A GOLD RECORD IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH.
Just before Taylor Swift released her
new album 1989, the Internet was in a tizzy over the fact that
no records had yet to go platinumin 2014. Of course once 1989 dropped, the curse was broken — the album has sold over 3.5 million copies since being released in October.
There's a good chance we won't have the same platinum drought this year — a lot of big artists are releasing albums over the next few months, so it's not a matter of if someone will sell a million copies of their new release, it's a matter of who does it first.
Bob Dylan and Madonna, who both have new albums coming out in February and March, respectively, have both sold millions and millions of records in the past. (Though Madonna's relevancy record sales have been on the decline — her last platinum album was 2005's Confessions on a Dance Floor. And how commercially viable is His Bobness in 2015?) And while I don't expect Fall Out Boy, who will release their new record American Beauty/American Psycho later this month, to go platinum, it does look like a possibility since the album's first single, "Centuries," has already reached that mark. (Though, it's worth noting, their last release, Save Rock and Roll, has sold 640,000 as of October 2014, says Wikipedia).
Kid Rock, who isn't excited about marrying gay couples but isn't opposed to it either, will release First Kiss on February 24 and while I'd assume that's a no-brainer (he has sold over 25 million records worldwide, after all) his last album, 2012's Rebel Soul, only went gold ... and I can't imagine making homophobic remarks right before your record release will help out your cause.
More real possibilities exist with the artists who don't yet have set dates for their rumored upcoming albums — Drake, Coldplay, Macklemore, Metallica, Katy Perry and Fleetwood Mac are all maybe, possibly going to put out a new record sometime in the next 12 months and they've all gone platinum before. Perhaps it can happen for them again?
Yeah, there are a lot of opportunities for platinum sellers, but not a lot of guarantees (at least not the same way Taylor Swift's 1989 was a guarantee), so this week's Lunchtime Poll wants to know: Do you think anyone will go platinum this year? If so, who'll be the first to get there? Or do you think 2014's drought was a sign of what's to come?
And of course, there's also country. Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan and Zac Brown Band are each expected to unleash full-length, radio-friendly collections twang in 2015.
