swiftie-drama-dot-com

[swiftie-drama-dot-com]

Video of Tinley opening the Dyson air wrap from Taylor (x) 12/13/24

[swiftie-drama-dot-com]

NEW YORK (AP) — Just one retail chain was enough for Taylor Swift to have the top-selling book last week and the biggest opening week of 2024.

According to Circana, Swift’s “Eras Tour Book” sold 814,000 copies over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Circana tracks around 85% of the print market, but the “Eras” numbers are more precise: Swift sold the book exclusively through Target, which launched the “Eras” tie-in on Black Friday.

Sales soared even as Swift skipped Amazon.com and other retailers and as some fans complained online that the book included typos and other errors. Representatives for Target and Swift did not immediately respond to requests Wednesday for comment.

As measured by Circana, which does not include audio and e-book sales, the only nonfiction book to have a better debut than “Eras” is the first volume of Barack Obama’s presidential memoirs. Obama’s “A Promised Land” sold just over 816,000 copies in 2020, but, unlike the Swift book, was available through all major outlets.

Swift has arranged exclusive, non-traditional releases before. For her “Eras” concert film, which came out in 2023, she bypassed Hollywood studios and worked directly with AMC Theatres and Cinemark Theatres. “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” has made more than $200 million at the box office and stands as the highest grossing concert movie in history.

Even before the “Eras” book, Swift has been a mini-genre in the publishing industry, the inspiration for biographies, romance fiction, fashion, coloring books and a cocktail recipe collection, “Shake It Up.” Another top seller of 2024, according to Circana, is Wendy Loggia’s “Taylor Swift: A Little Golden Book Biography,” designed in the tradition of such Little Golden favorites as “The Three Bears” and “The Whispering Rabbit.”

[swiftie-drama-dot-com]

Since I'm on this soap box, all my thoughts on the claims the Time article made that I've seen some people discussing in light of Billboards "Greatest Artist Of The Century" ranking:

1) The Friday music release is actually quite contestable because the change was made 2 years later. Beyonce's team made several efforts to get it attributed to her 2013 album, but in reality it was a decision made to streamline global releases in the streaming era (and to prevent cross-border piracy) and had basically nothing to do with Beyonce. The IFPI basically polled thousands of people worldwide and determined that the best (and most popular) global release strategy was to put out on Friday to allow people the weekends to buy the music and consume it in their spare time, and then they made agreements with almost all large global record labels to shift all major releases to Fridays, and then it just became standard. Beyonce's mid-week release wasn't a particularly common strategy, but it wasn't revolutionary. Albums come out all days of the week, and though not albums, Interscope is notorious for releasing lead singles on Wednesdays or Thursdays (think Stupid Love or Lose You To Love Me, among many others) to get ahead of the weekly cycle

2) The claim the article is making about visual albums is that Beyonce was the first to not pair the release strategy with singles, which... may be true? But visual albums as a concept are about as old as the music video and have been done up and down basically every genre, as the article itself notes (from Blondie to Prince to Beck to R.E.M. and on and on, basically anyone with the means and the desire have made one). Hell, despite being attributed to Beyonce's self titled in 2013, she'd already done it before in 2006 without much fanfare, long after the concept was invented. The revolutionary aspect in that Time article seems to have been that you could only buy the entire album in one go, which... was the standard operating procedure for album sales until the digital era. Now, I guess it could be said that Beyonce's visual albums inspired other R&B acts like Frank Ocean or Janelle Monae (though I'd absolutely argue that the DNA of both of their records can be traced ultimately back to Prince), so even then, this is more aggrandizing by her team

3) The point of her longevity being something novel or revolutionary is incredibly weak because acts like Madonna and Mariah are literally right there, pre-dating Beyonce by a decade or two and continuing their mainstream success well into their 2nd and 3rd decades. Actually, Beyonce's traditional hitmaking run as a solo artist is relatively short for someone of her stature, arguably occurring only from Crazy In Love in 2003 to Halo in 2009, after which she essentially stopped getting hit singles in any form until 2018 with the Perfect remix, then 2020 with the Savage remix, and then in 2022-2024 with BMS, Cuff It, and Texas Hold 'Em (all of which are significantly smaller and relatively less successful than the hits of her peak). After 2009, Beyonce transitioned into an "albums artist", which is a strong path for longevity, but the peers who predate her, Madonna and Mariah, had 20+ year runs as nearly nonstop hitmakers (for Madonna from Holiday in 1983 to 4 Minutes in 2008, and for Mariah from Vision of Love in 1990 to Obsessed in 2009 (excl. All I Want For Christmas)), during which period every one of their albums had a successful single, and even after which they were able to maintain a high degree of success with their album releases. Taylor provides a very clear contrast here as well, starting her mainstream career only 3 years after Beyonce went solo, but never suffering from a "vibes and hype and limited mainstream buy-in without a traditional solo hit" period, as Beyonce did from after the IASF era ended in 2009 and the start of Renaissance in 2022. The article points to her ability to evolve, which is a tool in her arsenal but is not particularly unique to her (and is something that's been better employed by all three of the other ladies I mention here, who have hopped over several genres in their path to long-term social and chart dominance in a way Beyonce failed to accomplish).

4) None of Beyonce's business strategies (inside and outside of the music business) are particularly novel either. First off, Parkwood Entertainment is predated by 13 Management (and other teams like it) by a few years, and is a widely replicated strategy for artists of all sizes to essentially manage themselves (acts like Justin Timberlake had in-house, holistic management teams almost a decade before Beyonce). As for her commercial ventures, celebrity product endorsements go back to the 80s, Kanye's partnership with Adidas is several years older than Ivy Park, and celebrity-owned brands were first pioneered by people like Jimmy Buffet, and refined by artists like Rihanna long before Beyonce ever decided to sell whiskey or hair care supplies. Hell, her own husband was widely renowned for his entrepreneurship years before Beyonce's career began. Time also highlights Beyonce's ability to "see the cultural zeitgeist coming and being able to catch that wave by putting her twist on it in a way that’s interesting", which I would argue is A) the job of any artist attempting to compete at a mainstream level in a competitive genre, B) discounts the gargantuan efforts of her A&R team, and C) ignores the fact that Beyonce has been infamous for many, many years of co-opting the styles and artistic visions of significantly less well known artists who are truly on the forefront of creativity. She's no cultural reactionary, but she's also no cultural revolutionary.

5) Finally the independent ethos... I'm really not sure what's so special about this. From a legal frame of reference, acts like Prince, Michael Jackson, Paul McCartney, Neil Young, Johnny Cash, (ad infinitum...), have fought against the system and against the record label structure or against the catalogue ownership structure, many before Beyonce was even born. Creatively, artists have been creating (and attempting to release) unorthodox records that push against the system for as long as people have been publishing music (sometimes to far greater success than Beyonce at her most culturally mainstream). This section is essentially distilling an "independent ethos" to Beyonce being a black woman in music who makes artistically interesting and diverse music. I'd just like to point to Mariah's grunge record as a counterexample of Beyonce not being a trailblazer in this regard (though I shouldn't even have to because it's self evident - and because Mariah was actually fighting uphill against true label pressures, that album was never allowed to be released, something Beyonce would never face if she made something like a grunge record).

Ultimately, this is a stock standard puff piece that was planted by someone in Beyonce's PR department, and they did a very good job because on first glance, the way they've spun these points seems to indicate that Beyonce actually was a record-pushing trailblazer. In reality, her career has traced in the footsteps of dozens of big and small pioneers who've come before (and even in tandem with several contemporaries who get far less credit). I guess that's one point where Beyonce's career has been rather revolutionary: her ability to leverage a PR team into turning a milquetoast and run-of-the-mill career with rather middling and reductive output into a god-like, untouchable A-Tier celebrity persona. No one before has had the ego required to shamelessly attempt that, let alone succeed! For whatever reason, I have a feeling that the puff piece authors in Parkwood PR's pocket are unlikely to write a story praising her in that regard.

[swiftie-drama-dot-com]

I need a season 2 ffs

[swiftie-drama-dot-com]

Grammy Nominations 2025

Album Of The Year: The Tortured Poets Department

Record Of The Year: Fortnight ft. Post Malone

Song Of The Year: Fortnight ft. Post Malone

Best Pop Vocal Album: The Tortured Poets Department

Best Pop/Duo Group Performance: us. (Gracie Abrams ft. Taylor Swift)

Best Music Video: Fortnight ft. Post Malone

[swiftie-drama-dot-com]

I'm taking a break from all social media.

[swiftie-drama-dot-com]

This guy is fantastic

https://x.com/davidshuster/status/1854012355065036922?s=46&t=jewF0uxWFlv5q0qmo8IVrA

[swiftie-drama-dot-com]

I'm stressed and depressed. Lord save us.

[swiftie-drama-dot-com]

Has anyone watched Rivals on Hulu? I'm obsessed, and it seems no one is watching.

Obsessed with Rupert and Taggie 😭😭

[swiftie-drama-dot-com]

WELCOME TO (THE) NEW YORK (TIMES BESTSELLER LIST). 

My luggage is strewn haphazardly on the floor. The detritus of a week on the road piles up on every surface. Sold out book event posters. Friendship bracelets by the dozens. Most of them green. All of them made by someone’s patient, caring hand. 

I’ve been in five different cities in the last eight days. I’ve had the immense gift and privilege to say “thank you” in person to hundreds of you for choosing to support this book (and me by extension) with your time and your efforts and your kind words. For choosing to show up and engage in this space and choose to leave behind a digital legacy based on kindness, community, and connectivity. 

But there’s nowhere else I could have hoped to be to get this news than at home the night before my hometown signing in Vancouver. 

I’m a New York Times bestselling author. 

Long live these walls and these pages we crashed through. 

I had the time of my life writing this book for you. 

I will never, ever, ever forget this moment. 

THANK YOU.

[swiftie-drama-dot-com]

We’ll be kicking off the final leg of The Eras Tour this week, which is hard to comprehend. This tour has been the most wondrous experience and I knew I wanted to commemorate the memories we made together in a special way. Well, two ways actually. Excited to announce that The Official Eras Tour Book, filled with my own personal reflections, never-before-seen behind the scenes photos, all the magical memories you guys brought every single night AND …. The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology on vinyl and CD will all be available for the first time ever only at Target starting Nov 29th. 🤍

International info coming soon!

[swiftie-drama-dot-com]

is ANYTHING really that funny 😆

[swiftie-drama-dot-com]

[swiftie-drama-dot-com]

😂😂😂😂😂 wtf

Hey beautiful🥹🥰 I’m a sugar daddy in need of a feet princess or text buddy, just letting you know my intentions in case you're interested…I will give you a weekly allowance…just basically pay for your time and spoil you, I hope to get a reply from you….

Well this is what I am attracting.

[swiftie-drama-dot-com]

"Thank you. Directing this video, and putting it together, and writing it, was the most wonderful experience, and that is because of all the people that I got to make it with, and that includes Ethan Hawke and Josh Charles, who were amazing cameos. That includes my amazing cinematographer-DP, Rodrigo Prieto, who goes out of his way to work with female directors. He is a genius, and I can't believe I get to work with him. As well as Ethan Tobman, my amazing production designer, who I've worked with on the Eras Tour, Post Malone, who we all love so much. And you know, the thing is that this video seems very sad when you watch it, but it actually was the most fun video to make, and something that I'll always remember is that when I would finish a take, and I'd say cut, and we'd be done with that take, I would always just hear someone just like, cheering, and like, 'Woo!' from across the studio where we were shooting it. And that one person was my boyfriend Travis. Everything this man touches turns to happiness, and fun, and magic, so I wanted to thank him for adding that to our shoot, because I'll always remember that. And to the fans, I'm always trying to figure out a way to say thank you to you for making my life what it is, for making the Eras Tour what it has become, for making The Tortured Poets Department what it has become, that's all you guys, for doing that, and for voting for this award. So thank you to MTV for giving me this opportunity to thank the fans, to thank you for what you've done, and the fact that this is a fan-voted award, and you voted for this, I appreciate it so much. And if you are over 18, please register to vote for something else that's very important coming up, the presidential election. I love you all so, so much. Thank you for this moment!"

— Taylor accepting the 2024 MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year for Fortnight ft. Post Malone

[swiftie-drama-dot-com]

[swiftie-drama-dot-com]

MTV Video Music Award 2024 Wins

Song of the Summer (Fortnight ft. Post Malone)

Best Collaboration (Fortnight ft. Post Malone)

Artist of the Year

Best Pop

Best Direction (Fortnight ft. Post Malone)

Best Editing (Fortnight ft. Post Malone)