Taylor Swift's "1989," the strongest pop turn for the longtime country singer, roared to the top of the Billboard 200 album chart on Wednesday (November 5) with the biggest opening week in a dozen years for the declining album sales industry.

Backed by No. 1 hit "Shake It Off" and weeks of TV appearances, "1989" sold 1.3 million copies. "1989" is also the top selling album released this year.

But don't expect the best opening week since 2002 to signal more than Swift's own star power.

Album sales are so far down 13 percent compared to last year on top of an 8 percent decline in 2013, according to Billboard.