Latest news with #TheTorturedPoetsDepartment
Irish Examiner
9 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
‘Feels bigger than herself': the importance of Taylor Swift's latest victory
It goes without saying, but Taylor Swift has scored a lot of victories in the past few years. There was, first and foremost, the blockbuster Eras Tour, which became the bestselling concert tour of all time and a certifiable cultural era in itself. She released the bestselling concert film of all time, with a distribution model that upended the theatrical market. There was yet another album of the year Grammy. She turned the Super Bowl into the ultimate rom-com. Even with mediocre critical reviews, her most recent album, The Tortured Poets Department, set more streaming records than I can count. Read More Taylor Swift announces she has acquired the rights to all of her music All of these were beyond impressive, if at times threatening overexposure and annoyingly at odds with her self-styled narrative as an underdog – the emotionally astute lyricist battling against a sliding scale of villains, from careless boys, bitchy girls and heartbreak to gossip, criticism and misogynistic double standards. Often, the targets are petty; I never want to hear a Kim Kardashian reference again. But on Friday, with the announcement that she purchased the master recordings of her first six albums, Swift notched arguably the most significant victory of her career, over the one remaining foe worthy of her stature: the artist-devaluing practices of the music industry. For those who do not follow what has become canon in Swift's massive fandom, ownership of her masters has been the animating force behind the last six years of Swift's career, ever since Scooter Braun, most famous as the music manager behind Justin Bieber, purchased them from Swift's former label Big Machine Records for $300m in 2019. Like virtually all young artists, Swift had signed a deal that did not entitle her to ownership of her recordings, just royalties from their sales. The deal 'stripped me of my life's work', Swift wrote at the time, and left her catalog 'in the hands of someone who tried to dismantle it'. (Braun used to manage longtime Swift antagonizer Kanye West.) Taylor Swift performs during her Eras Tour. Picture: Charles McQuillan/TAS24/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management For the following six years, even after Braun sold the catalog to private equity group Shamrock Capital for $360m, Swift re-recorded each album under the moniker 'Taylor's Version', a business masterstroke that at once devalued the originals, ginned up nostalgia and set the stage for the Eras Tour. The ownership of her master recordings, as well as her all her music videos, concert films, album art, photography and unreleased songs, is, in Swift's own words, deeply meaningful on a personal level. 'To say this is my greatest dream come true is actually being pretty reserved about it,' she said in a handwritten letter posted on her website to announce the acquisition. 'All I've ever wanted was the opportunity to work hard enough to be able to one day purchase my music outright with no strings attached, no partnership, with full autonomy.' (Swift, the daughter of a Merrill Lynch stockbroker and forever a savvy dealmaker, also thanked Shamrock Capital for being 'the first people to ever offer this to me' and praised the private equity firm for being 'honest, fair, and respectful'.) But it is also a victory that, for once in this era, feels bigger than Swift herself. Swift owning her masters is a small step toward transparency and artistic integrity in the music industry, and one made possible by her immense wealth and power. The fact that we're even talking about ownership of master recordings, that millions of music listeners now question the business standard of recording industry contracts, is a testament to the power Swift can wield when she chooses a worthy target, even if that target often takes direct form in the figure of Braun (who, for what it's worth, said he's 'happy for her'.) 'I'm extremely heartened by the conversations this saga has reignited within my industry among artists and fans,' Swift wrote. 'Every time a new artist tells me they negotiated to own their master recordings in their record contract because of this fight, I'm reminded of how important it was for all of this to happen.' This is Swift in her best crusader mode – grounded in the work, clear-eyed on the stakes, speaking as a songwriter in perhaps the one arena where she remains an underdog with something to fight for. Though often overshadowed by gossip and her personal life, in ways both self-inflected and expected by a culture that loves to see women fail, her flexing of her exceptional clout over the music industry for artists rights is one of her most enduring fights. It dates back at least to an open letter to Apple Music withholding her album 1989 from the company's streaming service because it would not pay royalties to artists during the service's first three months. (Apple quickly caved.) Or her Billboard's Woman of the Year speech in 2014 in which she called for fairer compensation of writers, musicians and producers – a point she cited five years later when accepting Woman of the Decade in 2019, in a speech that is worth revisiting for the contrast between which fights resonate, and which rankle. Taylor Swift arrives on to the Aviva stage for the first of her three sold-out Dublin gigs as part of her Eras tour. Picture: Chani Anderson The part about adjusting her sound and image to appease critics? Flop, mild applause, one of many instances where Swift evinces a sensitivity to criticism and bone-deep desire for popularity that is so incongruous with her stature as arguably the most famous woman on the planet that I find it endearing, the most human element of her incomprehensible celebrity. The part where she bluntly calls out 'the unregulated world of private equity coming in and buying up our music as if it is real estate, as if it's an app or a shoe line'? It's the most strident and fair she's ever sounded, and it holds up. Even if the purchase of her masters feels a bit like settling out of court before the full trial – the re-record project remains unfinished – this is the win that could have the most salient downstream effect for both artists and people who appreciate music. Similar to how her criticism of Ticketmaster, and fan frustration over the experience of buying tickets for the Eras Tour, led to efforts to reform ticket transparency and break up the Live Nation monopoly, this is power appropriately applied upward. 'Thank you for being curious about something that used to be thought of as too industry-centric for broad discussion,' she wrote to her fans. 'You'll never know how much it means to me that you cared. Every single bit of it counted and ended us up here.' Swiftie or no, this is a Swift victory worth cheering for. - The Guardian Read More Aviva stadium company enjoys Taylor Swift and Pink dividend as operating profits increase to €7m
The Guardian
10 hours ago
- Business
- The Guardian
‘Feels bigger than herself': the importance of Taylor Swift's latest victory
It goes without saying, but Taylor Swift has scored a lot of victories in the past few years. There was, first and foremost, the blockbuster Eras Tour, which became the bestselling concert tour of all time and a certifiable cultural era in itself. She released the bestselling concert film of all time, with a distribution model that upended the theatrical market. There was yet another album of the year Grammy. She turned the Super Bowl into the ultimate rom-com. Even with mediocre critical reviews, her most recent album, The Tortured Poets Department, set more streaming records than I can count. All of these were beyond impressive, if at times threatening overexposure and annoyingly at odds with her self-styled narrative as an underdog – the emotionally astute lyricist battling against a sliding scale of villains, from careless boys, bitchy girls and heartbreak to gossip, criticism and misogynistic double standards. Often, the targets are petty; I never want to hear a Kim Kardashian reference again. But on Friday, with the announcement that she purchased the master recordings of her first six albums, Swift notched arguably the most significant victory of her career, over the one remaining foe worthy of her stature: the artist-devaluing practices of the music industry. For those who do not follow what has become canon in Swift's massive fandom, ownership of her masters has been the animating force behind the last six years of Swift's career, ever since Scooter Braun, most famous as the music manager behind Justin Bieber, purchased them from Swift's former label Big Machine Records for $300m in 2019. Like virtually all young artists, Swift had signed a deal that did not entitle her to ownership of her recordings, just royalties from their sales. The deal 'stripped me of my life's work', Swift wrote at the time, and left her catalog 'in the hands of someone who tried to dismantle it'. (Braun used to manage longtime Swift antagonizer Kanye West.) For the following six years, even after Braun sold the catalog to private equity group Shamrock Capital for $360m, Swift re-recorded each album under the moniker 'Taylor's Version', a business masterstroke that at once devalued the originals, ginned up nostalgia and set the stage for the Eras Tour. The ownership of her master recordings, as well as her all her music videos, concert films, album art, photography and unreleased songs, is, in Swift's own words, deeply meaningful on a personal level. 'To say this is my greatest dream come true is actually being pretty reserved about it,' she said in a handwritten letter posted on her website to announce the acquisition. 'All I've ever wanted was the opportunity to work hard enough to be able to one day purchase my music outright with no strings attached, no partnership, with full autonomy.' (Swift, the daughter of a Merrill Lynch stockbroker and forever a savvy dealmaker, also thanked Shamrock Capital for being 'the first people to ever offer this to me' and praised the private equity firm for being 'honest, fair, and respectful'.) But it is also a victory that, for once in this era, feels bigger than Swift herself. Swift owning her masters is a small step toward transparency and artistic integrity in the music industry, and one made possible by her immense wealth and power. The fact that we're even talking about ownership of master recordings, that millions of music listeners now question the business standard of recording industry contracts, is a testament to the power Swift can wield when she chooses a worthy target, even if that target often takes direct form in the figure of Braun (who, for what it's worth, said he's 'happy for her'.) 'I'm extremely heartened by the conversations this saga has reignited within my industry among artists and fans,' Swift wrote. 'Every time a new artist tells me they negotiated to own their master recordings in their record contract because of this fight, I'm reminded of how important it was for all of this to happen.' This is Swift in her best crusader mode – grounded in the work, clear-eyed on the stakes, speaking as a songwriter in perhaps the one arena where she remains an underdog with something to fight for. Though often overshadowed by gossip and her personal life, in ways both self-inflected and expected by a culture that loves to see women fail, her flexing of her exceptional clout over the music industry for artists rights is one of her most enduring fights. It dates back at least to an open letter to Apple Music withholding her album 1989 from the company's streaming service because it would not pay royalties to artists during the service's first three months. (Apple quickly caved.) Or her Billboard's Woman of the Year speech in 2014 in which she called for fairer compensation of writers, musicians and producers – a point she cited five years later when accepting Woman of the Decade in 2019, in a speech that is worth revisiting for the contrast between which fights resonate, and which rankle. The part about adjusting her sound and image to appease critics? Flop, mild applause, one of many instances where Swift evinces a sensitivity to criticism and bone-deep desire for popularity that is so incongruous with her stature as arguably the most famous woman on the planet that I find it endearing, the most human element of her incomprehensible celebrity. The part where she bluntly calls out 'the unregulated world of private equity coming in and buying up our music as if it is real estate, as if it's an app or a shoe line'? It's the most strident and fair she's ever sounded, and it holds up. Even if the purchase of her masters feels a bit like settling out of court before the full trial – the re-record project remains unfinished – this is the win that could have the most salient downstream effect for both artists and people who appreciate music. Similar to how her criticism of Ticketmaster, and fan frustration over the experience of buying tickets for the Eras Tour, led to efforts to reform ticket transparency and break up the Live Nation monopoly, this is power appropriately applied upward. 'Thank you for being curious about something that used to be thought of as too industry-centric for broad discussion,' she wrote to her fans. 'You'll never know how much it means to me that you cared. Every single bit of it counted and ended us up here.' Swiftie or no, this is a Swift victory worth cheering for.
See - Sada Elbalad
10 hours ago
- Entertainment
- See - Sada Elbalad
Here's Why Fans Think Taylor Swift Just Dropped a Major Hint about Her Next Album
Yara Sameh On Friday, Taylor Swift announced in a letter on her website that she has finally acquired the masters to her first six albums gave an update on the long-awaited "Reputation" re-record — but fans believe that, to top it all off, she also subtly teased her 12th album. In her announcement, the pop star revealed that she finally has regained ownership of her master recordings from Shamrock Capital, the private equity firm that purchased them from Scooter Braun's Ithaca Holdings in late 2020. According to sources, Shamrock sold Swift's catalog back to her for an amount relatively close to what they paid for it — which sources tell Billboard was around $360 million. 'I'm trying to gather my thoughts into something coherent, but right now my mind is just a slideshow,' Swift wrote in her message, emphasizing how meaningful the acquisition is to her. 'A flashback sequence of all the times I daydreamed about, wished for, and pined away for a chance to get to tell you this news.' But what caught fans' eye was what the 14-time Grammy winner wrote next. 'All the times I was thiiiiiiiiiiiis close, reaching out for it, only for it to fall through.' The statement may seem innocuous — and for all Swifties know, it is — but it's hard not to focus on the fact that she included no less than 12 'i's when writing out the word 'thiiiiiiiiiiiis.' Swift has released 11 albums in her career, the last of which, "The Tortured Poets Department", arrived in April 2023. That would make her next LP her 12th, a fact that has fans thinking she just teased the upcoming project with her note. 'THE LETTER HAS 12 I's TS12 IS COMING SOON TOO OMG IM SO HAPPY FOR TAYLOR,' one fan wrote on X , sharing a screenshot of the letter. 'IT'S A TS12 SUMMER!!!' another fan posted, while a third Swiftie shared a screenshot of the letter and wrote, 'I feel like ts12 just got so much closer.' The 12-count 'i' situation is just the latest suspected clue fans have picked up on ahead of the 'Fortnight' singer's predicted 12th album. Much fanfare was also made when Swift attended the 2025 Grammys wearing earrings with exactly 12 red jewels apiece, and in March, she used a sequence of 12 'D's when praising Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco's I Said I Love You First album on Instagram. 'I LOVE THIS ALBUM SO MUCH OH MY GODDDDDDDDDDDD,' Swift wrote on her Story at the time. Sharing screenshots of the earrings, the Gomez-Blanco post and the letter about her masters, one Swiftie wrote Friday, 'SUDDENLY LIFE IS WORTH LIVING TS12 TRUTHERS RISE.' But while fans may be excited about the prospect of Swift's 12th album coming soon, it's just one of many things they are celebrating. Social media has seen an outpouring of Swifties rejoicing over the musician finally owning her life's work, something she wrote in her letter is her 'greatest dream come true.' The sale comes six years of publicly feuding with Borchetta and Braun over the way the original sale was handled, as well as the re-releases of four of her first six albums: "Fearless", "Speak Now", "Red", and "1989". In her letter, Swift emphasized how thankful she was to fans for sticking with her every step of the way. 'You'll never know how much it means to me that you cared,' she wrote. 'Every single bit of it counted and ended us up here. Thanks to you and your goodwill, teamwork and encouragement, the best things that have ever been mine… finally actually are.' read more New Tourism Route To Launch in Old Cairo Ahmed El Sakka-Led Play 'Sayidati Al Jamila' to Be Staged in KSA on Dec. 6 Mandy Moore Joins Season 2 of "Dr. Death" Anthology Series Don't Miss These Movies at 44th Cairo Int'l Film Festival Today Amr Diab to Headline KSA's MDLBEAST Soundstorm 2022 Festival Arts & Culture Mai Omar Stuns in Latest Instagram Photos Arts & Culture "The Flash" to End with Season 9 Arts & Culture Ministry of Culture Organizes four day Children's Film Festival Arts & Culture Canadian PM wishes Muslims Eid-al-Adha News Ayat Khaddoura's Final Video Captures Bombardment of Beit Lahia News Australia Fines Telegram $600,000 Over Terrorism, Child Abuse Content Arts & Culture Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban's $4.7M LA Home Burglarized Sports Former Al Zamalek Player Ibrahim Shika Passes away after Long Battle with Cancer Sports Neymar Announced for Brazil's Preliminary List for 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers News Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly Inaugurates Two Indian Companies Arts & Culture New Archaeological Discovery from 26th Dynasty Uncovered in Karnak Temple Business Fear & Greed Index Plummets to Lowest Level Ever Recorded amid Global Trade War Arts & Culture Zahi Hawass: Claims of Columns Beneath the Pyramid of Khafre Are Lies News Flights suspended at Port Sudan Airport after Drone Attacks
Arab Times
11 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Arab Times
Taylor Swift has regained control of her music, buys back first 6 albums
NEW YORK, May 31, (AP): Taylor Swift has regained control over her entire body of work. In a lengthy note posted to her official website on Friday, Swift announced: "All of the music I've ever made now belongs to me.' The pop star said she purchased her catalog of recordings - originally released through Big Machine Records - from their most recent owner, the private equity firm Shamrock Capital. She did not disclose the amount. In recent years, Swift has been rerecording and releasing her first six albums in an attempt to regain control of her music. "I can't thank you enough for helping to reunite me with this art that I have dedicated my life to, but have never owned until now,' Swift addressed fans in the post. "The best things that have ever been mine … finally actually are.' "We are thrilled with this outcome and are so happy for Taylor,' Shamrock Capital said in a statement. Swift's rerecordings were instigated by Hybe America CEO Scooter Braun's purchase and sale of her early catalog and represents Swift's effort to control her own songs and how they're used. Previous "Taylor's Version' releases have been more than conventional re-recordings, arriving with new "from the vault' music, Easter eggs and visuals that deepen understanding of her work. "I am happy for her,' Braun said Friday. She has also released new music, including last year's "The Tortured Poets Department,' announced during the 2024 Grammys and released during her record-breaking tour. So far, there have been four rerecorded albums, beginning with "Fearless (Taylor's Version)" and "Red (Taylor's Version)" in 2021. All four have been massive commercial and cultural successes, each one debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Swift's last re-recording, "1989 (Taylor's Version),' arrived in October 2023, just four months after the release of "Speak Now (Taylor's Version).' That was the same year Swift claimed the record for the woman with the most No. 1 albums in history. Fans have theorized that "Reputation (Taylor's Version)' would be next: On May 19, "Look What You Made Me Do (Taylor's Version)' aired nearly in full during the opening scene of a Season 6 episode of "The Handmaid's Tale.' Prior to that, the song was teased in 2023's Prime Video limited-series thriller "Wilderness' and in Apple TV+'s "The Dynasty: New England Patriots' in 2024. Also in 2023, she contributed "Delicate (Taylor's Version)' to Prime Video's "The Summer I Turned Pretty.' But according to the note shared Friday, Swift says she hasn't "even rerecorded a quarter of it.' She did say, however, that she has completely rerecorded her self-titled debut album "and I really love how it sounds now.' Swift writes that both her self-titled debut and "Reputation (Taylor's Version)' "can still have their moments to reemerge when the time is right.' Representatives for Swift and HYBE did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Economic Times
13 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Economic Times
Taylor Swift has regained control of her music, buys back first 6 albums
AP Taylor Swift (File Photo) Taylor Swift has regained control over her entire body of a lengthy note posted to her official website on Friday, Swift announced: "All of the music I've ever made now belongs to me." The pop star said she purchased her catalog of recordings - originally released through Big Machine Records - from their most recent owner, the private equity firm Shamrock Capital. She did not disclose the recent years, Swift has been rerecording and releasing her first six albums in an attempt to regain control of her music."I can't thank you enough for helping to reunite me with this art that I have dedicated my life to, but have never owned until now," Swift addressed fans in the post. "The best things that have ever been mine ... finally actually are." "We are thrilled with this outcome and are so happy for Taylor," Shamrock Capital said in a re-recordings were instigated by Hybe America CEO Scooter Braun's purchase and sale of her early catalog and represents Swift's effort to control her own songs and how they're "Taylor's Version" releases have been more than conventional re-recordings, arriving with new "from the vault" music, Easter eggs and visuals that deepen understanding of her work."I am happy for her," Braun said Friday. She has also released new music, including last year's "The Tortured Poets Department," announced during the 2024 Grammys and released during her record-breaking tour. So far, there have been four re-recorded albums, beginning with "Fearless (Taylor's Version)" and "Red (Taylor's Version)" in 2021. All four have been massive commercial and cultural successes, each one debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard last re-recording, "1989 (Taylor's Version)", arrived in October 2023, just four months after the release of "Speak Now (Taylor's Version)." That was the same year Swift claimed the record for the woman with the most No. 1 albums in history. Fans have theorised that "Reputation (Taylor's Version)" would be next: On May 19, "Look What You Made Me Do (Taylor's Version)" aired nearly in full during the opening scene of a season six episode of "The Handmaid's Tale". Prior to that, the song was teased in 2023's Prime Video limited-series thriller "Wilderness" and in Apple TV+'s "The Dynasty: New England Patriots" in 2024. Also in 2023, she contributed "Delicate (Taylor's Version)" to Prime Video's "The Summer I Turned Pretty." But according to the note shared Friday, Swift says she hasn't "even re-recorded a quarter of it." She did say, however, that she has completely re-recorded her self-titled debut album "and I really love how it sounds now." Swift writes that both her self-titled debut and "Reputation (Taylor's Version)" "can still have their moments to reemerge when the time is right." Representatives for Swift and HYBE did not immediately respond to request for comment.
