On Feb. 11, Swift announced that she has re-recorded her 2008 album Fearless, as Fearless (Taylor’s Version), and that the updated lead single, “Love Story (Taylor’s Version),” would be unveiled that night. Fearless became Swift’s first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200, while “Love Story” was her second Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hit. Since then, Swift has tallied seven more No. 1 albums, and 27 more top 10 Hot 100 hits.
As for the original version of “Love Story,” it sold about 200 downloads in the U.S. on Feb. 12. In the week leading up to the release of the re-recording’s release, the original version had been selling a negligible amount on a daily basis. Through Feb. 4, the original “Love Story” had sold 6.13 million downloads in the U.S.
Re-recordings of older songs or albums are treated separately from their originals, with independent chart histories for each version. Thus, Fearless (Taylor’s Version) and “Love Story (Taylor’s Version)” will chart separately from Swift’s original 2008 recordings of the album and song, respectively.
News on the Feb. 12 streaming activity of “Love Story (Taylor’s Version)” will be reported in the coming days.
And Now, The Radio ‘Story’ … As for radio airplay in its first day, “Love Story (Taylor’s Version)” — which is not being actively promoted to radio stations — drew 144 plays on Feb. 12 on 89 stations that report to Billboard‘s all-genre, audience-based Radio Songs chart, a sum that translates to 777,000 audience impressions. Leading the way among those 144 plays, 83 were on reporters to the Pop Airplay chart, 34 were on Adult Pop Airplay reporters and 12 were on Country Airplay panelists.
How does that play compare to the 2008 version?
The new take drew more than twice as many plays as the original on Feb. 12, which logged 67 plays yesterday on Radio Songs reporters. Adult Contemporary chart reporters accounted for 25 of those spins, followed by Country Airplay panelists contributing 12.
While the new version attracted 777,000 in audience impressions on Feb. 12, the original drew 227,000.
Though “Love Story (Taylor’s Version)” is not being actively promoted to radio, instead, three tracks continue to be promoted to various formats from Swift’s latest LP, Evermore. “Willow” rose 11-9 on the most recently published Adult Pop Airplay chart (dated Feb. 13), becoming Swift’s 24th top 10 on the tally, extending her record for the most among women. It also held at its No. 9 high on Adult Contemporary and climbed 23-20 on Pop Airplay. Meanwhile, the set’s “Coney Island,” featuring The National, repeated at its No. 26 best on Adult Alternative Airplay, and “No Body, No Crime,” featuring Haim, kept at No. 60 on Country Airplay.
The original “Love Story” hit No. 2 on Radio Songs (and No. 4 on the all-genre, multi-metric Billboard Hot 100). It topped Country Airplay and Pop Airplay and remains the only song to have led both lists. It also crowned Adult Contemporary and rose to No. 3 on Adult Pop Airplay.
