Saturday, November 6, 2010

Blondes Have More... Record Sales? #1 Debuts for Ke$ha and Taylor Swift

In a huge week of music news, Ke$ha scored a number one debut for her new song "We R Who We R." And while I usually just focus on the Hot 100, I have to discuss the Billboard 200 (for full albums rather than songs) because Taylor Swift's Speak Now is the first album in five years to sell over a million copies in one week.

Ke$ha scored a number one debut on the Hot 100.

Ke$ha's "We R Who We R," the lead single off of her upcoming EP 'Cannibal' debuted at number one on the Hot 100 because of its strong sales on iTunes; it was number one all last week. This is Ke$ha's second number one song, after last year's ubiquitous "Tik Tok." I think it's important to note that Ke$ha has gone 5 for 5 for songs making the top 10 of the Hot 100. She has a lot of detractors, but she is obviously also has a lot of fans that propelled all four singles from her "Animal" album and now "We R Who We R" to the upper echelon of the charts.

Listen to the song here: We R Who We R

Ke$ha's debut basically pushes every other song down one notch, as the rest of the top 10 is virtually the same as last week.

In the number 11 slot is a huge jump from Willow Smith with her debut single "Whip My Hair." It was number 78 last week and made its tremendous jump because it became available on iTunes. Smith is the 9-year-old daughter of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith. When I heard she was going to have a music career, I was very skeptical. I wanted to hate her because I felt she was entitled, was going to have a career handed to her, and was too young to be entering the music business. While all of this may still be true, I cannot deny the catchiness of this song. It's song that little kids will love but it has mass appeal, as evidenced by the fact that many of my friends (male and female) are obsessed with the song. If she continues to get good guidance, I think Willow Smith could have a long and prosperous career ahead of her. Watch her cool video here (which has 12 million views!): Whip My Hair video

Willow Smith, who has Youtube and dance sensation "Whip My Hair."

And now to the queen of music of the moment, Taylor Swift. She sold 1,047,000 copies of her third album "Speak Now" in its first week of release. She is the first artist to sell over a million copies in one week since Lil Wayne's 2005 album "Tha Carter III." In today's music age of declining sales, this is an extraordinary feat. Selling a million copies in the late 90s and early 200s was somewhat common, but it is nearly impossible in 2010. Swift showed just how devoted and broad her fanbase is.



Swift also made singles chart history. The Hot 100 chart features 11 appearances from Swift, all songs from Speak Now. She is the first female artist  to have that many songs appear on the Hot 100 and the first overall artist ever to have so many songs from one album chart at the same time. Swift is another artist who in recent months has seen her fair share of detractors but it is evident that she has a huge fanbase.

2 comments:

  1. I like your placement of photos throughout the story. It keeps the story colorful and interesting. I also like your title – it is witty but informative. I would suggest breaking up your paragraphs into smaller pieces so that it is easier to read. Overall, good job!

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  2. That little kid that sings whip my hair has way more skills than me it makes me look bad lol

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