Taylor Swift may sell more records than anyone in her generation (save possibly Adele, who, lest we forget, is only a year older than the eternally youthful country crossover), but putting her on a magazine cover may be the kiss of death.

Women's Wear Daily reports that Swift is one of the worst-selling cover girls ever, and the numbers seem to back that up.

Swift’s Cosmopolitan cover issue sold 20 percent fewer copies than the six-month average, and her Vogue cover sold 329,000 copies -- roughly half of Lady Gaga's cover issue (602,000) and far less than the one featuring Adele (410,000).

(In fairness to Swift, Gaga's cover was for the infamous Vogue September issue, which is always a huge seller with the fashion-forward crowd no matter who's on the cover.)

Perhaps most embarrassing? Swift’s November Glamour cover issue sold just over 443,000 copies -- less than the 500,000 issues former reality star Lauren Conrad's cover sold in May. Victoria Beckham's September issue of the mag also outsold T-Swizzle, moving 482,000 copies.

What's more, Swift only sold about 139,000 copies of Harper's Bazaar.

On the other hand, fellow singers and celebs such as Katy Perry, Rihanna, Jennifer Lopez and Kate Middleton all sold massive magazine copies in 2012.

It's unclear why, despite her songs getting insane amounts of airplay and consistently topping the charts, people don't feel like reading about Swift.

While some of the sales slumps may be merely a reflection of the slow demise of print media, there's also the matter of poor timing -- certain months always sell better than others, and Cosmo reported on her relationship with Conor Kennedy, who dumped her before the issue hit newsstands. Still others have speculated that Taylor has simply reached media saturation.

Another potential sales problem? Swift's got a younger fanbase (and, arguably, mindset) than many of her cover girl competitors. As a result, those little ladies are much more likely to read the interviews and look at scans online -- or pick up mags like Seventeen, for example -- than to snag a copy of Cosmo.

Or? Maybe the world is just Team Harry Styles.

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