Taylor Swift has signed a new contract with Universal Music Group, which also secures money for other musicians.
Following months of industry speculation, Swift has announced a multi-year record deal with Republic Records and Universal Music Group (UMG). Her contract with Big Machine ended earlier this year, after first signing to the label aged 15.
Some rumours had suggested the ten-time Grammy winner would be signing a direct distribution deal with music streaming giant Spotify. Instead, Swift has successfully negotiated a deal that came with a unique condition – that the sale of UMG’s shares of Spotify result in money to their artists.
See the post below – you can see her description of the contract by clicking on the right hand side of the embed.
In the Instagram post, she revealed that this condition “meant more to me than any other deal point”.
She continued: “I asked that any sale of their Spotify shares result in a distribution of money to their artist, non-recoupable.
“They have generously agreed to this, at what they believe will be much better terms and paid out previously by other major labels”.
Republic Records is a subsidiary of UMG and home to Ariana Grande, Black Sabbath, Florence and the Machine.
Importantly, the new record deal also ensures that Swift is the owner of her masters going forward.
Sir Lucian Grainge, Chairman and CEO of Universal Music Group, said in the official statement: “”Because of her commitment to her fellow artists, not only did she want to partner with a company that understood her creative vision and had the resources and expertise to execute globally on her behalf, she also sought a partner whose approach to artists was aligned with hers.
“With these shared beliefs, there is so much we can accomplish together, and all of us at UMG are enormously proud to be embarking on the next chapter of her career alongside her.”