Chart Beat Podcast: What Should the Next Singles Be From Taylor Swift’s ‘Reputation’?
Gary & Trevor play record executives.
Welcome to the Billboard Chart Beat Podcast, where each week co-hosts Gary Trust and Trevor Anderson, from the Billboard charts department, discuss why what’s on the charts … is on the charts, while also looking at current chart action in a historical context for even greater insights.
This week, it’s (almost) all about Taylor Swift, and, specifically, what the next singles should be from her new album, Reputation. The set, already 2017’s top-selling album from just its first four days of availability, at 1.05 million copies sold in the U.S., according to Nielsen Music, has so far spun off the three-week Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 “Look What You Made Me Do” and No. 4-peaking follow-up “…Ready for It?,” which is still rising at radio.
What are the songs that could carry Reputation through upcoming months? Gary and Trevor debate whether “Gorgeous,” the Future and Ed Sheeran-assisted “End Game” or “Getaway Car” would be best, while coming back to the fun “This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things,” too. (Gary also cites ballad “New Year’s Day” as a possible country-specific single; making us look smart, or lucky, between the podcast’s recording on Tuesday and its posting, Big Machine Records has serviced it to country radio.)
Ultimate verdict: whatever the order, the set sounds packed with more potential chart hits.
Meanwhile, WBBM-FM (B96) Chicago assistant program director/music director Erik Bradley offers industry insider insights on Reputation. “My favorite track on the album is … the entire album,” he muses. “As usual, she delivers the goods.” Bradley has his own choices for further potential singles from the set, including “Delicate” and “Don’t Blame Me,” while seconding “Nice Things.” “I think that title will really connect. And, the texture feels like ‘Bad Blood 2018.’ “
Plus, Billboard‘s Nashville-based senior chart manager Jim Asker stops by to discuss two timely, and lyrically positive, new country hits: Keith Urban‘s “Female” and Luke Bryan‘s “Most People Are Good” (which debut at Nos. 21 and 36, respectively, on the Hot Country Songs chart). “I’m really happy to see country music taking this slight turn,” Asker says of the tracks that offer a thought-provoking respite from more typical lighter fare. “They’re not political songs, but they’re in response to what’s going on in our world. Good for Nashville, right?”
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