Taylor Swift's "1989" is the Fastest Selling Album Since Usher's "Confessions"

It's hard to imagine the music industry before Taylor Swift. Ever since she burst onto the scene with the record breaking "Our Song", Swift has slowly but surely climbed up the ladder of leading female pop stars, breaking record after record after record. Who knew the young girl Kanye West interrupted back at the VMA's in 2009 would be a pop music titan.

It's even harder to measure up Swift's latest album "1989" to that of her debut, or even Album of the Year winner "Fearless". Not just because "1989" sees Swift finally admitting she's a pop star (something she had hinted at with releases like 'Love Story' and 'You Belong With Me' before moving on to 'We Are Never Getting Back Together'), but because Swift has truly grown as a lyricist and as an artist.

'Shake It Off' and 'Blank Space' (the two first outings from the record) have been huge successes, and even 'Style' and 'Bad Blood' have followed in their footsteps. But the album's commercial performance has exceeded all expectations. Though Swift has always been a trustworthy artist when it comes to record sales (her debut scanned 5x platinum in the US alone), no one expected "1989" to perform as well as it has.

True, it was predicted to break the record for highest first week sales of all time for a female artist (a feat established by Britney Spears' "Oops!... I Did It Again"), and while it just missed that number, it became Swift's highest first week sales (at 1.287 million copies sold). Since then, "1989" has not left the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 200, and has hit #1 on iTunes multiple times since being released last year. As of yesterday, the album has become the fastest selling record to reach 5 million copies sold in the US since Usher released "Confessions" about a decade ago.

The obvious comparison to "1989" is most obviously Adele's gargantuan "21", released back in 2011 that was credited with reviving the music industry with its incredible sales. That album has since sold 30 million copies worldwide, and is the first album to scan Diamond (10 million copies sold) in years. No album since has even come close; in an age where the album is a dying medium, a platinum certification (1 million copies sold) is hard enough for artists to achieve. Swift, however, could be the next artist to reach that feat, or at least come close.

The continued success of "1989" may be that it's one of those albums that everyone can relate to, much like "21" was. Though many of Swift's past records seemed to focus on a specific relationship/relationships, this album is much more broad in its subject matter. Her songs have always been relatable, but it seems as if she's graduated from writing songs like 'Dear John' (clearly about her fling with John Mayer). 'Clean', the album's closing track, boasts a maturity lacking from her earlier songs, while still containing the poetic imagery that makes a Taylor Swift song so vivid and effective: "The drought was the very worst, when the flowers we'd grown together died of thirst." This is also the most fun Swift has sounded on a record. The songs aren't all about breaking up or pining over some guy, in fact, those days seem to be over. Not only does Swift embrace her 'man-eater' persona created by the media (to hilarious effect in"Blank Space"), but she encourages cutting loose and having a great time ('Shake it Off'). 'Welcome to New York' is effective as the first song on the album, because it you can tell Swift is entering a whole new phase not only in her career, but her life, and it's a thrill to listen to.

Though "1989" is a pop album, it sounds very different from anything else the other pop girls are releasing/what's on the radio. Inspired by the music of Cyndi Lauper, Madonna and Brenda Carlisle, Swift manages to write a love letter to 80's pop music while simultaneously sounding fresh and innovative. The epic production of 'Out of the Woods', the bleacher stomping romp that is 'Bad Blood' and even the Lana Del Rey-ness of 'Wildest Dreams' make this Swift's most eclectic, adventurous outing yet.

Swift also has finally seemed to hit her stride with her public image, embraced by both her large fanbase (ever growing), the media and the general public. She interacts directly with fans on her Tumblr account, Twitter and Instagram, something a lot of other artists don't do. She invited over 100 fans to a "1989" listening party in her apartment, where she baked cookies for them to enjoy. But it's her growing image as a 'music industry titan' that's warranting more attention as of late. Specifically the open letter to Apple encouraging them to pay artists per stream during the first 3 month trial of Apple Music. Though I feel this was a staged PR opportunity, the media lauded Swift; the phrase "Taylor Swift Brings Apple to their Knees" was a phrase used in many headlines in reports on the story. Add in the fact that her and boyfriend Calvin Harris have replaced Beyoncé as the highest paid couple, and the overwhelming success makes a lot more sense.

But whatever the reason, "1989" doesn't seem to be letting up its reign as the highest selling album of last year (and maybe even this year) any time soon; as of this week, it's sitting pretty at #3 in its 36th week. Currently, Swift is still promoting the record on the "1989 World Tour" up until the end of this year, which has already made over $32 million. It seems like Swift's 7 Grammy's will have some friends by the time the next ceremony airs.

It very well seems to be Taylor Swift's world, and we're all just living in it. *insert cheesy 'Shake it Off' pun here*