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Singles have taken on a new form since digital music really started to expand beyond iTunes. Having a video and receiving (x) number of views is an excellent way to predict the degree of hype surround the album release. So videos leading to Twitter trends leading to increased digital sales all factor into a Billboard chart position now, and if three or four videos all blow up like Taylor Swift's recent singles, then it's safe to assume your sales are going to be good.
But "good" these days is a joke compared to the old days. Pearl Jam's Vs. had such a massive opening it was ridiculous. Lines around the block at Tower Records. Shipped like 930,000 units. By the time N'Sync and Eminem started hitting the million+ in a week Mark, Pearl Jam's sales seemed almost quaint.
But now - shit - 150,000 is enough to top the charts. The biggest bands in the world (Coldplay, U2) are lucky to move 700,000 in an entire year! Now PJ's sales seem unreal, and N'Sync's seem like the stuff of fucking fiction.
Taylor Swift just sold 1 million+ in her first week for (I think) the *third time in a row* moving more units and doing more trending than the rest of the year's top ten selling albums combined in just 7 days. I think the key to that insane kind of success in this music industry version of the dark ages is a direct result of very carefully placed "singles," a nice mix of fan hype and controversy, and the BRILLIANTLY idea "she" (her label) had to keep her new album off of Spotify. Ding ding, that did it. Spotify has become so massive that it's turned into its own Achilles Heel. All an artist has to do is withhold, withhold, withhold, and hello album sales.
I used to think Spotify was going to revolutionize the new music world, and help lesser known bands promote their music. But the really BIG artist have nothing to gain from using/being used by the service. Spotify can't adequately compensate Taylor Swift for letting them use her music. The amount she'd make from them in a year is less than she probably makes for five minutes of performing at a moderately sized arena.
She could buy Spotify and everyone on its staff and sell them like trading cards or pain pills. She could employ the entire service to ONLY play her music and it would probably double in size in 6 months. She could buy the Internet and remove Spotify from it entirely, then sign it and sell it to Apple and walk away with enough money to buy her way into the executive branch of government, and become Obama's BOSS, the Queen of America.
Just sayin. Singles are still relevant and Taylor Swift is unbelievably popular. 'Sabout it.
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