RED ALERT

Taylor Swift is a force of nature. Red (Taylor’s Version) is the Republic megastar’s fourth album release in 18 months and, more interestingly, her second album re-recording. It’s en route to the year’s second-biggest chart debut (after Drake), powered by both giant streaming and physical sales. The artist’s ability to move the needle, particularly with her ultra-devoted fans, is unprecedented, as she motivates them to buy new versions of prior releases in astounding numbers.

This week Tay will break her own modern-era record for the most vinyl albums sold in a week, with the 30-track Red (TV) moving 110k+ copies (the four-LP Target edition, it’s worth mentioning, has a $50 price point); in June she sold 102k copies of evermore on vinyl. The superstar singer/songwriter now has three of the Top 5 biggest vinyl weeks since 1990; her re-recorded Fearless (Taylor's Version) is currently #5, with 67k LPs sold in April.

Between the Taylor bookends are platters by Olivia Rodrigo (the Geffen set SOUR, with 76k units) and Billie Eilish (Happier Than Ever, via Darkroom/Interscope, with 73k).

Swift's dominance of the Top 5 may be short-lived, however, as Adele's 30 (Columbia) hit stores and DSPs today and is expected to supplant Red at the top.

YTD vinyl sales are up nearly 70% industrywide and will approach 40m by year’s end.

Finally, vinyl may not be the only record Taylor sets this week. “All Too Well” from Red (TV) is projected to replace Adele's “Easy on Me” as the #1 song of the week. At 10 minutes and 13 seconds, it will become the longest song ever to reach #1. The reigning champ in that category is Don McLean's “American Pie” (United Artists), which hit #1 in January 1972, clocking in at 8:33.

Tay’s sprawling new edition of “All Too Well” debuts at #1 on our Overall Song Streams chart with 39m on-demand audio streams. It’s one of 22 tracks from the new Red on that chart.