In the event you wanted additional proof that the music business rises and units with Taylor Swift, simply ask Robbie Williams. The UK pop legend just lately revealed that he needed to delay his newest album, Britpop, to keep away from direct competitors with all that’s Swift-Mania.
“We’re all pretending [the scheduling change] will not be about Taylor Swift, nevertheless it f**king is,” Williams mentioned. “You may’t compete with that.”
The revelation (through Billboard) got here throughout Williams’ Thursday night set at London’s Dingwalls. The occasion was successfully two gigs: The night started with an in-full efficiency of Williams’ seminal 1997 debut album, Life Via A Lens, earlier than switching to a preview of the singer’s upcoming thirteenth studio album. Reportedly this present had been scheduled to coincide with Britpop’s authentic launch (October tenth) earlier than that LP was pushed again attributable to an undefined sequence of “scheduling points.”
Williams — who will now launch Britpop on February sixth, 2026 — isn’t the primary main artist to expertise the unbridled drive of Swift-dom. Not too long ago, followers on-line believed that Drake pushed back his long-awaited Iceman to keep away from related competitors with Showgirl. In the meantime, in October 2024, each Joe Jonas and Shawn Mendes reportedly delayed their albums to keep away from the heft of Swift‘s repute (Taylor’s Model). There have been even rumblings on Reddit just lately that Harry Kinds may need pushed again his personal album plans attributable to Swift’s newest.
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Now, admittedly, loads of that is rumour and rumors. However with Williams having the chutzpah to return proper out and say it, it might make sense for many artists to be savvy sufficient with their plans when “competing” with Swift. Per Billboard, Showgirl has moved 3.4 million in “pure album gross sales” (that’s each bodily and digital), which is already the most important single gross sales week since digital monitoring started in 1991. (That quantity will seemingly develop as information monitoring agency Luminate gained’t launch the ultimate first-week gross sales figures till Sunday, October twelfth.) And Swift’s different albums have made her the fourth best-selling female artist in history, with a complete of 251.8 million in equal album gross sales.
Nonetheless, it’s not all dangerous information for Williams. Billboard‘s evaluation of Thursday’s present demonstrated that Britpop might be a profession excessive, with the singer leaning into new concepts and influences (together with a discernible digital sheen and decidedly extra uncooked method) to make one of the vital thrilling and well timed information of his in any other case lengthy, affluent profession. And talking of being affluent, if Britpop does attain No. 1 on the UK charts subsequent 12 months, it’ll give Williams his sixteenth general, smashing a tie held by The Beatles for that the majority lofty prize.
At this level, not even Taylor Swift herself might accomplish that purpose. Proper?
