Just a day or so ago, Taylor Swift finally announced 1989 (Taylor’s Version), the latest in her series of re-recorded early albums. The set, which will see her rework and add new tunes to her pop blockbuster 1989, is coming in late October. The immense excitement around the announcement may be so huge that it could have a very meaningful impact on the first edition of the catchy set.
Currently, 1989 stands as Swift’s second-biggest album in America in terms of units shifted. The title has been certified nine-times platinum by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America). That means the blockbuster has moved nine million equivalent units. It has managed that huge sum thanks in part to huge sales but also due to the success of its many singles.
The RIAA takes streams of songs featured on an album into consideration, and they factor heavily into its current methodology when it comes to certifying titles. So the more fans stream the songs on 1989, the more equivalent album units it moves. Singles like “Shake It Off,” “Blank Space,” and “Bad Blood” all rank as among Swift’s biggest and most-certified, so as listeners continue to press play on them (and many others from the project) regularly and throughout the nearly nine years since 1989 debuted, they are helping to add more equivalent album units to its total.
Now that 1989 and the updated 1989 (Taylor’s Version) are in the news and trending across social media, attention to that music has been renewed. Millions around the country are bound to turn to streaming sites and continue streaming 1989 in huge numbers, perhaps in even greater ones than recently.
As fans continue to stream (and even buy) 1989 and its many hit songs, they add to its growing total, and they may soon listen enough to give the album another platinum plaque. At the rate that 1989 and its singles are being played, the set could go diamond before 1989 (Taylor’s Version) drops in October.
If, or more like when, 1989 does earn a diamond certification, it will mark Swift’s second album to collect that prize. Her sophomore set Fearless is already her biggest yet, sitting pretty at 10 million equivalent units shifted. Soon, 1989 may join it, making Swift one of a very small number of acts to collect more than one of these highly coveted awards.
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