BMLG/Mert & MarcusTaylor Swift‘s Reputation has debuted at #1 on the Billboard album chart with sales of 1.238 million copies — it’s her fourth album to sell more than a million copies in a week. How’d she do it? According to a Nielsen Music executive, you can credit creative marketing, a rabid fanbase, a news blackout…and no streaming.Nielsen Music Sr. VP of Industry Insights Dave Bakula tells ABC Radio, “When you see Taylor keeping her music off streaming services and just going with traditional album sales, and still reaching over a million in first week, [it’s] really incredible. And for an artist to have done it four times with four different albums — amazing!”
1989 sold more than a million in its first week, but Bakula says Reputation‘s numbers are even more impressive, noting, “Since then, the music industry is down 33 percent in album sales.”
Bakula adds that promotional deals with UPS and Target, plus pop-up shops and appearances on The Tonight Show, Saturday Night Live and ABC’s TGIT lineup, show that Taylor knows how to reach her audience.
“To reach these numbers, you do have to be everywhere that your fans might be, and making your music available in places that maybe aren’t as traditional,” Bakula says.
One place Taylor wasn’t, though, was the media: There were no interviews to promote Reputation. Instead, she let the music do the talking — and fans rushed to pore over every lyric and coded message.
Bakula says Reputation will sell even more once it hits streaming services, and the holiday shopping season gets underway.
“I’m not gonna predict that it’s gonna get to two million in a week,” says Bakula, “…but this is going to be absolutely be at the top of every music fan’s list for holiday giving this year.”
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