Why Taylor Swift's 'Evermore,' 'Folklore' success could mean more surprise albums

Alexandra Canal
·Senior Reporter
Updated 3 min read
0

Fans are now convinced: Taylor Swift has officially saved 2020.

The pop star unveiled her ninth studio album “Evermore” at midnight on Thursday— her second surprise album this year.

Less than 24 hours later, audience interest is already spiking with Taylor Swift searches surging on the Apple Music platform on Friday, according to analytics platform Chartmetric.

Swift described he new release as the “sister record” to her hugely successful (and Grammy-nominated) summer hit “Folklore,” which was released just five months ago.

(Source: Chartmetric)
(Source: Chartmetric)

And the quick-release strategy suggests more surprise albums could be on the way.

“I’ve never done this before,” Swift wrote in an Instagram post on Thursday. “In the past I’ve always treated albums as one-off eras and moved onto planning the next one after an album was released. There was something different with ‘folklore.’”

Previously, Swift’s albums arrived in 2- to 3-year time frames.

“Red” was released in 2012. “1989” followed in 2014. The controversial “Reputation” arrived in 2017. “Lover” in 2019, and then “Folklore” and “Evermore” both in 2020.

Taylor Swift performs onstage during the 55th Academy of Country Music Awards at the Grand Ole Opry on September 16, 2020 in Nashville, Tennessee.
Taylor Swift performs onstage during the 55th Academy of Country Music Awards at the Grand Ole Opry on September 16, 2020 in Nashville, Tennessee.

Fellow pop stars like Ariana Grande have also hopped on the trend – Grande released a new record every year since 2018.

It’s reflective of the changing era of music where quantity sometimes outweighs quality and surprise album drops often fuel the trending lists (especially amid a pandemic when touring is not possible.)

Furthermore, in the age of streaming, the value of songs and recordings have skyrocketed.

Music publishers in the U.S. collected $3.7 billion in 2019 — up 11.6% year-on-year, and the equivalent of just over $10 million a day, according to a recent report from The National Music Publishers’ Association.

Just this week, legendary singer and songwriter Bob Dylan — who had previously controlled most of his songwriting — sold over 600 copyrights spanning 60 years to Universal Music Group in a record deal valued between $200 and $300 million, according to Bloomberg and The New York Times.

Also last month Stevie Knicks sold a majority stake in her songwriting catalog valued at about $100 million, according to multiple reports.

Taylor Swift is likely to strike similar deals of her own — especially under her new record agreement with Universal Music Group.

Unlike her first six albums — which are currently under the ownership of a private investment firm that bought the records from celebrity talent manager Scooter Braun in a deal valued at over $300 million — Swift now owns 100% of her latest master recordings. That means the more her songs are streamed, the more money she’ll pocket in royalties.

So far, “Folklore” has snatched 1.95 million in overall sales in the U.S., according to The Wall Street Journal, citing MRC Data/Nielsen Music.

Alexandra is a Producer & Entertainment Correspondent at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @alliecanal8193

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