Taylor Swift signs new deal with Republic Records and Universal Music Group: 'I'm ecstatic'

The biggest pop star in the world has a 'new home'

Taylor Swift has announced her new signing to Republic Records and Universal Music Group, after her deal with Big Machine Records – an imprint of the industry giant UMG – expired.

A year after the release of her triple-Platinum album Reputation, Swift underwent talks with every major record group, where she sought more financial and creative freedom with a new deal.

The pop star revealed the news of her new label home in a post on her official Instagram page, which includes a photo of her with Sir Lucien Grainge and Monte Lipman.

"I'm ecstatic to announce that my musical home will be Republic Records and Universal Music Group," Swift wrote. "Over the years, Sir Lucian Grainge and Monte Lipman have been such incredible partners. It's so thrilling to me that they, and the UMG team, will be my label family moving forward. It's also incredibly exciting to know that I'll own all of my master recordings that I make from now on.

"It's really important to me to see eye to eye with a label regarding the future of our industry. I feel so motived by using new opportunities created by the streaming world and the ever changing landscape of our industry... I also feel strongly that streaming was founded on and continues to thrive based on the magic created by artists, writers and producers."

Swift explained that there was "one condition that meant more to me than any other deal point".

As part of her new contract with UMG, she has asked that any sale of their Spotify shares result in a distribution of money to the label's artists, non-recoupable, which the label has "generously agreed to".

"I see this as a sign that we are headed towards positive change for creators – a goal I'm never going to stop trying to help achieve, in whatever ways I can" Swift said.

A report in Variety suggested Swift's move to positively affect her fellow artists was done in a similar vein to her Apple Music letter, when she slammed the company for not paying artists royalties during its free-trial period. The policy was changed the day after Swift published her letter.

"She knew she had an incredible amount of leverage and could have used that to get her own previous masters back, or to merely focus on getting the biggest cash advance for herself," a source said. "But instead, the most important thing to her was to negotiate a better deal regarding Spotify payments for Universal artists and make them non-recoupable."

Swift concluded: "I want to express my heartfelt thanks to Scott Borchetta for believing in me as a 14-year-old and for guiding me through over a decade of work that I will always be so proud of. I'm extremely grateful to get to do what I love, especially the people I've been fortunate enough to work with.

"The best thing I've been lucky enough to receive is the dedication, trust and loyalty of the fans who have cared about the words and melodies I've written. my biggest goal moving forward is to make you proud. I'm so excited, I can't wait to show you what I'm making next."

Joining Swift in the announcement, chairman and CEO of UMG Lucien Grainge said: "Few artists in history approach Taylor Swift's combination of massive global hits and creative brilliance. She is so multi-talented, she can achieve anything. I have such enormous respect for Taylor, in particular for her use of her hard-earned influence to promote positive change.

"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."

Lipman, founder and CEO of Republic Records, added: "Taylor has not only captured the imagination of an entire generation, but has also redefined the paradigm of the modern music industry. Her commitment to songwriting and performing has earned her the respect of her peers and millions of adoring fans around the world... I'm beyond thrilled to create an alliance with Republic Records and the incomparable Taylor Swift."

Swift's latest album Reputation received acclaim from critics and was the biggest-selling album of 2017, selling around 1.3m albums over seven days.