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The Year of Taylor just keeps rolling: on this week’s Billboard chart, Taylor Swift reigns with the biggest sales week of her career, as well as a new Hot 100 chart-topper replacing a different Swift song at No. 1. 1989 (Taylor’s Version), the fourth release in the superstar’s six-album re-recording project, earned 1.653 million equivalent album units in its debut week, scoring Swift her 13th No. 1 on the Billboard 200; that’s the biggest equivalent album units total for an album since Adele’s 25 in 2015, and also marks Swift’s largest sales week (1.359 million) to date.
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Meanwhile, “Is It Over Now? (Taylor’s Version),” one of five “From the Vault” tracks from the album, debuts at No. 1 on this week’s Hot 100 chart, giving Swift her 11th career chart-topper. And “Is It Over Now?” replaces her 10th Hot 100 No. 1, “Cruel Summer,” at the top, after the Lover fan favorite spent two weeks at the peak of the chart.
Which of Swift’s latest chart feats is more impressive? And have we just experienced the biggest month of her career? Billboard staffers discuss these questions and more below.
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1. With 1.653 million equivalent album units, 1989 (Taylor’s Version) gives Taylor Swift the largest week for any album, by units earned, since 2015, and easily becomes the biggest debut week for a Taylor’s Version album thus far. What do you think is the biggest reason for the monster debut? Danielle Pascual: If I had to pinpoint the moment Taylor solidified her place as a pop superstar, it would be after she dropped the original 1989 in 2014. During this album cycle, she racked up three Hot 100 No. 1s (“Shake It Off,” “Blank Space,” “Bad Blood”), spent 11 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, embarked on her massive first stadium tour and scored multiple Grammys, including album of the year. This was the era she started most interacting with fans — on social media (especially Tumblr), hosting listening parties for fans in her home pre-album release (the ‘Secret Sessions’), and even sending Christmas gifts to especially active fans (‘Swiftmas’). She also made headlines for a number of other reasons during this time — whether related to her open letter to Apple Music (in which she removed the album from the platform to advocate for artist rights) or her always-speculated dating life. The press cycle for the original project began nearly a decade ago, but it remains the album the general public is most familiar with, while still being regarded as a favorite for Swifties and critics alike.
Hannah Dailey: I think that 1989 was always an album for the people, not just Swifties; in fact, it converted a lot of people into Swift fans back in the day. It’s still her most chart- and radio-friendly album, full of hits that still wouldn’t feel out of place on the radio today (“Blank Space,” “Wildest Dreams,” “Shake it Off”). Plus, the recovered “Vault” song lore (allegedly) about her most high-profile relationship to date (ahem, Mr. Styles) doesn’t hurt, either.
Jason Lipshutz: When 1989 (Taylor’s Version) was announced in August, I outlined the monumental success of the original 1989, with key numbers that explained why the album stands out as a commercial and critical high in a career full of them. That era’s enormity is the main reason why this Taylor’s Version bow dwarfs the others’ debut weeks, its sugary pop exterior and chart-topping hits just too undeniable for longtime fans and casual listeners. Despite coming at a very busy time in the extended Swift universe, the arrival of 1989 (Taylor’s Version) was always going to be too big to fail.
Katie Atkinson: The combination of Taylor’s most commercially successful album, combined with the groundswell of support around her Taylor’s Version re-recording mission, was bound to yield extraordinary results. Basically, the first half of Swift’s career was all leading up to the blockbuster success of 1989, and the second half of her career has all been leading up to her largest-ever sales week. It feels implausible that an artist as huge as Taylor still has higher heights to hit, 17 years in.
Kyle Denis: Obviously, a debut of this size is the result of many compounding reasonings, but I think the majority of the credit should be attributed to Swift’s momentum right now. Despite fairly sparse social media activity and a rest period for her Eras Tour, her new romance with Travis Kelce has made her a virtually inescapable media presence across sports, film and music. That kind of visibility, combined with her already having the No. 1 song in the country, probably helped push 1989 (Taylor’s Version) to its massive debut. I was always certain that 1989 (TV) would debut with over one million units, but I think it’s Swift’s overall career momentum that helped that number inch past Midnights’ 1.57 million debut.
2. While Swift scores the single-largest sales week for any of her albums (not just her Taylor’s Version albums!), “Is It Over Now?,” a “From the Vault” song from 1989 (Taylor’s Version), replace another Swift song, “Cruel Summer,” atop the Hot 100 chart. Which of the two accomplishments is more impressive to you?
Danielle Pascual: Both stats are widely impressive, but scoring the single-largest sales week for any of her albums is huge. Taylor didn’t really change up her physical format strategy for her latest Taylor’s Version — since Folklore, she’s released the album with multiple variations on vinyl and CD (including signed copies), as well as a cassette. Plus, when 1989 debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in 2014, it scored the single-largest sales week for an album since 2002. The fact that the Taylor’s Version replaced the original album from that top spot speaks to the power of her re-recording journey and fans’ desire for more.
Hannah Dailey: They’re both major, but I’d say her album sales record takes the cake. She’s always been remarkable because of her continued success with LPs, even during periods when public/generational appreciation for the album art form was on the decline. The fact that she’s still outdoing herself in that category is incredible.
Jason Lipshutz: While Swift scoring her largest career sales week at this point in an already storied career is a gargantuan feat, the fact that she was able to replace a song of hers from 2019, with a “From the Vault” song originally conceived for her 2014 album, at the top of the Hot 100 in the year 2023, feels even more mind-boggling as an achievement. Most artists need to release brand new songs to top the charts — not Swift, who has become so dominant in popular music that her songs can travel through time to No. 1.
Katie Atkinson: Ooh, they’re both crazy. But I’m going with the sales week because she’s already replaced herself atop the Hot 100 previously – when “Blank Space” unseated “Shake It Off” back in 2015 from, you guessed it, 1989. In fact, she’s still the only woman to ever replace herself at No. 1 on the chart. Getting these album sales numbers in 2023, let alone her highest-ever album in a career of highs, is next-level.
Kyle Denis: Definitely the album sales accomplishments. Considering that the original 1989 has already sold millions of copies – and keeping in mind the decline in overall albums sales activity over the past decade – the fact that Swift was able to snag this record in a career that already boasts five albums with opening weeks of over 1 million units is simply astounding. She’s technically already sent a “From the Vault” song to No. 1, so while congratulations are certainly in order, it’s not the most remarkable achievement of the past week for Swift.
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3. Do you think “Is it Over Now?” is in for an extended run as a new Swift hit, or do you think another “From the Vault” track has a better shot at ubiquity?
Danielle Pascual: At this point, I think “Is It Over Now?” will continue as the standout. There is plenty of chatter surrounding the song online — it even has a TikTok dance that grows more viral everyday. It’s the type of upbeat pop song we’d expect (and want) from the album that marked Taylor’s departure from country and true foray into pop.
Hannah Dailey: If any of the “Vault” tracks has a shot, it’s “Now That We Don’t Talk.” It’s a classic Swift earworm with relatable lyrics (minus the “mega yacht” part), and a lot of traction on TikTok.
Jason Lipshutz: “Say Don’t Go” is my personal favorite of the 1989 (Taylor’s Version) “From the Vault” songs, but the more I listen to “Is It Over Now?,” the more I appreciate its sonic nuance, lyrical detail (particularly the “three hundred takeout coffees later!,” which plays on my head in a loop) and the emotional rush of the physical movements involved in the chorus. “Is It Over Now?” Is both catchy and understated in a way that sounds durable at radio, and considering how well it’s already doing on streaming platforms, the song appears to be in for a long run at or near the top of the Hot 100. Katie Atkinson: I agree with our own Jason Lipshutz (oh hi, Jason!) that “Say Don’t Go” is the “From the Vault” winner on 1989 (Taylor’s Version). I don’t know that another “Vault” track could top the chart, but I could see it having the longest shelf life of the new batch of songs. I think more than anything, I’ll be curious to see which “From the Vault” tracks Taylor might pull out at her upcoming Eras Tour stops for the acoustic set. I definitely hope to see “Say Don’t Go” performed live.
Kyle Denis: I don’t see “Is It Over Now?” having much longevity at the top of the Hot 100, nor do I think any of the other “From the Vault” tracks will experience that fate. As commercially successful as the Taylor’s Version endeavor continues to be, just one “From the Vault” track has made any kind of lasting commercial impact beyond its first week of availability – and that was 10-minute update of a decade-old fan favorite and cult classic (“All Too Well (10 Minute/Taylor’s Version)”).
4. Within the span of one month, Swift’s Eras Tour concert film bowed big at the box office, “Cruel Summer” finally reached the top of the Hot 100 and 1989 (Taylor’s Version) scored the biggest sales week of her career (while also producing another Hot 100 chart-topper). Have we just witnessed the most dominant 30 days of Swift’s entire career? Danielle Pascual: Yes — and I think that will turn into the most dominant 60 days of her career. Just this week, for instance, Taylor returns for her blockbuster Eras tour after a three-month break, and she’s a front-runner for 2024 Grammy nominations with Midnights (set to be announced on Friday). Plus, Swifties believe a reputation (Taylor’s Version) announcement is imminent by year’s end, which will likely make a slew of new records of its own. What Barbra Walters once said seems to be true now more than ever: “Taylor Swift is the music industry.”
Hannah Dailey: So far? I’d say yes. But knowing her, I’d be hesitant to say that this is the most dominant she’ll ever be, only because she always seems to find a way to top herself. I’m curious whether this will light a fire under her to replicate the success she’s seeing now from her older material with new music down the line.
Jason Lipshutz: Yes. Throughout her career, Swift has enjoyed periods of multiple hits from the same project competing for space near the top of the Hot 100, huge album debuts, major awards and sold-out stadium runs — but this month feels singular, as if her presence in popular music is the same as popular music itself. She’s firing on all cylinders, across multiple mediums and eras, and has zero peers on her level. It’s an unparalleled run, and breathtaking to witness.
Katie Atkinson: Man, I thought that was back in July when Taylor was in the thick of her headline-dominating Eras Tour and had just released Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), only to have three songs from three different albums in the Hot 100 top 10 — “I Can See You (Taylor’s Version) (From the Vault)” (Speak Now, No. 5), “Cruel Summer” (Lover, No. 9) and the “Karma” remix featuring Ice Spice (Midnights, No. 10) — and of course the re-recorded 2010 album at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. But yeah, somehow, this surpasses even that.
Kyle Denis: Yes. As I said earlier, her current momentum is almost unparalleled.
5. Now that 1989 (Taylor’s Version) has been out for over a week, has your opinion changed on any of the hits (or existing album cuts) from the album?
Danielle Pascual: I don’t think so! As a lifelong Swiftie who saw Taylor live for the first time during the 1989 tour, my favorite songs off the original album are still my favorite songs today: “New Romantics,” “Clean” and “Out of the Woods.” I still think “Shake It Off” gets more hate than it deserves, and “Bad Blood” is her worst single off the album (though I recognize how important it was for her career). I do think this slew of “From the Vault” songs is my favorite out of all her Taylor’s Version re-recordings so far, and am excited to see how they’ll fare over time.
Hannah Dailey: This is the only Taylor’s Version so far to make me wish that the “Vault” songs had made it onto the actual track list, even if it were at the expense of songs on the original listing. I would’ve rather had “Say Don’t Go” over “All You Had to Do Was Stay,” “Now That We Don’t Talk” over “I Wish You Would” and “Is It Over Now?” over “How You Get The Girl” – as much as I love every one of those songs. I think this new light shed on her track list choices serves as further proof that her primary focus with 1989 was to make a super-polished pop album that maybe wasn’t quite as vulnerable as her past work, but more palatable to a wider audience. Granted, this approach obviously worked out well for her career at the time, with 1989 spending 11 weeks atop the Billboard 200, and securing a second album of the year Grammy win.
Jason Lipshutz: “Blank Space” remains the most perfect single from that album, but “Wildest Dreams” has turned into a personal favorite, maybe more than any of the 1989 hits. The sweep of the hook! The urgency of the final chorus! I appreciate it all a little bit more now than I did nine years ago.
Katie Atkinson: The hits? No! 1989 is still perfect. And this might be my favorite batch of “From the Vault” tracks of any Taylor’s Version album so far, just because most of them would feel at home on her new albums, too.
Kyle Denis: Still a massive fan of 1989, but having sat with the re-recording for over a week, I don’t think 1989 (Taylor’s Version) does justice to the original. Nonetheless, I do really enjoy “Slut!”
“Every year ends, and I think to myself, ‘That was a little crazy!’ ” Jack Antonoff says with a laugh. “It shouldn’t feel familiar, but it does.” That’s because the 39-year-old studio polymath has rarely experienced a quiet 12-month period over the past decade, juggling multiple production and songwriting projects while fronting his own band, Bleachers.
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During the past year, Antonoff has helped steer Taylor Swift’s mega-selling Midnights, Lana Del Rey’s sweeping Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd and The 1975’s ultra-catchy Being Funny in a Foreign Language, while also prepping Bleachers’ fourth full-length. He has signed a new label deal with Dirty Hit Records, brought in label founder Jamie Oborne as manager and inked a new deal with Universal Music Publishing Group. (“It doesn’t feel like anything’s shaken up, just that the team’s got a couple new members,” Antonoff says of the moves.) All the while, he’s eyeing a potential fifth consecutive producer of the year, non-classical Grammy nomination and third straight win, which would be the first three-peat in the category this century should it occur.
Two years ago, Antonoff shared with Billboard his seven habits of highly effective producers. As he hunkers down in the studio for the next few months — finishing Bleachers’ follow-up to 2021’s Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night and generally “chipping away at stuff” — he revealed his latest takeaways from his past year’s work.
Don’t Let Commercial Gains Distract in a Creative Space
Case study: Taylor Swift, “Anti-Hero”
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Midnights scored the biggest Billboard 200 debut of Swift’s career and her Eras Tour became the summer’s hottest stadium ticket, but Antonoff says that he marvels at how his frequent collaborator keeps her level of superstardom very much outside the studio. “There’s not a lot of panning back in the room — ‘Whoa, look at this [achievement], look at that!’ — because that would feel like popping the balloon,” he explains. “When I work with Taylor, there’s still just this person who has these life experiences and this remarkable gift of writing about them.”
See: “Anti-Hero,” the lead single from Midnights that sardonically prods at Swift’s insecurities. “When we made ‘Anti-Hero,’ I just thought, ‘Wow, that’s so honest and funny, and also so sweet and so sad,’ ” Antonoff recalls, adding that the song, which became Swift’s longest-leading Hot 100 chart-topper earlier this year, wouldn’t have worked if they had been preoccupied by her radio appeal during its creation. “It has this weird beat going through a tremolo — no part of me was like, ‘F–king A, that’s the song to take over the world!’ ”
Sometimes the Spark Takes Time…
Case study: The 1975, “Part of the Band”
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“Who would you want to work with?” It’s a question Antonoff often hears, and one he finds impossible to answer. “I can only want to work with someone based on knowing them and seeing where they’re going,” he says. When Antonoff met The 1975, he envisioned a creative partnership where he could add to the band’s sound on its fifth album — but still experienced “that weird kind of early-relationship stuff” on Being Funny in a Foreign Language, his first project with the British rock group.
“Part of the Band,” the restrained, stream-of-consciousness lead single, helped alleviate some of that awkwardness. “It wasn’t the first thing we did,” Antonoff recalls, “but there’s a big difference between the first thing you do and the moment that you’re like, ‘Oh, sh-t. We have that ability.’ Anyone can get in a room and carve out a song and make it sound halfway cool, but the idea of collaborating with people is doing something bigger than the sum of the parts.” Ultimately, “Part of the Band” unlocked the rest of Being Funny in a Foreign Language, which spun off five top 40 hits on the Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart.
…And Sometimes a Hit Can Take a Really Long Time
Case study: Taylor Swift, “Cruel Summer”
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“That was always one of my favorite songs I’d ever done,” Antonoff says of Swift’s Lover standout, a synth-pop fantasia that became a fan favorite upon the 2019 album’s release. “Cruel Summer” didn’t become a hit single during the Lover album cycle, which was curtailed due to the pandemic, and Antonoff made peace with its cult-classic status. But earlier this year, as the song became the centerpiece of the opening of Swift’s mega-selling Eras tour, “Cruel Summer” began soaring in streams, then in radio play, and climbed all the way to No. 3 on the Hot 100, morphing into one of the defining songs of the summer of 2023.
“It was just like, a huge thumbs-up from the universe,” Antonoff says of the song’s viral resurgence this year. “I take it all as a reminder to do what you believe in, make the songs you believe in. You never want to do anything that you don’t believe in for the sake of success, because the only thing worse than doing something you don’t believe in is being recognized for that thing! … With [‘Cruel Summer’], I loved that it existed, and didn’t need anything more from it. It’s just this bizarre icing on the cake.”
Ambition Comes in Many Forms
Case study: Lana Del Rey, “A&W”
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Antonoff says that his most frequent collaborators share the characteristic of “becoming obsessed with understanding what their ambition is and how to access it constantly” rather than resting on their laurels. That creative curiosity manifests itself in different ways: For Swift, after the indie-folk storytelling on folklore and evermore in 2020, “There was this sense of blazing out of the cabin” with the personal pop of Midnights. Meanwhile, The 1975 came to Antonoff after several winding, esoteric full-lengths, and he helped push Being Funny in a Foreign Language into uncharted territory for the band: a tight, interlude-free pop-rock record.
For Del Rey’s Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd, the seven-minute centerpiece, “A&W” — which begins as a folk lament before flipping into a trap refrain midway through — resulted from experimenting with other album tracks like “Peppers” and “Taco Truck x VB,” mashing up sounds until arriving at the most innovative structure possible, according to Antonoff. “This sprawling thing was the most ambitious thing to do. A song like ‘A&W’ is just an example of what happens when you just know people so well that you can really support each other into strange places.”
Make an Entrance
Case study: Bleachers, “Modern Girl”
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Bleachers’ upcoming fourth album, which Antonoff and his six-piece group made with co-producer Patrik Berger and a few special guests, translates the jubilance of the band’s live show into a studio setting. Not every song is as boisterous as “Modern Girl,” released in September as the project’s lead single, but for Antonoff, its 1980s-indebted mix of jittery vocal energy and uncorked saxophone blasts captured “enough left-field sh-t that speaks to where the album is going” and was the obvious introduction.
“Putting out albums is like pulling at both the past and the future, and ‘Modern Girl’ just felt like this perfect shock and comfort moment, both honoring where Bleachers has been and where it’s going,” he says of the new album, due next year. “I’ve always believed in this ‘house’ mentality of just understanding what an album is, and ‘Modern Girl’ just feels like the biggest front door.”
A version of this story originally appeared in the Oct. 7, 2023, issue of Billboard.
The first time Gracie Abrams met Aaron Dessner, at his famed Long Pond studio near Hudson, N.Y., the pair wrote over 10 songs. “We hit it off,” recalls Dessner, 47, of their first session in spring 2021. That’s a bit of an understatement, considering what followed: Dessner went on to produce and co-write Abrams’ acclaimed debut album, Good Riddance, released in February and brimming with honest reflections sung in her delicate voice that float over intriguing chord progressions and indie-rock riffs. In June, following the album’s vinyl release, Abrams topped Billboard’s Emerging Artists chart.
In early September, following appearances by both on Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour (Abrams as an opener, Dessner as a guest), the duo played three sold-out, intimate acoustic shows in New York, Nashville and Los Angeles, where they performed songs of Abrams’ both old and new. The gigs bookended a recording pit stop at Long Pond. “We made a lot of music, and it feels really different than what we’ve done before… like the best stuff we’ve made,” Dessner reveals.
Abrams, 24, is one of the newest artists to become a Long Pond regular, joining an eye-popping group of talent that includes Swift, Ed Sheeran and, of course, Dessner’s band, The National — all of whom have been incredibly active in recent years, continuing Dessner’s streak as one of the most in-demand, and busiest, collaborators in music today. As such, and with Abrams a likely best new artist contender, could Dessner finally score a long-awaited nod for producer of the year, non-classical?
“I don’t know another person that could do what Aaron does,” Abrams says. “There’s a kind of sensitivity that doesn’t necessarily exist in most artist-to-producer relationships that I am aware of.”
What was it about Long Pond that felt immediately inspiring or comfortable?
Gracie Abrams: Everything. I felt really open as a result of the space feeling open, and it’s entirely a testament to Aaron’s entire personality. The place feels very inviting [for] sharing all your secrets and deepest, most private feelings without any hesitation.
When Gracie’s debut arrived, Aaron wrote on Instagram that it almost feels like you two are siblings. What’s the best example of that?
Abrams: I mean, maybe brutal truth all the time. I tell Aaron everything as soon as it happens to me, so I burden him with my life story in a way that I feel like only people who you’re related to by blood should have to take on.
Aaron Dessner: And I get to live vicariously through Gracie, which is really nice. (Laughs.) When you write songs and make music with someone — and when you make so much music as we have — it’s an intimate, vulnerable experience, so you get to know each other really well. And it’s also the thing that makes music most meaningful, I think, the friendships that you collect along the way. Because when I look back — I’m quite a bit older than Gracie, although we don’t feel so far apart — there are these friendships that I still have from different points along the way, and those are the mile markers. Because [as a musician] you don’t have a very normal life and you’re traveling all the time and kind of running on fumes and it’s so amazing but it’s also hazardous, being unstructured and not having your support system or your family close by a lot of the time. The only way I know how to do this is to grow close to people and learn from them. I always feel like I’m learning as much as anyone might learn from me.
What is the biggest lesson you have learned from each other?
Abrams: My identity now has been massively shaped by what I’ve learned in this relationship with Aaron the past couple years, not just musically — which it has entirely helped guide me in terms of self-trust — but just how to be a very decent person. Especially in the context of the music industry. I grew up in L.A. and started recording here first and it felt very different than when I went to Long Pond for the first time, and it really broadened my imagination for the kind of life that I could have if I’m lucky enough to do the thing that I love, versus what I assumed to be the blueprint that always secretly made me feel a little depressed.
Dessner: To be honest, I’ve never written songs in the room with anyone [before]. I would always make music alone or with my brother [Bryce]. Most of the time, I write the music first and then someone writes to it. That has been how The National worked and how I worked with [Swift] and other people. And Gracie came and we wrote together in the room, and it’s a scary thing because you don’t have the chance to be figuring out your brilliant idea. And I found I was even more comfortable doing it like that, where I would basically sketch [an idea] and Gracie could guide me or bounce off it in real time and write words and melodies. And then over time we got really good at it, and that’s what I ended up doing a lot with Ed Sheeran. I don’t know that I would have been able to do it had I not had that confidence from this.
Gracie Abrams photographed on September 1, 2023 at Long Pond Studio near Hudson, NY.
Wesley Mann
Aaron Dessner photographed on September 1, 2023 at Long Pond Studio near Hudson, NY.
Wesley Mann
Aaron, why do you think Gracie could be in the running for best new artist?
Dessner: Gracie is making incredibly compelling, emotionally direct songs that really resonate with her fan base. [She has] become an artist that’s clearly impacting a lot of people. And I think the record is one of the best of the year, and she’s one of the artists that should be in that discussion. I also think with all of this stuff, it’s subjective. It’s a total honor to be in any conversation about the Grammys and to win a Grammy, and of course it sounds like I have to say that, but a lot of my favorite artists have never been in that conversation. So I kind of take it with a grain of salt. I have a lot of respect for it, but at the same time if you don’t get nominated… it doesn’t diminish what you’re doing.
And Gracie, why should Aaron get a producer of the year nod?
Abrams: I don’t know another person that could do what Aaron does could make album of the year after album of the year. I can identify instantly whether or not Aaron has touched a song because you can feel it, and I can’t compare that to anything. It’s not something that I’ve found anywhere else. And I think also it’s so evident, like the songs that people fall in love with on all the albums that Aaron has made are the ones that really work. The ones that the die-hard fans want to hear and scream at the top of their lungs.
How do these sets you’ve been performing together compare to the stadium shows you both played as part of Swift’s Eras Tour?
Dessner: As much as I am close friends with and know Taylor well, you can’t believe that she pulls it off. It’s like, the best thing that has ever happened to live music in a way. And seeing Gracie play those shows [as an opening act] and seeing people in the stadium singing the songs, it’s a crazy moment in her career. It reminded me of, in a way, in 2007-8, R.E.M., on their final tour, invited The National to open for them, and that was this real moment for us because one of our favorite bands, a giant American rock band, was saying, “Come, we love you.” This is on a much bigger scale than that was, but it feels related, it feels like that really fueled us, and I can feel that in Gracie now, like there’s this confidence, and it’s exciting.
Abrams: There’s something about the scale of what Taylor has done that is unlike anything I’ve ever felt or known in my entire life, and I agree that it is the best thing that has ever happened to live music. Just to be in a place where that many people are equally moved and emotional and down to express it as loudly as possible, it’s really unbelievable. That feeling, though — being in a stadium, at least a Taylor Swift stadium, and these intimate rooms — is very connected, which sounds wild maybe. One of the many millions of things I learned this summer is, she does actually make it feel like you’re on another planet and like it’s just you and her in the room. And I’ve been lucky enough to see the show so many times and I’ve watched it from every possible place in the stadium, and that’s true every time.
From left: Gracie Abrams and Aaron Dessner photographed by Wesley Mann on September 1, 2023 at Long Pond Studio near Hudson, NY.
Wesley Mann
From left: Aaron Dessner and Gracie Abrams photographed by Wesley Mann on September 1, 2023 at Long Pond Studio near Hudson, NY.
Aaron, have you and Taylor’s longtime collaborator Jack Antonoff ever joked that you two could be competing for producer of the year for the foreseeable future?
Dessner: He has produced so many records and been in that really intensely for a long time, whereas I’ve been really doing all my esoteric art music with my brother and making music with The National and touring a lot. But I feel like there’s a lot of camaraderie between Jack and I, having worked on a lot of the same records now, and I think anyone that gets nominated is lucky. Some people have more notoriety for whatever reason, and I think part of the thing is like, how much do people know what you do? So, the answer is, I think we’ll think it’s funny.
For an artist or producer who wants to build what you two have, what advice would you give?
Abrams: I hope I’ve gotten less annoying about it, but [Aaron] very much encouraged following your gut, which is maybe cliché advice or feels empty, but I think I was so lucky to have had the person saying that to my face be someone whose work I have admired forever and someone who I trust. But having not heard that or believed it, a lot of the music wouldn’t exist, or I would be in a very different place in general right now.
Dessner: There are a lot of producers who franchise themselves and collect as many artists as they can, and you can see that, and I feel like the work becomes diminished or something. You also have to live and experience things. I like the way community slowly grows… I feel like people find each other for a reason.
This story will appear in the Oct. 7, 2023, issue of Billboard.
When thousands of fans couldn’t get tickets for megastar Taylor Swift’s summer stadium tour, some diehards paid upwards of 70 times face value to see their favorite artist in person — an outrage that prompted Congressional hearings and bills in state legislatures to better protect consumers.
After 10 months, Swift’s U.S. tour is finished, but so are most of the meaningful reforms consumer advocates and industry groups had hoped to pass this year. A proposal has so far failed to advance in the U.S. Senate. Legislation in Colorado was vetoed by the Democratic governor at the urging of some consumer groups.
In California, home to iconic recording studios like Capitol Records and influential clubs like the Whiskey A Go Go and Hollywood Bowl, what started as a robust array of legislation has been watered down to a single bill banning hidden fees, something New York and Connecticut have done and most major industry players have already committed to do on their own.
“That’s it? That’s all that California, the leading state in the nation on so many consumer protection issues, that’s all we’re going to do?” said Robert Herrell, executive director of the Consumer Federation of California. “That’s an embarrassment. It’s not enough.”
The slow progress over changing how tickets should be sold and resold highlights not just the strength of industry opposition, but the regulatory difficulties in a market upended by technology. Gone are the days of standing in line at a box office to find out what seats were available and how much they cost.
Today, nearly all tickets are sold online and downloaded to phones or other devices. Consumers often don’t know how much they will pay until just before they click the purchase button and fees and charges, which can sometimes be almost as much as the ticket price, are applied.
Venues often don’t say how many seats are available for a specific event, according to consumer groups, but instead release tickets in batches, making consumers spend more out of the mistaken fear they’ll miss out.
Some bad actors use software to quickly bulk-buy tickets for resale at much higher prices. They will even sell tickets before they have them, a practice known as “speculative ticketing” that consumer groups say is dangerous and does not guarantee the ticket. Some go so far as to mimic venue websites so consumers believe they are buying tickets directly.
Sharp disagreements among venues, ticket sellers, consumer groups and artists have muddied what may seemingly straightforward consumer rights issues.
Artists and venues want to restrict how fans can resell tickets, an attempt to crack down on “the secondary market to sweep the inventory, inflate the price and price gouge our fans,” said Jordan Bromley, who sits on the board of the Music Artist Coalition, an advocacy group representing artists.
Consumer groups argue buyers can do what they want with their tickets, including upselling. That disagreement is partly why Colorado Democratic Gov. Jared Polis vetoed a bill earlier this year, despite the bill also containing consumer-friendly policies like banning hidden fees, price increases and speculative ticket sales.
In California, consumer groups have mostly focused their ire on Live Nation Entertainment, the company that owns Ticketmaster and controls the bulk of ticket sales and venues in the U.S. for touring music artists. But the debate is spreading to artists, major men’s professional sports teams like the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco 49ers, and independent venues with capacity for 1,000 people or fewer, including more than 600 in California alone.
Most people are being vocal about “how this is an attempt to shoot at Ticketmaster and Live Nation,” said Julia Heath, president of the California chapter of the National Independent Venue Association. “What’s actually happening is they are aiming at them, but they are hitting everybody else, too.”
The biggest disagreement was over whether to allow teams, venues and artists to restrict how fans could resell tickets they purchased.
A bill to allow teams, venues and artists restrict how fans can resell tickets passed the Senate but failed to pass the Assembly this year after drawing concerns from consumer groups. State Sen. Anna Caballero, the bill’s author, promised to hold a hearing on the issue once the Legislature adjourns.
A bill by Assemblymember Laura Friedman would ban venues and artists from restricting resales. The measure also would have required venues to disclose how many tickets were available for an event to prevent “holdbacks.” Ultimately, the bill was changed to remove both of those provisions after attracting strong industry opposition.
“It’s been very difficult. It had a very strong and concerted effort from the very beginning lobby against this bill,” said Friedman, who added she was disappointed the bill was not stronger.
Industry groups also are disappointed. Heath, who represents independent venues, called it a “do-nothing bill.”
“A lot of the things we took issue with are gone, but we also see it as a missed opportunity,” she said. “There are issues in the ticketing world right now that need to be addressed.”
Not everyone is disappointed. Jenn Engstrom, state director for the California Public Interest Research Group, said while it would be great to solve all of those problems, banning hidden fees is still a win for consumers.
“I’m just all about incremental change,” she said. “This is a good first step.”
Taylor Swift announced the release of her album ‘1989 (Taylor’s Version)’ during her final Eras Tour show in LA. V of BTS released the first track off his debut solo album ‘Layover.’ 60 people have reportedly been injured at Travis Scott’s show at Colossum after someone in the crowd sprayed pepper spray into the audience. […]
At long last, Taylor Swift has arrived in Los Angeles for the final stop of her U.S. tour — or so fans thought.
Earlier on Thursday, August 3 — hours before the superstar would take the stage at SoFi Stadium — she announced a second leg of North American dates for 2024. The new dates include stops in Miami, New Orleans, Indianapolis and Toronto. “Turns out it’s NOT the end of an era,” Swift wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter).
And as she made perfectly clear on the first of her six-night run in L.A., slowing down is simply not in the cards. Neither is performing the same show night after night, as evidenced by the addition of two surprise songs to each set list, which Swift says is a fun way to challenge herself to dig deep into her extensive catalog — while also keeping fans on their toes, creating a sort of “gotta catch ’em all” energy.
But on Thursday, there was an even greater buzz radiating throughout the packed stadium as 70,000 fans poured in, many of whom were eagerly discussing rumors that Selena Gomez may make an appearance or that the next Taylor’s Version could be announced on this very night.
That’s the thing about the Eras Tour: it’s safe to expect the unexpected.
As it turns out, neither rumor was true. And yet, Swift’s opening night was nothing short of magical and filled with firsts, like having never performed at SoFi before or selecting a surprise song that she has never played live. And thankfully, it was all captured by a cameraman following her every move on stage, filming for something, as Swift managed to kick her power and poise into an even higher gear.
The night also included stellar opening sets from Gracie Abrams, who will join Swift on her 2024 dates, and HAIM. Of the sister trio, Swift said: “Not only are these three individuals my besties, but they’re my favorite band,” also noting it was a hometown show for the rockers.
“We have a lot to catch up on, musically speaking,” Swift said later on. “I haven’t toured in five years before the Eras Tour; This is the last city on the U.S. leg and we knew we wanted to end someplace special.”
And that is was. Below are the best moments from Swift’s opening night in L.A.
HAIM’s Not-So-Surprise Guest Appearance
The Contenders is a midweek column that looks at artists aiming for the top of the Billboard charts, and the strategies behind their efforts. This week (for the upcoming charts dated July 22), Taylor Swift once again leaves the rest of the pop world in the dust with perhaps her best-performing Taylor’s Version full-album recreation yet.
Taylor Swift, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) (Republic): When it was released in 2010 as her third album, Speak Now became Taylor Swift’s first set to sell over a million copies in its first week. Her Taylor’s Version re-recording of the fan-favorite album might not post a seven-digit debut, but it’s already come closer than any other album in 2023. Billboard reported on Tuesday (July 11) that this Speak Now had passed 575,000 equivalent album units in just its first four days — already blowing past the 501,000 moved by previous mark-setter, Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time, in its first frame.
Those would be incredible numbers for any new release in 2023, let alone one where 16 of the 22 tracks included are near-soundalike re-dos of 13-year-old songs. Making the 400,000 in direct sales that the album has already accrued even more impressive is that the album is only available in a handful of physical editions – three vinyl variants (including an exclusive color for Target), a CD, a cassette, and a digital release – compared to many 2020s best-sellers (including Swift’s own 2022 blockbuster Midnights), which are released in dozens of physical editions to maximize fan purchases.
Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) has already put Swift’s peers in its rearview, but how will it compare to her own recently set standards? It’s unlikely to get close to the first-week numbers of Midnights, which scored an unthinkable-for-2022 1.578 million units. But it has a very good chance of passing 2021’s Red (Taylor’s Version), which debuted with 605,000 units, to become the biggest first week for any of her three re-recordings to date.
To pass Red (Taylor’s Version) would also be pretty staggering for this Speak Now, considering it has fewer tracks (22 to Red (TV)’s 30) and lacks a song driving as much pre-release excitement as that set’s “All Too Well (10-Minute Version),” which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 the same week the new Red topped the Billboard 200. (“I Can See You,” one of the set’s six first-time recordings, did receive a music video co-starring Speak Now-era Taylorverse fixtures Joey King, Taylor Lautner and Presley Cash, and looks to be due for a major Hot 100 debut next week.)
In the Mix
Lucki, S*x M*ney Dr*gs (EMPIRE): One of the most acclaimed rappers from the current rising wave of Chicago MCs, Lucki reached a career-best No. 12 on the Billboard 200 with 2012’s Flawless Like Me set. He may do even better with this month’s S*x M*ney Dr*gs mixtape, which only features one guest (fellow cult favorite Veeze) on its 15 tracks, but is already posting career-best streaming numbers that most rappers would be, well, lucky to have in 2023.
Dominic Fike, Sunburn (Columbia): If you listened to Spotify’s New Music Friday playlist last week, you might have noticed that the lead track was not from Taylor Swift’s latest, but rather from the long-awaited second album for singer-songwriter Dominic Fike. Columbia executives still have big hopes for Fike, who greatly increased his profile last year with a big role on HBO phenomenon Euphoria, and he may have something of a breakout hit with the album’s “Mona Lisa” — written for and briefly included on the deluxe edition of Metro Boomin’s Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse soundtrack — which climbs to No. 36 on Billboard’s Pop Airplay chart this week.
Lana Del Rey, Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd (Polydor/Interscope): Lana Del Rey’s ninth album debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 in April — and while it’s remained on the chart for the past 15 weeks, it’s dropped all the way to No. 184. It should rebound significantly next week, though. thanks to a recent vinyl reissue with a cover featuring a partially nude photo of Del Rey. (She had previously considered the image for the album’s original cover, before deciding to “let the songs do the talking for now.”)
Taylor Swift encouraged fans to “make the friendship bracelets, take the moment and taste it” in her Midnights track, “You’re on Your Own, Kid,” and Swifties did just that. Trading colorful, beaded friendship bracelets has officially become a fun activity for attendees of Swift’s sweeping Eras stadium tour, with fans taking to social media to […]
Taylor Swift’s “Cruel Summer,” now being promoted as her new single after it was released on her 2019 album Lover, jumps from No. 13 to No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart (dated July 15). The song becomes her 41st top 10 – extending her record for the most among women. The track, which […]
When Taylor Swift announced the arrival of Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) back in May, a lot of fans and journalists wondered if she might change the lyrics on one of the album’s most controversial songs, “Better Than Revenge.” Now that the re-recording has arrived, what’s the verdict? She lit a match to the infamous lyrics. […]