The Guardian: Chart positions are important to Taylor Swift

[Teletubby 121,600]

Chart positions are important to Swift, who is releasing umpteen vinyl variations to encourage fans to buy multiple copies [of her tenth studio album, Midnights.]

Nonetheless, (in the UK) she faces chart competition  from Arctic Monkeys, who are also returning on 21 October with The Car, their first album in four years.

“It’s going to be very tight,” said Martin Talbot, the chief executive of UK Official Charts. “It feels like the first big week of the big Christmas season.”

Swift and Arctic Monkeys, he continued, provide “a fascinating comparison. Both have been on the scene about 15 years. Arctic Monkeys have historically tended to have bigger first-week sales, so you’d think they’re the ones to beat.”

If Midnights debuts at Number 1 on October 28, it will be her ninth UK Number 1 album, all of which she will have achieved consecutively; Red (2012), 1989 (2014), Reputation (2017), Lover (2019), Folklore (2020), Evermore (2020), Fearless (Taylor's Version) (2021) and Red (Taylor's Version) (2021).

With her ninth UK Number 1 album, Taylor would overtake Kylie Minogue and become the female solo artist with the second-most Number 1 albums on the Official Charts, only trailing behind Madonna with 12. She would also extend her lead for the female solo artist with the most Number 1 albums in this century.

As for the Arctics, The Car would become their seventh consecutive Number 1 studio album in the UK - meaning they would have continued to reach the top of the Official Albums Chart with each of their studio LPs. 

Having had more albums out recently may prove a disadvantage, said Talbot. “There’s always a danger that you spread your appeal. What is quite possible, and will suit both in some respects, is that Arctic Monkeys will win the first week but the medium-term race until the end of the year could well be Taylor’s.”

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[Cello 50,425]

I'm interested to hear Midnights but I will definitely be streaming The Car first thing 

[Economy 44,190]

Yeah... We know

[Levine 18,947]

"With her ninth UK Number 1 album, Taylor would overtake Kylie Minogue and become the female solo artist with the second-most Number 1 albums on the Official Charts, only trailing behind Madonna with 12. "

My god...

[Anderson123 32,291]

1 hour ago, Teletubby said:

“It’s going to be very tight,”

[Economy 44,190]

2 minutes ago, Anderson123 said:

Serving chest hair under shirt 😈

[NATAH 33,336]

ok this is unfair to single out taylor swift like this and i'm not even a fan of hers

chart positions matter to all mainstream acts... high charting means more sales/streams means more profit made for them and the label that funds their album cycles

[Noah 25,935]

Everyone who has a company and investors behind them wants a #1 Album / Single. A major Label Album has so many people behind it, so many jobs on the line. The success of an Album is not only important to the act, but also to the Producers, Engineers, Instrumentalists, Managers, Stylists, Touring People etc. Everyone wants that success, be a part of greatness. Her Team is obviously working towards that. It‘s not like Taylor is printing all the Vinyls in her home, trying to sell more copies. There is a whole cooperation behind that. 

[Economy 44,190]

9 minutes ago, NATAH said:

ok this is unfair to single out taylor swift like this and i'm not even a fan of hers

chart positions matter to all mainstream acts... high charting means more sales/streams means more profit made for them and the label that funds their album cycles

Of course they do. And if I was a big artist I'd care about charts also just as I'd care about money

 

But when it comes to money and charts Taylor Swift seems to care EVEN more than a typical artist

 

Examples of that include:

 

- Her getting triggered about contracts not making artists enough money and going on a rampage about it even tho she barely mentioned lower income artists meaning her activism was more about herself really

 

- her team was more agressive in pulling copyrighted content such as on YouTube for example

 

- when streaming services first became a thing I believe it was Taylor that didn't want to join Spotify because she wanted you to buy each song or album on iTunes even tho everyone was shifting to streaming

 

- aparently making staff work too hard (according to dancers that left Taylor Swift for Katy Perry because she was more fun and easier to work for)

 

- then there's recent allegations about her trying to win awards by only performing if they garanteed her one tho to be fair this one is not proven right now

 

There's lots of evidence that shows Taylor is all about the bling