When Taylor Swift released her album “1989” on Monday, the music industry at large doubted it could sell one million copies in a week, as Ms. Swift’s last two records have done.
But the last few days have taught the business a lesson: never bet against Taylor Swift.
While early estimates for “1989” had been as low as 750,000 copies, the album now appears very likely to cross the million mark, according to industry estimates reported by Billboard, and could reach as high as 1.1 million. The success is a testament to Ms. Swift’s lasting star power as well as her tenacity and canniness as a marketer. Even in a deeply depressed music market, Ms. Swift has remained a master of inspiring deep loyalty among her fans, in part through social media.
“Fans really feel they have a connection with Swift, and want to have the full experience, so to speak, by buying the ‘1989’ album,” said Keith Caulfield, an associate director of charts at Billboard. “Fans feel like Swift is their BFF.”
If “1989” does sell one million copies this week, it would instantly become the first platinum album released this year, as well as the first to open with a million since Ms. Swift’s own “Red” two years ago. Ms. Swift would also take her place as the only act to have three albums hit a million in a single week since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking music sales in 1991. (The Backstreet Boys, N’ Sync and Eminem have each done it twice.)
To promote “1989,” Ms. Swift and her record company, Big Machine — in partnership with Universal Music’s Republic label — went on a marketing blitz across virtually every platform of media. This week Ms. Swift made a string of television appearances, including “Good Morning America,” “Late Show With David Letterman” and “The Voice,” where she is a talent mentor. She is also in commercials for Diet Coke and Target, and has received extensive promotion from big radio networks like iHeartMedia and CBS Radio.
And, of course, Ms. Swift was all over Twitter and Instagram, counting down the hours until the album release and retweeting dozens of pictures of her fans holding up the album after they bought it. In the weeks leading up to the release, Ms. Swift held “secret sessions” with fans, playing them the album and serving Rice Krispies treats.
Ms. Swift is one of a handful of major acts that have withheld their newest releases from streaming services like Spotify, a strategy intended to drive greater sales of the album.
The music industry’s standard accounting week for sales ends on Sunday, and Nielsen SoundScan, which tracks retailers, will report the final numbers for the week on Wednesday. On this week’s Billboard chart, which counts sales made last week, the heavy metal band Slipknot opened with 132,000 sales of its new album, “.5: The Gray Chapter” (Roadrunner).