Much of Taylor Swift's discography returns to TikTok on Thursday (April 11), returning just over a week before the expected release of her new album. Department of Tormented Poetsis expected to be released on April 19.
Official audio for hits like “All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor's Version),” “Cruel Summer” and “Style (Taylor's Version)” are among the songs now available for users to make videos with the app short form. It appears that there is no official audio for Swift's songs that were released before her album Loverie the original recordings from Fearless, Speak now and Red — recorded for the Big Machine label — are not available, although they are recent re-recordings of these albums.
Swift's catalog was pulled from TikTok in early February after the parent company for her label and publisher, Universal Music Group, announced it was letting its licensing deal with TikTok expire, citing that the app was unwilling to pay for the “fair value” of music, as well as other concerns such as artificial intelligence and artist safety. This has influenced songs by many of music's biggest stars, including Swift, Drake, SZA, Olivia Rodrigo and more, all of whom have recording and/or publishing deals with the label.
For Swift, ownership of Big Machine's catalog has been the subject of much debate in recent years. Her first six albums — spanning her self-titled debut in 2006 to 2017 Reputation — were sold to Braun scooter in 2019 after the manager and entrepreneur's Ithaca Holdings acquired Big Machine in a deal valued at more than $300 million.
This prompted backlash from Swift, who promised to re-record each of these albums in order to re-release them and own the recordings herself. He has since released re-recordings of “Taylor's Version”. Fearless, Red, Speak now and 1989. In 2018, Swift signed a deal with UMG to license her future recordings to Republic Records, and has since released four additional albums through that deal, which she also owns the copyright to. While it's unclear why her recordings are back on TikTok, it's notable that the tracks she owns are the ones available.
In a letter to its artists on January 30, explaining the licensing dispute, UMG wrote: “Regarding the issue of artist and songwriter compensation, TikTok has proposed to pay our artists and songwriters at a rate that is a a fraction of what the big social platforms were similarly paying.”
TikTok hit back at UMG's announcement hours later, saying: “It is sad and disappointing that Universal Music Group has put its own greed above the interests of its artists and songwriters.”
In addition to her deal with Republic Records, Swift has been signed to Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) as a songwriter since 2020. Previously, she was signed to Sony Music Publishing as a songwriter. Her frequent collaborator, Jack Antonoffhe was also signed to Sony Music Publishing until he switched to UMPG in August 2023.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/business/tech/taylor-swift-catalog-back-tiktok-new-album-1235653914/
