Swift to make music history as free agent
In less than three months’ time, pop superstar Taylor Swift will be a free agent, as the first anniversary of the release of her sixth album, “Reputation,” marks the official expiration of her obligation to Big Machine Records and its founder and CEO, Scott Borchetta, who signed Swift when she first came to him as a country-pop teenybopper of 15.
Now 28 and among the most successful female artists in modern music history — not to mention a savvy businesswoman in her own right — Swift has already been free to negotiate with rival companies, though she couldn’t sign any new deal before November.
But key to the future business of Taylor Swift Inc. is ownership of her master recordings. Swift will almost certainly keep the rights to her masters in her next deal, but it’s no secret that, like a lot of superstars, she’d like to negotiate to own her previous albums, which currently remain in the hands of Big Machine.
Potential auctions like this don’t come up every year, and the numbers could be historic.
“There’s no precedent to look to regarding the top-selling artist of the digital era becoming a total free agent,” says The Davis Firm’s Doug Davis, one of the music business’s top lawyers. “Taylor Swift is at an extraordinary point in her career where she can write her own ticket in regards to the commercial terms and deal structure. It’s very exciting.”