Inside Music with Melinda Newman

Music Power Rankings: Taylor Swift and One Direction top the list

Vets Led Zeppelin and Rolling Stones make the cut too

By Melinda Newman Sunday, Oct 14, 2012 12:36 AM

Taylor Swift

Credit: AP

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1. Taylor Swift: Billboard rejiggers its genre singles charts to incorporate download sales and streaming, along side radio play. The move catapults Swift to the top two slots on the Hot Country Songs chart. The loser? Carrie Underwood, whose song “Blown Away” gets blown out of the potential top spot by Swift.

2. Ke$ha: The “Tik Tok” singer is writing her memoirs, which will be illustrated. Does the book come with a box of crayons?

3. Yekaterina Samutsevich: The Pussy Riot member is freed from prison. One down, two to go.

4. One Direction: Not only is the boy band the first U.K. band to ever debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with its first release, now they hold the record for the highest bow on Billboard’s Hot 100 by a U.K. group as “Live While We’re Young” comes on at No. 3. Is it me or is that just crazy?

5. Rolling Stones: The veteran rockers show they still have it 50 years down the line with new single, “Doom & Gloom.”

6. Aerosmith: Steven Tyler causes a few tremors when he says the group will consider self-releasing future projects “IF THE BAND STAYS TOGETHER.” Huh? These guys will never, ever be done with each other.

7. Drake: He gets paid $3 million in royalties from Pandora. That’s a nice chunk of change, even though we're sure he'll find some reason to moan about it.

8. Mumford & Sons: They handily stay No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for a second straight week, smacking down fellow British band Muse.

9. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis: Seattle rapper Macklemore and producer Lewis will be a secret no more as their new set, “The Heist,” will be the highest debut next week over such legends as Kiss and Barbra Streisand.

10. Led Zeppelin: The group reunites, but only for a screening of “Celebration,” the film of their 2007 concert. And no, they still aren’t reuniting again. Don’t be a schmuck.