performance on tonight’s MTV VMAs may drum up more business. But frankly, Swift’s appearance on “Good Morning America” on Friday should have sold more units. On Wednesday we’ll be able to see what the trend was for “Lover.”

Swift isn’t alone in having to face generational changes. Beyonce already saw that this summer with her “Lion King: The Gift” album. Adele may be next to feel the heat. Cultivating and keeping a record-buying audience can’t be taken for granted.