NEW VIDEO: "Back to December" by Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift has premiered the video of her next single "Back to December" today, a song heavily rumored to be a mea culpa to Taylor Lautner after the their short-lived relationship fizzled last year. The solemn pop ballad features a dynamic orchestra instrumental and a much lesser country feel and the music video follows the solemnity and wintry cold lyrics of the song.

U.S. Billboard 200 Chart Update

The thing about releasing a holiday album is that although it may dominate sales during the holiday season, it will inevitably spiral down the charts after Christmas, something most evident in this week's Billboard 200 chart. Some of last week's strong chart players have tumbled down the charts, such as Susan Boyle's The Gift, which loses 92 percent of last week's sales and free-falls from number 2 to number 31 with 19,000. Jackie Evancho's O Holy Night has 89 percent of last week's shaved off to fall from number 4 to number 34, while the Glee Christmas album collapses from number 3 to leaving the top 100 at number 108, a sales hit of 96 percent.

Lady Gaga, Queen of Magazine Covers

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As if a sold-out 200+ date tour, a multi-platinum certified album, and countless corporate sponsors was not enough to complete the Gaga-domination of 2010, the singer has another title under her belt: Queen of Magazine Covers. The 24 year-old cultural icon has graced numerous magazine covers this past year and it seems that her popularity has been newsstand gold. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, Gaga was 2010's most successful cover girl, as issues of Rolling Stone, Cosmopolitan, and Vanity Fair that featured the pop singer became among their best sellers. Her machine gun-wielding Rolling Stone issue sold 245,000 the week it was released, a number that is three-times the average weekly sales for the year, while Cosmopolitan's Gaga feature sold 1.7 million, its biggest seller through October. It appears everything Gaga touches turns to gold, and I have a feeling 2011 will be another winner for the singer.

52nd Grammy Awards 2010 Predictions

Today marks one of the biggest days in international music as the biggest stars on radio, iPods, iPhones, MP3 players, and music software convene to honor the winners (and not the nominees) of the 52nd Grammy Awards ceremony at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Whereas previous ceremonies have been dominated by critically acclaimed but commercially mediocre artists, some of the most successful artists in music have garnered substantial nominations, from Kanye West to Taylor Swift, Beyonce to Lady Gaga, Rihanna to Jay-Z, and Kings of Leon to Metallica. With any awards show, a little predictive input is always some fun!


Below is a list of a few of the major categories and MY winner predictions and the reasoning behind such predictions.

Record of the Year
Halo - Beyonce
I Gotta Feeling - The Black Eyed Peas
Use Somebody - Kings of Leon
Poker Face - Lady Gaga
You Belong with Me - Taylor Swift

PREDICTION: "Poker Face" by Lady Gaga. Arguably the most critically praised and commercially successful song of the past year, "Poker Face" is Lady Gaga's pièce de résistance, solidifying dance-pop's domination on radio and in the record stores, while lyrically ambiguous enough to garner varying interpretations as to the song's meaning. However, "You Belong with Me" would not be a surprising upset in this category.

Album of the Year
I Am... Sasha Fierce - Beyonce
The E.N.D. - The Black Eyed Peas
The Fame - Lady Gaga
Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King - Dave Matthews Band
Fearless - Taylor Swift

PREDICTION: Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King. This particular album has received very favorable reviews from critics and has been a particularly strong album contender for this cateogory for quite sometime. In particular, this category often goes to an album that has received substantial praise from the critics and public, while also retaining an ability to be likable across different cohorts of listeners. Fearless by Taylor Swift is once again a close second for this category.

Song of the Year
Poker Face - Lady Gaga
Pretty Wings - Maxwell
Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) - Beyonce
Use Somebody - Kings of Leon
You Belong With Me - Taylor Swift

PREDICTION: Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) by Beyonce. This is a songwriters' award but since Beyonce has songwriting credits, she will be a receiver of this award, should she win (which I think she will). This song far exceeded expectations and, coupled with the widespread popularity of the music video, became a pop culture phenomenon. I find it hard to believe that this song, with its substantial cultural impact, would be denied the honor of Song of the Year. However, a close second in this category is "Use Somebody" by Kings of Leon.

Best New Artist
Zac Brown Band
Keri Hilson
MGMT
Silversun Pickups
The Ting Tings

PREDICTION: The Ting Tings. While The Ting Tings have not achieved the success here as they have in their native UK, they managed to score two songs on the top 30 songs on pop radio, with "That's Not My Name" reaching 39 on the Billboard Hot 100, an impressive feat for a group that had virtually no promotion in the US for any of the singles (with the NOTABLE exception, of course, of the use of "Shut Up and Let Me Go" on an iPod commercial over a year ago). This category is a little tricky, with a potential upset coming with Keri Hilson or MGMT in this category.

Best Female Pop Vocal Performance
Hometown Glory - Adele
Halo - Beyonce
Hot N Cold - Katy Perry
Sober - Pink
You Belong with Me - Taylor Swift

PREDICTION: "You Belong with Me" by Taylor Swift. This song has become one of country music's most successful songs in the past decade, peaking just shy of the peak spot on the Billboard Hot 100 at #2. Furthermore, it has become Swift's breakthrough song in pop and adult contemporary radio formats, while attracting critical appeal and fan jubilation. "Hometown Glory" is a very likely candidate for this award as well, as she did take two awards last year, even at the young age of 20 just one year after her debut album was released in the UK. This would not be a surprising victory for this Brit at all.

Best Male Pop Vocal Performance
This Time - John Legend
Love You - Maxwell
Make it Mine - Jason Mraz
If You Don't Know Me By Now - Seal
All About the Love Again - Stevie Wonder

PREDICTION: "All About the Love Again" by Stevie Wonder. Stevie Wonder has always been a Grammy favorite and this song will likely be no exception, giving the R&B/Rock/Pop musician another award to fill his already (rightfully) crowded mantle of golden gramophones. A close second is possible with Maxwell's "Love You."

More award predictions will be added shortly as we near showtime Sunday evening!

Hits Daily Double "One-Day Sales" Update

HITS Daily Double's weekly One-Day Sales for the album week of October 27 shows that Michael Jackson will debut at the top with the compilation album This Is It to coincide with the worldwide release of the documentary of the same name. With sales expected to exceed 300,000 copies, this will mark the sixth time an album of Michael Jackson's has achieved that feat.

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It has only been four months since the King of Pop's passing and with the critical and commercial acclaim surrounding the film, along with the inclusion of some timeless classics on the album, this comes as no surprise. It's sad a final breathtaking tour never came to fruition.

In other news, Creed's Full Circle is anticipated to take the number two or three spot on next week's Billboard 200 chart, depending on sales from the New Moon soundtrack. Both albums are on track to sell in the low 100,000s. Rounding out the top five are Taylor Swift's Fearless: Platinum Edition, with projected sales between 90,000-95,000 to add to the 4x platinum selling album, and Rod Stewart's Soulbook, with projected sales between 80,000-85,000. Sadly, these album numbers continue to demonstrate the deathly state of the music industry, especially considering the holiday shopping season is beginning to pick up.

Taylor's Swift Jump to Number 1

Amid little promotion, Taylor Swift's Fearless album was re-released today with six new songs, all of which have exploded into the top 20 on iTunes the day of its release, including the iTunes number 1 "Jump Then Fall."

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It seems that the country music starlet can do absolutely no wrong, proving over and over again to outsell some of the biggest names in music today. The soft, guitar-driven "Jump Then Fall" is a great country-pop track that at first listen may not scream pop radio number one like "Love Story" or "You Belong with Me." However, with repeated listens, you grow to appreciate the musical genius, lyricist, and instrumentalist that this teenager (yes, teenager) has become. The Fearless: Platinum Edition is reloaded with six new tracks that each contribute in their own unique way to the re-release. Based on how well these songs are currently doing on iTunes, Ms. Swift is poised to tie a record she has already achieved with this album: 7 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 in the same chart week. Congrats to Taylor.