Tag: Billboard

1989 beats Frozen as 2014’s top selling album! Swiftmas revealed! New Year’s Eve promos!

On By The EditorIn Taylor Swift, Video3 Comments

Sorry to say this but… Let it go, Frozen.

The Blonde With The Sparkly 1989 Microphone took the lead selling 3.66 million copies according to Nielsen Music, reported Billboard. Frozen ended with a respectable 3.53 million. That’s still very impressive. The juggernaut that is 1989 just needed three months to overcome that amount in the official 2014 tracking year (from December 30, 2013 until December 28, 2014).  You can read the full story on Billboard.

On other impressive news, T-Swizzle revealed a Behind The Scenes clip of her gift-giving gig known as Swiftmas. Take it away, Sparkly Dressed!

Watch on YouTube

Here at the Swift Agency, just a guy who tends to mix in a line or two from Tay Sway’s catalog onto other songs even when I’m the only one that thinks that’s funny, we would like to wish everyone a happy new year in advance. Lucky fans that are going to be at New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest to see Taylor Swift perform tonight, please don’t forget the video feature in your camera setting 😉 The Sparkly Dressed is expected to perform “Welcome to New York” and “Shake It Off”.

Yes, we still have to wait for a full concert. Darn it. Don’t be sad, here’s something shiny! I mean, errr… Promo clip time!

Watch on YouTube

And the year just flew by. It’s been a bit of a rocky one, but a positive one overall. Regarding this blog, I want to thank all my readers that continued to follow the news via my ramblings and rantings. I’ve got a couple of ideas for 2015 but as always, it’s still just one guy here and there’s always an offline life that I simply refuse to abandon. As always, thank you for your readership this year and I hope to keep informing you next year, in a way that will remain biased but hopefully funny enough to read. Happy New Year! 🙂

Bonus promo clip! Because, reasons.

Watch on YouTube

Also, just around the block, Taylor is nominated for the People’s Choice Awards for Favorite Female Artist, Favorite Pop Artist and Favorite Song for “Shake It Off” on January 7.

Coming up on the Calendar!

(Sources: Billboard, Taylor Swift via YouTube)

News Update: The Woman of the Year Billboard cover and first Grammy nominations!

On By The EditorIn 1989, Albums, Awards, Billboard, Interview, Taylor Swift, Video
(Source: Billboard.com)
(Source: Billboard.com)

I’ve been picking out the pieces of the mess you made, Taylor Nation.

You probably remember the Queen of Sparks was chosen as Woman of the Year again and here’s a preview of her cover in Billboard magazine for December, 2014. Here at the Swift Agency, just a guy with his feet on the ground and his head in the clouds, we know that despite all the records that Taylor Swift is breaking with 1989 the album itself is not eligible for any awards yet. However, Shake It Off managed to actually gain the Sparkly Dressed a GRAMMY nomination for Record of the Year. She also nabbed a Best Pop Solo Performance for Shake It Off!

Update! Now she has three nominations. Just announced, Song of the Year nomination for Shake It Off.

In the magazine, the Blonde With The Sparkly 1989 Microphone talks about her switch to the full pop genre (I think it has been more of a slide). She also discusses an apparent backlash against “Welcome to New York”. There’s a backlash? I mean, I know there’s haters out there but I’ve heard nothing particularly hateful against WTNY. I’ll have to read up on that. Perhaps I’m only following the right people.

She also talks about how she’s only a singer because she writes.  “I wouldn’t be a singer if I weren’t a songwriter,” says Tay. “I have no interest in singing someone else’s words.” One day if the occasion arises again, I have to tell her she’s one of the major forces that pushes me to keep writing. The article also ask T-Swizzle about not allowing others to control her image and being sort of a life coach to her friends. You can read more on Billboard. More on Taylor writing her own rules, not becoming a cliche and going pop here!

Here’s the official announcement on Taylor’s nomination for Record of the Year for Shake It Off from @TheGRAMMYs.

And here’s Ryan Seacrest announcing Best Pop Solo Performance.

I have to get some music from Sam Smith and Sia real soon.

Taylor will be at KIIS FM’s Jingle Ball in Los Angeles, California on December 5, Capital FM’s Jingle Ball in London, UK on December 7 and z100’s Jingle Ball 2014 in New York City, New York on December 12. The Sparkly Dressed has been nominated for three People Choice Awards: Favorite Female Artist, Favorite Pop Artist and Favorite Song for “Shake It Off”. The show airs on January 7. You can vote here.

Coming up on the Calendar!

(Sources: @TheGRAMMYs, Billboard, @RyanSeacrest)

Billboard 200 adds on-demand streaming and digital sales. 1989 returns to the top of the list.

On By The EditorIn 1989, Albums, Billboard, Taylor Swift
(Source: Taylor Swift via Instagram)
(Source: Taylor Swift via Instagram)

We’re going down in flames, Taylor Nation.

Okey, remember how some people said that Taylor Swift pulling her music from Spotify could hurt her in the long run? Some critics actually thought that effect would be manifested when the Billboard 200 chart considered digital track sales and on-demand streaming in addition to traditional sales, all measured by Nielsen. According to Billboard, the new system accepts “industry benchmarks for digital and streaming data, where 10 digital track sales from an album is equivalent to one album sale, and 1,500 song streams from an album equates to one album sale. All of the major on-demand audio subscription services are considered, including Spotify, Beats Music, Google Play and Xbox Music.”

The Blonde With The Sparkly 1989 Microphone was busy in New York last night, where she was one of the musical guests at the 2014 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. The show will be broadcast on December 9. She shared a casual picture on Instagram.

Our Fearless Leader’s 1989 was on the second spot last week under the old system, where it had lost the throne to One Direction’s Four. Under the new system, it’s back to the first spot. A 339,000 total album equivalent units in the week ending Nov. 30 brought it back to the top. 281,000 of those are pure album sales. 1989’s album sales gain a grand total of 2.5 million after five weeks on sale. The album remains No. 1 on the Top Album Sales chart, which maintains the old Billboard 200’s methodology of ranking pure album sales.

Taylor will be at KIIS FM’s Jingle Ball in Los Angeles, California on December 5, Capital FM’s Jingle Ball in London, UK on December 7 and z100’s Jingle Ball 2014 in New York City, New York on December 12. The Sparkly Dressed has been nominated for three People Choice Awards: Favorite Female Artist, Favorite Pop Artist and Favorite Song for “Shake It Off”. The show airs on January 7. You can vote here.

Coming up on the Calendar!

(Sources: Billboard)

The Record-Breaker does it again. Blank Space makes Billboard history.

On By The EditorIn 1989, Albums, Billboard, Taylor Swift

It’ll leave you breathless, Taylor Nation.

…or with a nasty scar if you don’t put that glue gun down. Here at the Swift Agency, just a guy who promises you longer weekends if he ever gets elected president, we barely got a few things done last week. On the other hand, the Sparkly Dressed went ahead and sold 312,000 more copies of 1989. That brings the total number of albums to 2 million. Overachiever? You bet. You can read the original story on Billboard. Yo, haters – what did you accomplish last week?

(Source: Big Machine Label Group)
(Source: Big Machine Label Group)

The record-breaker and shaker also made history when “Blank Space” dethroned “Shake It Off” as a single in the Hot 100 Billboard Chart. It’s the only time in the 56 years of existence of the Hot 100 that an artist’s single has been succeeded by another single of the same artist.

The Blonde With The Sparkly Guitar will be back on The Voice next Tuesday, November 25, as she takes the stage to perform “Blank Space”. You can read the original story on TaylorSwift.com.

Taylor will be at KIIS FM’s Jingle Ball in Los Angeles, California on December 5, Capital FM’s Jingle Ball in London, UK on December 7 and z100’s Jingle Ball 2014 in New York City, New York on December 12. The Sparkly Dressed has been nominated for three People Choice Awards: Favorite Female Artist, Favorite Pop Artist and Favorite Song for “Shake It Off”. The show airs on January 7. You can vote here.

Coming up on the Calendar!

(Sources: Billboard, TaylorSwift.com)

This Just In: 1989 sells 1.287 million copies during release week!

On By The EditorIn 1989, Billboard, Taylor Swift, Video
(Source: Big Machine)
(Source: Big Machine)

Lightning just hit thrice, Taylor Nation.

Billboard has just reported that Taylor Swift’s 1989 album sold 1.287 million copies in its first week according to Nielsen SoundScan. The album debuts at number one on Billboard 2oo. It’s her fourth No. 1 studio album. The others are Red (2012), Speak Now (2010) and Fearless (2008).

It’s the largest sales week for an album since June 2, 2002. Taylor is the only act to earn three million-selling weeks with an album. To give you a reference, the Sparkly Dressed’s Red sold 1.208 million while Speak Now sold 1.047 million copies. Her other albums Fearless sold 592,000 copies and her self-titled debut sold 39,000 during their release weeks.

1989 is the second-largest-selling album of 2014, behind only the Frozen soundtrack which has sold 3.2 million. Of course, Frozen was released on November of 2013. Give 1989 its time and it might exceed those numbers.

You can read the original article on Billboard.

And T-Swizzle does a little rappin’ to say thanks!

Watch on Instagram

Taylor has been announced to play New York’s Rockin’ Eve hosted by Ryan Seacrest. The Sparkly Dressed is nominated for Best Female and Best Look at the 2014 MTV EMA on November 9. You can vote here.

Coming up on the Calendar!

(Sources: Billboard)