Swift eyes new label, streaming

After more than 12 years, six albums and 10 Grammy Awards as the star of the Nashville-based Big Machine Records, Taylor Swift has a new label.

The singer became a free agent this month, a year after the release of her latest album, “Reputation.” She announced Monday on Instagram that she had signed a multiyear, multialbum agreement with Universal Music Group and its subsidiary, Republic Records. As part of the deal, Swift, 28, will own her master recordings moving forward, she said. Other terms were not disclosed.

In photos of a typed note posted to her personal account, Swift added that she had negotiated with digital streaming in mind. The singer said she and Universal agreed that if the company sells any of its equity in Spotify, which went public earlier this year, the money would be distributed to artists.

“It’s really important to me to see eye to eye with a label regarding the future of our industry,” Swift said in her statement. “I feel so motivated by new opportunities created by the streaming world and the ever changing landscape of our industry.”

With more than 30 million records sold in the United States, Swift is one of the few artists with the sway to move the industry’s major players toward her. In 2015, just as streaming was taking off, Swift publicly criticized Apple when it said it would not pay royalties during three-month trial memberships for its new music streaming service; less than 24 hours later, Apple changed course.

Swift has also sparred publicly with Spotify, removing her catalog from the service for a time for what she said was unfair compensation. Swift