This isn't a news blog by any measure. I try to make a habit of not covering breaking news, gossip, and tabloids because the main goal of this blog is to evaluate Taylor Swift's works, not her life. That said, I think today is a little bit different.
Ever since her first album, Taylor Swift has been signed with Big Machine Records. That makes 13 years with the same company, and she has obviously flourished under that wing. Big Machine has arguably gotten the better deal however, since reportedly as much as 80% of their revenue comes from Taylor Swift's music. However, Taylor's contract with Big Machine ended recently and in the last few days it has been announced that she's signed with republic Records and Universal Music Group (UMG), two of the biggest players in music in the world.
If this was the entire story, I wouldn't be talking about it. However there were two stipulations in her contract that are a very big deal. The first one concerns only herself and guarantees that she retains the master rights for all her music moving forward. The second affects all creators under UMG and guarantees payout to musicians should they sell any shares in Spotify. The details are more than I want to go into, but essentially both of these changes give Taylor more security and agency over her music, with the second change helping all creators under the UMG label.
This is a big deal. While the specifics may not matter much to the average consumer, this is another data point in the current trend in the music industry to favoring musicians. It's also an aspect of Taylor's career I haven't discussed much on this blog but is inseparable from her character. Taylor's tight grip on her copyright gets her a lot of attention and she's gone as far as pulling all her music from Spotify in the past. In an interview with Vogue, Taylor said that her biggest piece of advice for young creators was to get a good lawyer. Is there anything more telling than that?
I personally find this all, for the most part, very admirable. It's easy to be cynical about people making decisions that earn them more money and it's difficult to describe Taylor Swift as "the little guy", but in my opinion fighting for more agency for yourself and your peers is never a bad thing. At worst I see this as a fancy way of asking for a raise. If you've ever had to do that you'll know just how difficult it can be. Being able to afford the best lawyers in the industry would certainly make it easier, but the same level of representation undoubtedly exists on the other side as well.
That's all I have to say for now. I don't have that much to say about this story but I figured it was big enough to be worth discussing for a day.
See you tomorrow,
-C
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