CHASING ADELE

Can Taylor Swift surpass the blockbuster 3.4m of Adele’s 25 when her new Big Machine set, reputation, bows in November? Tay’s 1989 bowed with about 1.3m (purely in album sales) three years ago, before the explosion in streaming; 25 earned its massive first-week total in 2015 with only single “Hello” available for streaming.

Tay has already activated fan-grabbing Target and Ticketmaster programs—with groovy merch part of the big boost. She’ll get a big look with her video premiere, and possibly more, at the VMAs.

How she rolls out on streaming platforms remains a question mark—whether she goes wide, remains behind a paywall or withholds the rest of the album from streaming altogether—but it’s fair to say that with 15 tracks, she has the opportunity to amp up streaming numbers bigtime. How might she drive those numbers up still further?

These things, however, are certain: This ultra-shrewd artist and her relentless team will make whatever moves are necessary in pursuit of their goal. Taylor is (thanks to 1989’s success) a much bigger star than she was three years ago. And Taylor’s utterly devoted fans will jump on every touchpoint she offers—and she is the queen of fan engagement.

We expect Tay and her minions to monitor the landscape with laser focus and adjust her campaign accordingly. Will she top Adele? Time will tell.