Taylor Swift - Reputation (November 10, 2017) Album • Page 63

Guys what if the Taylor Swift/Ed Sheeran/Future collab gets performed at the Grammys

 

She's so upset her kingdom keys were taken and sis is still on top gonna sell a ridic amount and break records. I shudder to think what would happen if she ever actually flopped and experienced the resulting backlash of that. We'd never hear the end of it.

 

Holding out on streaming instead of embracing it is wack and regressive—absolutely shouldn’t be a thing that anyone does in 2017, but it’s not surprising given what happened with 1989

Morbidly curious about the producer of the Future track, because that will absolutely make or break it

 

Disagree. It’s absolutely what she should do. Windowing is what all huge artists should probably do in their first week.

Not sure if you subscribe, but, this is good:

Adele Won’t Stream 25, Windowing Versus Piracy

 

Can’t read behind the paywall, but I think it’s worth mentioning that Views was the biggest selling album of 2016 because Drake expressly embraced streaming and Beats 1 rather than running from it. I think Taylor is absolutely in the echelon of artists (maybe only 5 or so in total) that can window their releases to maximize profit, but at the same time, I wish she’d embrace the new wave of the music industry.

I’ll admit it doesn’t make as much business sense to do so, but it just feels delaying the inevitable. The act of going to Target and buying the CD is ancient. I think with streaming, we’re on a new frontier we haven’t seen the bounds of yet. I feel like we’re going to eventually move away from FW sales figures as a margin of success altogether, and album cycle longevity / singles strength / cultivating an internet fan presence / the ability to bring that fanbase into the live setting will be where the real revenue is. This is the direction hip hop has been moving over the past few years and albums in that space are routinely going #1 off like, 90% streams. Taylor basically encouraging fans to buy 2 copies of her CD at Target feels like a missed opportunity when she’s one of the handful of artists who could actually push the metrics of the industry and how we judge success into a different space altogether, if she’d be willing to take some risks with her rollout.

Idk. This is rant-y haha. More dreaming about my perfect tomorrow than looking at the reality of the situation (lots of people on her team getting paychecks) but I just think we’re still waiting for the true streaming revolution to dawn on us.

 

But you don’t have to go to Target to buy the music ...? You can buy it online and from iTunes. Right on your phone. People will be getting it from their local coffee shop too. And I bet Taylor and Adele make more money than Drake from album sales even if they “sell/stream” less.

Metrics for the “industry” are basically worthless to me. I don’t really care what people judge success by. I want artists and their teams to make money doing what they love. That’s really what I care about most. And, even more: for women to see massive success in this shorty industry. Good for her. I don’t think anyone should do something just to prop up Spotify or Apple if it’s worse for them. What she’s doing, I’d argue is far closer to the future of the music industry and the relationship with fans:

Differentiation and Value Capture in the Internet Age (no paywall)

 

All true, I just think that it’s delaying the inevitable. Spotify isn’t going away. She even did an Apple Music ad last year with Drake! I wish she’d invest in streaming in the way Drake did with Views, knowing she’ll have the highest selling album of the year by a giant margin regardless.

 

Because you have to pay for Apple Music. She’ll window the album in the same way this year I bet. Hold out of free tier Spotify the longest.

Just a thought.

 

I also don’t think Spotify is inevitable.

Spotify's Losses More Than Double To $581M, Revenues Rise to $3B

I think Amazon or Facebook buys them.

 

If I were to bet, I'd say I wake up to a leak of this album... we'll see

 

Until streaming pays artists even close to what they’d make selling physical copies, let artists make money. I understand the convenience and that streaming services do pay artists, but art is undervalued enough as it is.

 

Relatively correct in different order

 

I’m in love with “Ready for it” now. Gets me amped.

 

Ready For It and Call It What You Want are both good. LWYMMD I dont care for but it will be canon. Gorgeous is bad.

 

her label is predicting 2m

Why Taylor Swift's Label Is Predicting 2 Million Album Sales of 'Reputation' Next Week -- And How It Could Come Close

 

It's interesting how these numbers mean something completely different from when Usher sold over a million copies of Confessions in the first week

 

Are Taylor, Adele, and Beyoncé the only remaining million actual unit sales artists in the world?

 

Beyoncé has never done a million in a week, has she?

 

I was going to say Drake but you said actual sales.

Eminem could probably still do it. Maaaaybe Lil Wayne if it's The Carter V with a big single

 

The only other artists that have come close in recent years are Lady Gaga and Justin Timberlake, and I don't think either could do it anymore. I think it's just Taylor and Adele.

 

JT could mayyyyybe do it with a big single + have an album come out close to/riding off of Super Bowl performance buzz. But yeah, Taylor/Adele seem like the only two guarantees nowadays.

 

I thought her self-titled and Lemonade both got close. I know s/t did something like 1.7m in the first 10 days but she released on a random night towards the end of a sales week.

 

I think both times, the unusual nature of the release kept her albums from selling a million in a single sales frame.

 

I’m really interested to see how this Eminem Revival album will sell. I think he could break 1M if the stars align.