June 9th– so long ago, Like three weeks. Anyway, Katy Perry had announced her “Witness” album for that date. So Taylor Swift decided to return her catalog to Spotify. This included the “1989” album which never really had a run on streaming. Swift pulled it at the start.
So what happened. For Swift, the world yawned. Since June 9th, the hit record “Blank Space” has 9 million streams. “Bad Blood” has 7.3 million. “Wildest Dreams” has 7.4 million. “Style” is at 6.8 million.
Swift’s biggest hit from “1989” on Spotify: “Shake it Off” with 80 million streams.
Meanwhile, Perry’s new music seemed to captivate the streamers more. “Swish Swish” has 58 million so far. “Bon Appetit” has 66 million. “Chained to the Rhythm,” which has been out since February, has 334 million. An older hit, “Dark Horse,” has 459 million.
Swift still boasts the most streams between the two pop tarts. Her duet with Zayn Malik from “50 Shades Darker” stands at 500 million streams.
Streaming is a particular thing, as it turns out. Harry Styles, the male equivalent of these two, gets very little streaming yet he’s being booked into indoor arenas for next summer– he can sell tickets more than he can sell “records.” Streaming is also skewing younger and more urban.
My Fox sources say that neither Louise nor the two people who succeeded her running Heat St. had any idea what they were doing nor cared about the staff. Mensch declared the site would be like a gadfly, and stand up for world views. But without much traffic, the site quickly started running weirdly salacious stories. Bestiality and pedophilia were specialties. 
