Taylor Swift photo courtesy of Big Machine Records.

Taylor Swift has now sold more than 20 million albums worldwide. She was awarded with a plaque commemorating the milestone during a special event backstage at London’s O2 Arena, just before she performed for a sold-out crowd. The 20 million-plus is the combined total of full album sales around the world of her albums Taylor Swift, Fearless, Speak Now, Taylor Swift Holiday Collection, and Beautiful Eyes (Walmart-exclusive). Taylor also has more than 33 million digital downloads, making her the top-selling digital artist in history. Here’s a video of her receiving the plaque:

Last night’s show in London marked the end of the overseas leg of Taylor’s Speak Now World Tour, which kicked off February 9 in Singapore. The North American leg kicks off May 27 with two sold-out shows at Omaha’s Qwest Center. Taylor just added 16 dates to her tour and it will now wrap with two shows at Madison Square Garden just before Thanksgiving. By year’s end, Taylor will have headlined 97 stadiums and arenas around the world this year. Continue Reading

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Taylor Swift photo courtesy of Big Machine Records.

At the beginning of 2010, Taylor Swift walked away with four Grammy Awards, including the Album of the Year honor for Fearless. But when the 53rd annual Grammy nominees were unveiled Wednesday night, Taylor’s name was nowhere to be found among the 109 categories.

Stunning? A little, though not entirely. For starters, the eligibility period runs Sept. 1, 2009 through Sept. 30, 2010. Her new album, Speak Now, didn’t come out until late October, so that project is ineligible. “Fearless” and “Mine” were both released as singles, and she had a couple of titles on the Valentine’s Day soundtrack, and any of those could have potentially found a space on the Grammy list. But they didn’t.

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Taylor Swift performing for fans at her 13-hour Meet and Greet during the 2010 CMA Music Festival in Downtown Nashville. Photo courtesy of John Russell / CMA

After her first two albums sold more than 10 million copies combined, Taylor Swift’s next release is a subject of intense interest, and she’ll give fans a chance to find out about it — direct from the source — in a live webcast on Tuesday.

Taylor plans to take questions at 5 p.m. ET during a chat that can be accessed through her website, her MySpace page and her Facebook page. It can also be witnessed at Ustream.tv/taylorswift.

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Taylor Swift photo by Amanda Eckard/CMA, courtesy of Erickson PR.

Taylor Swift has promised for some time that a new album would be in her fans’ hands by the end of the year, and it appears she’s started the building blocks for the marketing campaign.

She showed up rather quietly in Maine this week, according to The Portland Press Herald, for a video shoot that soon created a stir as the locals reported Taylor sitings: She was spotted Wednesday at Ram Island Farm in Cape Elizabeth outside of Portland; she had a hamburger that night at Becky’s Diner on Porland’s waterfront; and shot a wedding scene Thursday at a church in Kennebunk.

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Taylor Swift photo by Ash Newell, courtesy of Big Machine Records.

Taylor Swift’s new music video is for the title track of her Grammy Award winning album, Fearless.  The clip plays out like a video journal/documentary, showcasing a collection of Taylor’s onstage and behind-the-scenes highlights from this past year’s  “Fearless World Tour.”   The video, directed by Todd Cassetty, not only shows off her passion for performing, it really shows off her passion for her fans and how connected she is to them.

Click here to watch the video for “Fearless” at GACTV.com now »

I’ve seen Taylor in concert more than once, and each time I have shared the experience with my 11-year old daughter.  Seeing Taylor in concert is not about going to a music recital for a quiet, pristine performance. It’s about having a stand-up-and-dance, scream-out-loud-good-time.  Taylor’s video for “Fearless” captures that attitude and the experience of what she brings to her fans each and every night she steps onstage.  She’s definitely been the source of some unforgettable moments and wonderful experiences for me and my daughter this past year!  Leave me a comment below and let me know what you think about Taylor’s new video!

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Taylor Swift performs “Forever & Always” at “The 43rd Annual CMA Awards,” on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2009, live from the Sommet Center in Nashville on the ABC Television Network. Photographer: John Russell / CMA. Provided by Country Music Association.

With eight nominations in her pocket, Taylor Swift is one of the leading candidates for this Sunday’s 52nd annual Grammy Awards, and some analysts are predicting victories for her in the all-genre categories of Album and Record of the Year over such pop acts as Beyonce, the Black Eyed Peas and Lady Gaga.

The critics can make whatever predictions they want. Taylor is keeping her mouth closed.

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Taylor Swift performs “Forever & Always” at “The 43rd Annual CMA Awards,” on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2009, live from the Sommet Center in Nashville on the ABC Television Network. Photographer: John Russell / CMA. Provided by Country Music Association.

Another week goes by, Taylor Swift does something else remarkable.

This time she’s released a new single — and it’s already gold. And that seems to be a first-time thing. It appears there’s never been another moment in history in which a single was shipped to country radio after it had already been certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America.

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Taylor Swift gives her acceptance speech live from London via satellite during the 2009 American Music Awards help on November 22 broadcast live on ABC from the NOKIA Theatre in L.A.

At the end of last year, Taylor Swift hosted GAC’s countdown of the Top 50 songs of 2008. Little did she know in January that she would dominate the year ahead of her.

But as 2009 comes to a close, it’s clear that she’s been the biggest thing in music — and not just country music, which she still calls home. Billboard has named her Artist of the Year, ahead of Kanye West, Beyonce, Coldplay and everybody else. That honor comes just weeks after she earned Artist of the Year at the American Music Awards and a month after the Country Music Association handed her Entertainer of the Year.

And that particular moment is the one that still has her floored.

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Taylor Swift wins Entertainer of the Year at “The 43rd Annual CMA Awards,” on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2009, live from the Sommet Center in Nashville on the ABC Television Network. Photographer: John Russell / CMA

She dominated the Country Music Association Awards and the American Music Awards. Now Taylor Swift has placed highly in the 52nd annual Grammy nominations, landing eight different slots on the multi-genre list, released by the Recording Academy Wednesday night after a one-hour special highlighted the top categories.

Only Beyonce Knowles’ 10 nominations superceded Taylor, who picked up three of her nominations in the Big Four categories. “You Belong With Me” was tabbed for Record and Song of the Year, while Fearless placed in the finals for Album of the Year.

The Zac Brown Band appeared in the other Big Four category, competing against Keri Hilson, MGMT, Silversun Pickups and the Ting Tings for Best New Artist.

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Taylor Swift photo courtesy of Big Machine Records.

Taylor Swift has over 10 million reasons to be thankful. She has now surpassed the 10 million mark for record sales. The impressive number represents full albums sold. But wait, there’s more. Taylor has also sold over 20 million paid song downloads, more than any artist in country music history.

The amazing success is not lost on Taylor. She writes in her latest MySpace blog: “I love looking out into the crowd. Continue Reading

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