Taylor Swift’s “Reputation” will be number 1 this week when all the sales are counted at the end of today.
But the sales difference from week 1 to week 2 is unprecedented: “Reputation” fell around 87%, from 1.3 million to around 165,000. That’s a first, and maybe the biggest drop ever.
Swift”s “1989” album, which also debuted with 1.3 million back in 2014, dropped just 69% in its second week with sales of over 400,000 copies.
“Reputation,” very simply, doesn’t seem to have legs. As I’ve said before, this week, the album has singles but no hits. There’s no “Hello” as Adele had or even a “Shape of You,” a la Ed Sheeran. The biggest hit so far from “Rep” is based on “I’m Too Sexy,” from the 90s.
At this rate, “Reputation” should drop at least 50 to 75% over the next week. The debut week will comprise most of the sales.