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http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_ ... f795870770

Taylor Swift Aiming For Biggest Sales Week Since 2005
November 01, 2010 - Retail | Country

By Keith Caulfield

A week ago, it seemed as if Taylor Swift's third studio album, "Speak Now," released Oct. 25, was on its way to selling at least 800,000 to 900,000 copies sold in its first week. But 1 million copies? Possible, but not a done deal.

Now, label sources say that that magic million first week for "Speak Now" is almost a certainty. And the set's a clear lock for a No. 1 debut on the Billboard 200 chart.

While Nielsen SoundScan's official first-week tally won't arrive until Wednesday (Nov. 3) morning, all signs point to a historic debut. (SoundScan's tracking week runs through the close of business on Sunday, and their numbers, which are reflected in Billboard's sales charts, are reported each Wednesday.)

If "Speak Now" starts with 1 million, it would instantly be the best sales week for a single album since Lil Wayne's "Tha Carter III" bowed with 1,006,000 June of 2008. And we're hearing that the album's launch might even be bigger than "Carter III." That could mean "Speak Now" would have the biggest week for an album in over five years, scrolling all the way back to March of 2005 when 50 Cent's "The Massacre" slayed the No. 1 spot with 1,141,000 sold, according to SoundScan.

Taylor deserves it. She works hard, writes most of her own stuff, good for her.

Great legs, too.

Terribly mediocre she is...It's like watching someone in the top 10 on American Idol...sorry, I don't care that she's well marketed and writes her on dreck and is mildly attractive - (again nothing too special there either, I mean...I wouldn't kick her out of bed), but really, what is she famous for?

brandonpfn wrote:Terribly mediocre she is...It's like watching someone in the top 10 on American Idol...sorry, I don't care that she's well marketed and writes her on dreck.

That's cool. There's a few million who think different. I like her. No rap or hip hop, no funky costumes, just all very natural.

Don wrote:

brandonpfn wrote:Terribly mediocre she is...It's like watching someone in the top 10 on American Idol...sorry, I don't care that she's well marketed and writes her on dreck.

That's cool. There's a few million who think different. I like her. No rap or hip hop, no funky costumes, just all very natural.

Yeah, there are a few million who do alot of stupid shit, what's your point? Yeah, I dunno, I'd much rather dig on Katy Perry, or Michelle Branch, or someone like that...I guess Taylor's got the Disney touch (she's from Disney right?)

brandonpfn wrote:

Don wrote:

brandonpfn wrote:Terribly mediocre she is...It's like watching someone in the top 10 on American Idol...sorry, I don't care that she's well marketed and writes her on dreck.

That's cool. There's a few million who think different. I like her. No rap or hip hop, no funky costumes, just all very natural.

Yeah, there are a few million who do alot of stupid shit, what's your point? Yeah, I dunno, I'd much rather dig on Katy Perry, or Michelle Branch, or someone like that...I guess Taylor's got the Disney touch (she's from Disney right?)

I don't usually have a point beyond aggravating people on line. I don't think she's from Disney, that's the other girl Miley, right?
See now, I THINK Perry is the most annoying fucking singer out there and way over hyped and it's now compounded by her marrying that idiot, Brand but again, millions disagree wtih me also so in the end, there is no point.

brandonpfn wrote:

Don wrote:

brandonpfn wrote:Terribly mediocre she is...It's like watching someone in the top 10 on American Idol...sorry, I don't care that she's well marketed and writes her on dreck.

That's cool. There's a few million who think different. I like her. No rap or hip hop, no funky costumes, just all very natural.

Yeah, there are a few million who do alot of stupid shit, what's your point? Yeah, I dunno, I'd much rather dig on Katy Perry, or Michelle Branch, or someone like that...I guess Taylor's got the Disney touch (she's from Disney right?)

Michelle Branch? Yawn. Just like Vanessa Carlton. Y-A-W-N. Katy Perry? She likes to grab her muff a lot. And she kissed a girl and she liked it. LOL! Yeah, that's "quality" music.

Nobody here said they were the ones buying Swift's album. But she does have great legs.

In all fairness, Katy's doppelgänger , Zooey Deschanel is definitely bang worthy.

Michelle Branch is Hot isn't she? I would dip my wick into her wax.

Don wrote:I don't usually have a point beyond aggravating people on line.

You c unt

Don wrote:
See now, I THINK Perry is the most annoying fucking singer out there and way over hyped and it's now compounded by her marrying that idiot, Brand but again, millions disagree wtih me also so in the end, there is no point.

Yeah, I was in San Diego over the summer, EVERY fucking radio station had California Girls on the radio - talk about fucked out...but I dig her...yeah, she's bangin' Brand, probably won't last, but good for them, they seem happy. He's been in a couple of funny movies. Ugly fucker too..oh well

Now that's a classic post Brandon. I need to go piss lobsters now.

Good on Swift for moving all those units. She certainly has a rabid fan base.

She's got a big machine behind her so it seems she will be around to stay for awhile, at least until her fans grow up. I still have to scratch my head at the fact that she won an Album Of The Year GRAMMY. I don't deny that she has talent, and I respect the fact that she writes her own songs, though I find them to be fairly trite and predictable. But vocally, she leaves a lot to be desired. At the GRAMMYs last year she was paired with Stevie Nicks for a bit of a duet. I don't consider Stevie a world-class vocalist but she is such a unique stylist with plenty of charisma and personality. Anyway, at the ripe age of 60 she completely overmatched the young and quite pitchy Taylor. And the year prior, Swift performed a duet with Miley Cyrus, which was absolutely horrendous.

It's rare for a big-selling week like this, so again hats off to her. But it's certainly music I have no desire to be a part of, along with the tupperware music of other current pop artists such as Gaga, Katy Perry, etc. for that matter. I'll stick with Madonna, Debbie Gibson and Belinda Carlisle.

timstar78 wrote:Good on Swift for moving all those units. She certainly has a rabid fan base.

She's got a big machine behind her so it seems she will be around to stay for awhile, at least until her fans grow up. I still have to scratch my head at the fact that she won an Album Of The Year GRAMMY. I don't deny that she has talent, and I respect the fact that she writes her own songs, though I find them to be fairly trite and predictable. But vocally, she leaves a lot to be desired. At the GRAMMYs last year she was paired with Stevie Nicks for a bit of a duet. I don't consider Stevie a world-class vocalist but she is such a unique stylist with plenty of charisma and personality. Anyway, at the ripe age of 60 she completely overmatched the young and quite pitchy Taylor. And the year prior, Swift performed a duet with Miley Cyrus, which was absolutely horrendous.

It's rare for a big-selling week like this, so again hats off to her. But it's certainly music I have no desire to be a part of, along with the tupperware music of other current pop artists such as Gaga, Katy Perry, etc. for that matter. I'll stick with Madonna, Debbie Gibson and Belinda Carlisle.

Taylor has crossed country music lines. She has an interesting fan base. Country music fans are extremely loyal and she's probably the only young one, so has that young CM market covered. But she has crossed over to young pop fans and even, surprisingly, to me, young club music fans, but they make an exception for her. My niece loves her because she is all the things that Don mentioned.
Her singing live is pretty average to very flat at times. She never deserved best album of the year. That is so strange to me. Her new album is all songs about her personal relationships and the guys she has dated (all famous young guys), like calling out John Mayer for seducing her and getting her to fall in love with him when she was only 19, knowing he was playing games. This has brought a lot of hype to the album. But she has an age group, 12 to 22 or so, that loves her and her albums are personal, written by her, and speak to her fan base. So good for her.

Behold the power of teenage girls and thier mothers...

verslibre wrote:Great legs, too.

Got that right

First week sales are 1,047,000 copies sold.

Don wrote:First week sales are 1,047,000 copies sold.

pretty darn good numbers... life and music will be interesting for her as she goes through her 20s.... and how she evolves as a writer, singer, going on tour, producing, etc...

lights1961 wrote:

Don wrote:First week sales are 1,047,000 copies sold.

pretty darn good numbers... life and music will be interesting for her as she goes through her 20s.... and how she evolves as a writer, singer, going on tour, producing, etc...

Since 1991, there are only 16 instances where an album sold at least a million copies in a week. For Taylor, this debut number is not bad at all considering music sales have fallen tremendously these last few years.
The largest total for one week sales since 1991 is NSYNC with 2,416,000 sales for No Strings Attached in 2000.

No Strings Attached ...now those were some harmonies I could live with!!

I'm actually embarrassed to be alive in a world where so many people support such a terrible "artist." She's a fifth-rate hack as a writer, a nothing guitar player, and a thin, pitchy singer. She's just incredibly well-marketed.

Compared to her, Shania Twain was/is a musical genius!

By the way, I live in Nashville, and you can see performers who are light years better any day of the week for free in any club in town.

Sterling

I like that she is a more natural influence for teen girls than some of the other pop tarts, and it's great she has writing skills, but her voice does NADDA for me. I find it verrrrry monotone.

Deb wrote:I like that she is a more natural influence for teen girls than some of the other pop tarts, and it's great she has writing skills, but her voice does NADDA for me. I find it verrrrry monotone.

I don't think many here are part of her target audience.

I get that people don't like her or Britney or Hanna Montana but really, they aren't selling records to us, it's to our kids. How much music did we like that are parents thought was simply garbage. The artists are not taking sales away from any of the acts we like because it's a totally different demographic. We just sound like a bunch of OLD farts when we bitch about it.

Don wrote:

Deb wrote:I like that she is a more natural influence for teen girls than some of the other pop tarts, and it's great she has writing skills, but her voice does NADDA for me. I find it verrrrry monotone.

I don't think many here are part of her target audience.

I get that people don't like her or Britney or Hanna Montana but really, they aren't selling records to us, it's to our kids. How much music did we like that are parents thought was simply garbage. The artists are not taking sales away from any of the acts we like because it's a totally different demographic. We just sound like a bunch of OLD farts when we bitch about it.

Bingo.

Don wrote:

Deb wrote:I like that she is a more natural influence for teen girls than some of the other pop tarts, and it's great she has writing skills, but her voice does NADDA for me. I find it verrrrry monotone.

I don't think many here are part of her target audience.

I get that people don't like her or Britney or Hanna Montana but really, they aren't selling records to us, it's to our kids. How much music did we like that are parents thought was simply garbage. The artists are not taking sales away from any of the acts we like because it's a totally different demographic. We just sound like a bunch of OLD farts when we bitch about it.

True. But some of them can actually sing their asses off. Sorry, but it's all about the vocals for me, for any generation of music. I mean it's all good to be a great song writer, but if you don't have the voice to back it up? Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen r great songwriters but = blah vocally. Where as I don't care which songs Christina Aguilera has written or not, I'll take listening to somebody like her vocally anyday.....no matter who her intended audience is. Amazing pipes and delivery.

But you're right, I have to laugh at all the comments Marilyn Manson gets, whereas he is just our generations Alice Cooper or Ozzie.

Deb wrote:

Don wrote:

Deb wrote:I like that she is a more natural influence for teen girls than some of the other pop tarts, and it's great she has writing skills, but her voice does NADDA for me. I find it verrrrry monotone.

I don't think many here are part of her target audience.

I get that people don't like her or Britney or Hanna Montana but really, they aren't selling records to us, it's to our kids. How much music did we like that are parents thought was simply garbage. The artists are not taking sales away from any of the acts we like because it's a totally different demographic. We just sound like a bunch of OLD farts when we bitch about it.

True. But some of them can actually sing their asses off. Sorry, but it's all about the vocals for me, for any generation of music. I mean it's all good to be a great song writer, but if you don't have the voice to back it up? Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen = blah vocally. Where as I don't care which songs Christina Aguilera has written or not, I'll take listening to her anyday.....no matter who her intended audience is. Amazing pipes and delivery.

And if we want to play games...B~I~N~G~O ...besides, my parents helped form my musical tastes w/their
great love of Rock and Roll!! There is still talent today!!

Michigan Girl wrote:

Deb wrote:

Don wrote:

Deb wrote:I like that she is a more natural influence for teen girls than some of the other pop tarts, and it's great she has writing skills, but her voice does NADDA for me. I find it verrrrry monotone.

I don't think many here are part of her target audience.

I get that people don't like her or Britney or Hanna Montana but really, they aren't selling records to us, it's to our kids. How much music did we like that are parents thought was simply garbage. The artists are not taking sales away from any of the acts we like because it's a totally different demographic. We just sound like a bunch of OLD farts when we bitch about it.

True. But some of them can actually sing their asses off. Sorry, but it's all about the vocals for me, for any generation of music. I mean it's all good to be a great song writer, but if you don't have the voice to back it up? Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen = blah vocally. Where as I don't care which songs Christina Aguilera has written or not, I'll take listening to her anyday.....no matter who her intended audience is. Amazing pipes and delivery.

And if we want to play games...B~I~N~G~O ...besides, my parents help form my musical tastes w/their
great love of Rock and Roll!!

Very true, it was more of our parents generation that introduced us to that motown groove.

IMO, ya mix a "motown influence" with a great rock vocal = toes a curlin!

Deb wrote:
Very true, it was more of our parents generation that introduced us to that motown groove.

IMO, ya mix a "motown influence" with a great rock vocal = toes a curlin!

From a Jonathan Cain interview. I think you'll like some of it:


When I joined, I immediately tailored my lyrics to Steve [Perry], so Steve could be comfortable with a soulful delivery of the music. He needed the lyrics to be authentic, to feel authentic and so I catered to that need. The two of us in that band [Cain and Perry], we had similar record heroes, similar influences – stuff like Three Dog Night, or The Hollies, or the Eagles. We liked the same music and were going for that same melodic presentation.

I like how Jon is jumping around from thread to thread patting himself on the back ...




course ...w/out Tito



seriously, great input, Jon!!

Michigan Girl wrote:I like how Jon is jumping around from thread to thread patting himself on the back ...




course ...w/out Tito



seriously, great input, Jon!!

Here's him patting other people on the back:

Steve brought "Who's Crying Now" – that was his idea – over to my house. We wrote that in an afternoon. There was sort of this chemistry that clicked. I had no idea that I would be clicking with Steve and Neal like I was. This wasn’t an accident. You wait a whole lifetime for something like that. Playing in Journey for me was like flying with the Blue Angels. There was a lot of trust. Neal trusted me with his stuff. Steve trusted me with his stuff. And I trusted them. They gave me confidence. I learned to find that swagger which I still walk with because of the caliber of talent that was already in place when I joined the band.