Topline
Taylor Swift’s re-recording of her 2012 album Red debuted at number one on the Billboard Top 200, following the same success the album received in its initial release.
Writer-director Taylor Swift attends a premiere for the short film “All Too Well” at AMC Lincoln … [+]
Key Facts
In the week ending Nov. 27, Red (Taylor’s Version) topped the chart — making Swift the second woman ever to have 10 or more albums to achieve the No. 1 ranking after Barbra Streisand, who has had 11, according to Billboard.
The re-recording, part of a strategy by Swift to reclaim ownership of her first six albums, included several never-before-released tracks, including a 10-minute version of the song “All Too Well.”
In the lead up and in response to the release of Red (Taylor’s Version), Swift saw spikes in listens to her entire catalogue: In the week ending Nov. 20, she had seven different albums on the Billboard Hot 100, the first time she’s experienced that kind of consequential success.
Big Number
325,000. That’s how many copies Red (Taylor’s Version) sold in the first five days after its release, the largest sales week for an album this year.
Tangent
While Swift leads the pack this week, she’ll have steep competition in the next. Adele released her extremely popular album 30 on Friday, and in hours it knocked Swift out of the number-one spot on iTunes.
Key Background
Big Machine Records, who Swift originally signed with when she started her music career, controversially sold the rights to her first six albums, known as her masters, to music manager Scooter Braun in 2019. Braun, who discovered Justin Bieber and manages him and other A-listers like Ariana Grande, sold the rights to Shamrock Capital. Swift has repeatedly claimed that she was not given the option to buy her masters in either deal, which Braun denies. She pledged to re-record each of the works in her bid to own the music. In addition to Red, Swift dropped Fearless (Taylor’s Version) in April. She has yet to release Taylor Swift, 1989, Reputation and Speak Now, and it’s not clear which re-recording will come next. iHeartRadio, which owns over 860 stations across the country, announced last week that its stations will only play Swift’s re-recordings its on airways instead of the original versions of the songs.
What To Watch For
Fans are waiting to see if “All Too Well” will achieve No. 1 success a decade after its original release, and a ranking it did not reach in 2012. The extended version of the song, which was released alongside a short film, has gone viral in the last week. Listeners have re-ignited a 10-year-old search for a scarf Swift sings about in the song, and many believe it remains in the hands of her ex-boyfriend Jake Gyllenhaal. The Oscar-winning actor, who Swift dated for about three months in 2010, is rumored to be the subject of the many breakup songs on Red, particularly “All Too Well.”
Further Reading
Adele’s ‘30’ Knocks Taylor Swift Off Top Of iTunes Chart Hours After Release (Forbes)
Taylor Swift Has Seven Different Albums On Billboard Top 100 (Forbes)
After Just 5 Days, Taylor Swift’s ‘Red (Taylor’s Version)’ Has Scored The Largest Sales Week Of 2021 (Forbes)
