Taylor Swift Tops Country CD Sales Chart For 5th Consecutive Week

Nashville, TN. (Top40 Charts/ Big Machine Records) - Nashville's hottest sales story of 2007 belongs to newcomer Taylor Swift, whose self-titled debut CD holds down its lock on the No 1 position on the Soundscan Country Album Sales Chart for the FIFTH week in a row.

Taylor Swift is the only country artist in 2007 to spend 5 consecutive weeks at No 1. This places Taylor in the company of superstars Carrie Underwood, Rascal Flatts and the Dixie Chicks, all of whom had 5 or more consecutive weeks at No 1 in 2006.

Taylor Swift reached the top of the country sales chart in its 39th week in stores, an extraordinary feat reminiscent of the Dixie Chicks' 51-week climb to No 1 in 1999 with their debut CD Wide Open Spaces.

Earlier this summer Taylor secured her place in country music history as the only female solo artist in Country music history to write or co-write every song on a Platinum-selling debut.

Just last night Taylor performed live in front of more than 15 million television viewers as a special guest on NBC-TV's No 1-rated show America's Got Talent. This week she passed the 23 million mark for music streams on her MySpace page.

In May Taylor was awarded the fan-voted CMT: Country Music Television 'CMT Music Award' for Breakthrough Video, and was nominated for Best New Female Vocalist by the Academy of Country Music. Taylor was named one of AOL's Best New Artists of the Year, was chosen by the Los Angeles Times as 'One to Watch in 2007,' and was honored as a breakthrough artist by Music Row magazine with their prestigious Critic's Pick award She also starred in the inaugural season of the groundbreaking, short-form documentary series GAC Short Cuts.

Taylor is spending the summer touring in support of Taylor Swift, playing for capacity crowds in 33 states in 3 months. Last month she wrapped a series of dates as a featured guest on Tim McGraw and Faith Hill's Soul2Soul 2007 tour, and she is currently on tour with Brad Paisley. She has also shared the stage with Rascal Flatts, George Strait and Kenny Chesney.

Taylor Swift is the first No 1 selling album for Big Machine Records.