Sales of Taylor Swift's 'Red' off to a flying start

Taylor Swift may never, ever be getting back together with a certain beau, but she seems strongly positioned to getting back above the 1 million first-week sales mark with her new album. According to her label, Big Machine Records, "Red" bolted out of the starting gate with 262,000 copies sold the first day on iTunes alone.

Big Machine noted that the record went to No. 1 on iTunes' all-genre Top Albums chart just 36 minutes after it was released at 12:01 a.m. Monday. The label also said “Red” was responsible for more than 4½ million individual iTunes song downloads to date in the U.S. Swift's song “Everything Has Changed” also shot to No. 1 on iTunes' Top Songs chart, one of 13 tracks from the album to reach the chart’s Top 20.

Swift’s fourth studio collection also tops Amazon.com’s list of bestselling albums, having spent 61 days in the Top 100, based on pre-release orders. Amazon is selling “Red” for $9.99, compared to $14.99 for the iTunes album download. Target.com also has the regular edition of “Red” priced at $9.99, while a deluxe edition with six exclusive bonus tracks (available only in Target stores) is selling for $14.99.

Music industry veterans will be watching to see whether “Red” will top first-week sales of her 2010 album “Speak Now,” which sold 1,047,000 copies during its first week, making it the fastest selling album since rapper 50 Cent’s “The Massacre” notched 1.14 million copies more than five years earlier.

Only two other albums have tallied more than a million first-week sales since 50 Cent: Lil Wayne’s “Tha Carter III,” which sold 1,006,000 in 2008, and Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way,” with 1,108,000 last year. Because Amazon discounted the full “Born This Way” album to 99 cents for two days, many argued that its first-week results deserved an asterisk because the slashed price generated additional sales of more than 400,000 copies.

Billboard subsequently changed its sales-reporting policy to exclude albums sold for less than $3.49 during the first four weeks of release.

Swift's media blitz for "Red" continues this week. She gave a concert in New York's Times Square on Tuesday on ABC-TV’s “Good Morning America” that was reported as the largest in the show’s history. She’ll also be a guest Tuesday night on CBS’ “Late Night With David Letterman," followed by a live appearance on “The View” on Wednesday. Friday marks another busy day as Swift will perform on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” join Katie Couric on “Katie” and be featured in a special edition of “20/20” looking at Nashville, which Couric will also host.

The TV deluge will continue when she shows up Oct. 30 to perform on “Dancing With the Stars,” followed by an appearance at “The 41st Annual CMA Awards” show on Nov. 1.

“Red” also gives Swift the title of the fastest accumulation of 50 hits on the Billboard Top 100. She did it in less than half the time of the previous record holder, Aretha Franklin, who totaled 50 Hot 100 hits in 14 years and six months. Swift has now reached that mark six years and one month since the release of her 2006 debut album, “Taylor Swift.”

Taylor Swift on New Album ‘Red’ and Life in the Spotlight

Music superstar Taylor Swift, whose newest album, “Red,” has already shot to No. 1 on iTunes since its midnight release, said writing the album challenged her like nothing had before. “I tended to really explore the edges of what I’m allowed to do,” Swift said today on “Good Morning America.” “Pushing myself and taking myself out of my comfort zone, which is writing alone and going and working with my heroes, songwriters that have influenced me my whole career.

It really, really kind of challenged me in the best way possible.” Swift, who writes or co-writes all her songs, said she is writing non-stop and that the adventurous album takes her music to places she never thought her “music would ever go.” “I’m writing all the time. I wrote a new [song] two days ago. … I just grab a guitar and make stuff up,” Swift said of her creative process. “When I started writing songs when I was 12, I would run to my room and write songs about a difficult day at school or something like that. It’s kind of carried me my whole life and allowed me to filter through really complicated emotions and make them simple.” 

“Red” features the single “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” which has become a smash hit worldwide and prompted much speculation about the ex who inspired the catchy breakup ballad. Swift does not name names, but said she draws motivation for her songs from real-life. “For me, music is my way of understanding what I’m feeling,” 

Swift said. “I don’t really talk about my love life. I kind of sing about it a lot because I really think that it sounds more poetic and romantic about it with music behind it. “My fans know that I’m going to give them the real version of what happened to me in my music and they know that what they read about blogs and gossip sites may or may not be true. They can kind of tell if it’s true or not because they know me.” Watch Taylor Swift perform LIVE on “Good Morning America” Tuesday at 7 a.m. ET. Swift has forged an accelerated route to fame, reaching many career milestones by age 22.

“Red” marks her fourth No. 1 album in a row. Her previous album, 2010′s “Speak Now,” won her two Grammys and sold more than 1 million copies in its first week. The singer-songwriter already has six Grammys to her name, has graced the cover of countless magazines, amassed a diehard fan base that “blows her away” and a huge following of almost 20 million Twitter followers and nearly 35 million on Facebook.

Living her life in such a bright spotlight, with paparazzi watching her every step and misstep, is something Swift said she’s come to accept. “There is a pressure to not make a mistake,” she said. “I’m at an age where I’m supposed to be learning lessons, and I have to really kind of minimize the mistakes that I make because it’s important. I have these people that I count on me. That’s part of it that I’ve come to terms with.”

As Swift has learned to deal with the spotlight, her parents has also adjusted to her success. “My dad goes around with all of these guitar picks from my tour in his pocket and hands them to strangers and he makes friends anywhere he goes and loves it. He’s the friendliest guy in the world,” she gushed. “My mom is really sweet because she has really great taste and really logical opinions, and so I ask her for advice about everything. We are really close.” Swift also opened up to George Stephanopoulos in the “GMA” interview about her first celebrity crush (Taylor Hanson), favorite comfort food (Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal or Pop Tarts), and her hidden talents (antique shopping). 

The reigning CMA Entertainer of the Year, will perform next week at the Country Music Awards, where she is nominated again this year. Also on the list for Swift in the next year will be a tour for the album, which she said she has high hopes for. “I would love to have this album be something that really I’m proud of and put together the tour and have it be a show that’s worth people paying their money and spending the evening with us to see it,” she said. “I want to make this show better than anything we’ve done before.”

Taylor Swift beats Bieber to top Forbes highest-paid under 30 list

Taylor Swift has topped Forbes Magazine’s list of the highest paid celebrities under the age of 30, earning an estimated 57 million dollars for the year ending in May. The 22-year-old singer beat out teen heartthrob Justin Bieber who snagged second place with 55 million dollars.

Each of the Grammy-winning singer’s three albums has gone platinum at least four times, and the You Belong With Me singer rakes in 1 million dollars per concert on top of her lucrative CoverGirl cosmetics contract, Forbes said.

Bieber, 18, got second place with his earning from music sales, sold-out concerts and endorsements for products like the skincare line Proactiv.

The Canadian crooner, whose video for Baby is the second most watched on YouTube, also boasts of an enviable investment portfolio with stakes in the popular start-up companies Tinychat and Spotify, Forbes said.

Rihanna, 24, edged out last year’s first place winner Lady Gaga, 26, for third place with 53 million dollars.

The Barbados-born singer earned her impressive haul from her recent Talk That Talk album, an 85-night concert tour and endorsement deals with Vita Coco coconut water and Nivea lotion.

Gaga got dropped to fourth place this year because the list’s May deadline hit before she embarked on her latest world tour, Forbes said.

The Poker Face singer had earned an estimated 52 million dollars, down from 90 million dollars last year.

Singers Katy Perry, 27, and Adele, 24, came in fifth and sixth with estimated earnings of 45 million dollars and 35 million dollars respectively.

Twilight actress Kristen Stewart, rapper Lil Wayne and Twilight actors Taylor Lautner and Robert Pattison rounded out the list with earnings between 26.5 million dollars and 34.5 million dollars.

“We’re seeing this confluence of talented young female stars. They have such distinct personalities and sounds, they can all co-exist without cannibalizing each other,” the New York Daily News quoted list author Dorothy Pomerantz as saying.

Pomerantz said that Swift embodies youth, innocence and the struggle of being a teen while Rihanna is the edgy bad girl and Adele is all about stripped-down “heartfelt” vocals.

She also attributed young female singers’ wealth to benefit from bigger endorsement contracts in the areas of beauty, health and fashion.

This year’s list did not include athletes as it has in the past.

“Athletes are at the height of their career when they’re under 30, so they tend to earn a lot more,” Pomerantz said.

“We do a lot of athlete lists, so we wanted this list to focus on Hollywood and entertainment,” she added. (ANI)