Taylor Swift - The Tortured Poets Department (April 19, 2024) Album • Page 99

One thing that’s notable is that the biggest song of the year usually has a lot of runway to establish that position. “Last Night” came out in January. “Heat Waves” was a sleeper hit that came out in 2020 and then caught fire in 2022. “Levitating” was a later single from a big 2020 album that got a buzzy remix late in that year and then hung around all through 2021. Old Town Road came out December 2018 and gradually went viral on TikTok before entering the charts the following spring. “God’s Plan” came out on January 19. “Shape of You” came out on January 6. “Love Yourself” dropped as a single in December of 2015. “Uptown Funk” is the lead single from an album that came out in January 2015.

And so on. The playbook is basically to have a song that can build up a big lead early and then never stop getting played for the full 12 months. Taylor has never had that. She’s usually released albums in the fall, and even the big ones just don’t have enough time to surpass the big leads other singles have. See 2014, when “Shake It Off” (released August 19) lands at 13 on the end-of-the-year chart. Almost every song ahead of it is almost certainly less iconic or recognizable (OneRepublic’s “Counting Stars” is at 5, for instance) but the release time matters. Her songs usually have ended up higher on the next year’s list (“Love Story” at 5 in 2009, “Anti-Hero” at 4 in 2022) so it’s reasonable to assume that she might have had year-end number 1s with a bunch of songs if she’d released them in January instead of late in the year.

Funnily enough, TTPD is probably her best chance at this, because it’s the only album she’s ever released in the first half of a year (save Fearess Taylor’s Version), but I don’t think “Fortnight” has the legs, and Jack Harlow already got out in front with a single that dropped (checks notes) late last year! “Cruel Summer” is currently in number 3 on the total year chart, but its impact is spread across so many years at this point that it’s almost impossible to figure what it might have done as the (springtime released!) first single from Lover.

 

Hell yeah.

 

Chad Kroeger couldn't cut it as a poor man stealing. So he made the number 1 song of 2002.

 

I always think of love story or you belong with me when I think of like THE Taylor iconic hits but maybe cause those were her big breakout songs. But even if I was thinking about a Taylor Swift Halloween costume or something after one of her videos, the you belong with me T-shirt she wears in her room would be the most iconic to come to mind.

 

Only 5 hours left to shop you guys!!

(This email caused me to unsubscribe from her mailing list.)

 

I've also reached my breaking point on her emails and thinking about unsubscribing. Her frequency of emails is worse than any other artist i'm subbed to. :(

 

It’s not even the quantity for me, it’s that every email is trying to get me to buy additional copies of the album I already bought. The answer is no!

 

Complains about too many emails, then double posts! The audacity.

 

I only need to post the same message in a row a dozen more times to replicate Taylor’s strategy for re-selling this album to her fans over and over again!

 

I hadn’t realized that the majority of the second batch of songs were the ones with Aaron. They basically could have a side project together. IMO it is cool that she sees them as valuable enough to put out.

I think that a lot fo these songs were starting during lockdown and completed in the last year or so. I think she is releasing albums from a very specific time of inspiration around the time folklore was being made and a proper next giant pop album will come after the era’s tour. No evidence to say this is true other than that I hear a lot of Folklore esque essence on this one with more programmed music rather than guitar and drums.

 

Get a load of all these collectors editions!

Taylor Swift Official Store - Taylor Swift Official Online Store

 

I got the Bolter vinyl, but really wanted Black Dog.

 

You could still have it for the low, low price of $35! (But only for the next five hours.)

 

Target sells it for $45 I believe, shocked her store is lower.

 

I actually saw a TikTok about this: UMG requires sellers who aren’t them/the artist to sell for $10 higher.

 

that's fucking stupid, although i guess buying it in person offsets shipping costs?

 

These new deluxe CDs are so haphazard and obviously rushed, the bolter pack doesn't even have photos of the contents because they likely aren't done yet

 

aren't these the same collector's editions she dropped with the announcement of each new variant though?

 

I guess I didn't realize those came with a patchy, second art CD thing, and other stuff

 

no worries. i think each one sold out super quickly, especially since that was the only way to get a high quality rip of the bonus tracks at the time, so their unavailability probably factored into them being forgotten about.

 

If it's any indication that there are way, way, wayyyyyy too many versions... I guess there are two more CD versions, with acoustic Fortnight and acoustic Fresh Out The Slammer

 

I also want to point out, but specifically mention this is unfortunately COMMON practice these days, but the acoustic "But Daddy I Love Him" doesn't have newly recorded vocals, it's the same vocal track. Furthermore, the music on the acoustic version is gorgeous, really beautiful and could have led to a fantastic version if it was with vocals that matched, but instead the vocal track is really weirdly edited and it doesn't work, it sounds so bad. Again, many artists do this these days with "acoustic" to bump up their numbers, but that doesn't make it any less dissapointing.