It’s a new year and a new record for Taylor Swift!
Last week, MRC Data released its year-end data and revealed that Swift’s Folklore was the top-selling album of 2020. This is especially notable because Swift is the first artist in the MRC Data era (going back to 1992) to claim the best-selling album of the year five times. She was previously tied with Adele, with four year-end best-sellers, but Swift notably earned the honor with five different albums, while Adele’s 21 and 25 each had two years apiece at the top.
On the new episode of the Billboard Pop Shop Podcast (listen below), Katie & Keith break down why the achievement is such a big deal and make (very, very early) predictions for who might score the best-selling album in 2021. Could Swift’s December release Evermore be this year’s top-seller? Will Adele or Swift put out new music (we’re looking for that album trilogy, Taylor) and end up on top yet again? Take a listen to all our theories below:
Also on the show, we talk about the Grammy Awards telecast being pushed from Jan. 31 to March 14 due to COVID-19, plus chart news about Justin Bieber scoring his 22nd top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with his latest single “Anyone,” how the brother trio AJR notch their first top 10 on the Hot 100 with “Bang!,” and how Evermore returns to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, and, in doing so, Swift ties Michael Jackson for the fourth-most cumulative weeks atop the list ever.
The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard’s weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard’s deputy editor, digital, Katie Atkinson and senior director of Billboard charts Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)
