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One Direction toppled by Taylor Swift's 1989 at top of US albums chart

1989 is back at number one after 1D's Four enjoyed a week at the summit

Jess Denham
Thursday 04 December 2014 05:22 EST
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Taylor Swift has bumped One Direction from the summit of the US albums chart to reclaim the top spot with her hit album 1989.

The “Shake It Off” singer returned to number one after a week in second place while the British boyband enjoyed global success with their fourth consecutive chart-topper Four.

Swift’s record is now the fastest-selling album of the decade, having sold more than 2.5 million copies in the US alone since its late October release.

The 24-year-old also continues her three-week reign at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 with new single “Blank Space”, which she performed at the Victoria’s Secret fashion show in London earlier this week.

Taking yet another record, Swift became the first female artist to bump her own track from number one.

Importantly, 1989 is unavailable to stream for free on Spotify, meaning users must buy the songs elsewhere to listen to them.

Swift removed her entire collection of songs from the streaming service in November after arguing that musicians should not “undervalue their art” by letting fans listen to their music for free.

“I’m not willing to contribute my life’s work to an experiment that I don’t feel fairly compensates the writers, producers, artists and creators of this music,” she told Yahoo at the time.

“I didn’t like the perception that it was putting forth and so I decided to change the way I was doing things.”

Swift will headline British Summer Time Hyde Park next June, supported by John Newman and Ellie Goulding.

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