Lover is already projected to sell worse than 1989. And, why won’t Lover (AKA “Red 2.0″) sell so well? Well, the way I see it, there are two reasons:
Split with Big Machine Records
While the split with Big Machine Records guaranteed Taylor Swift one of the most favorable recording contracts of all time, it also robbed her of a secret ingredient to her commercial success.
Any Taylor Swift fan knows that it is almost impossible to find Taylor Swift songs on Youtube, one of the worst platforms for musicians. Up until a week ago, only singles by Taylor Swift were available on Youtube. Big Machine Records removed all other posts. This forced those who wanted to jam out to classics like “Fifteen,” “Stephen,” and “Wish You Would” to illegally download the songs off of torrent websites or purchase the music.
The team at Big Machine Records also limited albums on other streaming sites. When Reputation came out, less than one third of the album was available on streaming sites. 1989 was initially unavailable on any streaming site. This forced those who wanted to listen to the full album to purchase it.
Lover is available for streaming on Youtube, Spotify, Apple Music and even Amazon. Only hardcore fans will go out of their way to purchase the deluxe album at Target and on Amazon. These sales capture a much smaller percentage of the Taylor Swift following.
Some might argue that while this robs Taylor Swift of initial sales, it guarantees Taylor a larger tail. This assertion assumes that Taylor Swift never releases her music to streaming platforms. And, as we’ve seen she eventually does release her songs to streaming platforms granting her the additional long term revenue.
Poor Lead Singles
The first two singles from Lover are widely considered to be the worst songs on the album. This guarantees that the audience of Taylor Swift who are skeptical of her music, but loved 1989, do not engage with the new album. After all, if the singles don’t live up to the quality of “Shake It Off” or “Blank Space” we can assume that the album will not live up to that quality either. This was also the problem with Reputation. “Look What You Made Me Do” was widely considered the worst song on the album and kept many from listening to Reputation.
Having a great lead single is so important. As fellow Singer/Songwriter and friend of Taylor Swift, Ed Scheeran once said, “People will forgive you if you have a great song. They don’t care about the mistakes you’ve made as long as you have a hit on the radio.”
Pet Peeve
Finally, I just wanted to add a personal pet peeve. Addressing haters on an album doesn’t do any good. People normally don’t listen to songs by artists they hate. They are not a part of the artist’s audience. So, there aren’t advantages in addressing them. Take a note from Elsa and “Let It Go.”
Check out Taylor Swift’s new album Lover which is one of Swift’s best albums. Just be sure to skip the lead singles, unless you are part of the hardcore fans that actually like them. I thoroughly enjoyed the album. And, I think you will as well.
Enjoy!
Check out more of Kevin’s articles here!
Most recently, he reviewed Ed Sheeran’s Collaborations No. 6 album.