First-day album sales for Taylor Swift’s fourth studio release reached 262,000 on iTunes, with over 4.5 million song downloads in the U.S. alone. Red bolted to the top of the iTunes all-genre Top Albums chart only 36 minutes after the 12:01 a.m. release on Monday. “Everything Has Changed” also snagged the No. 1 spot on iTunes’ Top Songs, joining 12 other Red tracks on the chart’s Top 20.
At the current rate, Swift is poised to become the first artist in a decade to have two consecutive albums reach over 1 million sales within a single week. Swift’s last project, Speak Now, sold 1.047 million copies within a week of its debut in 2010 – a feat which has since been achieved only by Lady Gaga’s Born This Way. Gaga’s 1.108 million sold albums were aided in part by Amazon’s 99 cent album pricing throughout two days of release week.
The pop-country songstress painted the town Red on Tuesday morning in support of the new album, with a free concert in New York City’s Times Square for ABC-TV’s “Good Morning America.” The ensuing crowd has been reported as the largest in the show’s history. Swift will be bouncing between media outlets throughout the week – with an appearance on CBS’ “Late Night with David Letterman” on Tuesday night, a live appearance on “The View” on Wednesday, and a performance on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” on Thursday. The media surge will continue on Friday, with Swift joining Katie Couric on ABC’s “Katie,” followed by a special edition of “20/20” in Nashville.
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