After a battle of years for the rights of his music, Taylor Swift came out victorious. Now completely controls the songs, the packaging of the discs and their distribution, and will not have to deal with the edicts of any company.
That would already be a sufficient reason to celebrate, but the reports indicate that it acquired its catalog for more than US $ 300 million. For a world superstar, multiplatin and winner of Grammy awards, valued at US $ 1.4 billion, it is a bargain.
We should not see it only as a gigantic financial and artistic victory for her. It is hoped to be a paradigm turn for other musicians, especially the youngest, and that serves as inspiration for more of them to understand business in an industry that takes a long time, noting that they do not pay attention to the small print about fame.
Frequently, luck plays against artists. In the case of Swift, despite all its success, it was not different.
At the end of June 2019, more than seven months after his departure as Big Machine Records to Republic Records/Universal Music Group, Big Machine was sold to Ithaca Holdings LLC, of the musical executive Scooter Braun.
Year and a half later, Braun sold Big Machine Label Group (including the first six Swift albums) to the private capital firm Shamrock Holdings for approximately US $ 300 million.
On the first occasion, Swift denounced the difficult conditions he faced to acquire the masters of his albums (record a new one for each previous one to be returned); And in the second, he was not allowed to make an offer for them.
Veteran musicians have been news in recent years by selling the rights of their catalogs for, according to reports, hundreds of millions of dollars.
Among them include Paul Simon’s composition contract for US $ 250 million; The payment to Bob Dylan for its compositions, which exceeded US $ 300 million, in addition to US $ 150 to US $ 200 million estimated for its masters; and the US $ 550 million to Bruce Springsteen for their songs and masters.
Queen is also, who beat a record for the acquisition of his songs and masters by Sony for US $ 1.2 billion.
For various reasons, also creators of younger successes such as Future, Justin Bieber and Katy Perry have sold personal participations in their publications and masters for tens and hundreds of millions of dollars, obtaining early profits.
The main difference between those musicians and Swift is that they benefited from the sales of their master recordings (some for 50 or 60 years), while Swift did not get anything from the solid sales of theirs.
From now on, the 35 -year -old will benefit greatly. This is very unusual at your age for several reasons.
On the one hand, despite the copyright review law of 1976, which allows artists to request obtaining their masters 35 years after its commercial launch, beginning with the music published in 1978, the great recordings are reluctant to give up valuable musical assets.
They will try to get better agreements with artists to preserve the coveted catalog titles, although musicians should be more directly possessed.
One of the most tumultuous public battles involved the late Prince, who fought for years to recover his masters, only to get them in the mid -50 years, two years before his death.
In addition, many artists, whether inexperienced or desperate to succeed, sign notoriously unfair contracts.
In the 1960s, the Beatles signed several of them for representation, merchandising and even the musical publication of John Lennon and Paul McCartney’s songs.
This last mistake, which McCartney spent six decades trying to correct, reached an agreement with the then Sony/ATV (now Sony Music Publishing) in 2017. George Harrison, wisely, created his own editorial, Harrisongs, in 1964, whose catalog includes the great success “Here you are the Sun.”
Even when the artists realize that they are being scammed, the music industry finds new ways to win.
At the dawn of the era of streaming (transmission)The record records initially resisted compensating the artists for digital music, streaming platforms paid low royalties and the three great recordings (Sony, UMG and Warner Music) bought Spotify actions.
In addition, 360 agreements have gained greater relevance in the streaming era. These agreements imply that the record label takes a percentage of album sales and Concerts, merchandising, sponsorships and other residual income to compensate for the decrease in CD, vinyl and cassette income.
It is a way for records to guarantee their recovery after investing resources in musicians (especially in the new ones who have not yet demonstrated their potential). But these increasing cuts in artists’ income are a heavy burden for less consolidated musicians.
To have any possibility of avoiding the obstacles that the industry entails, it is not enough to have talent in a recording study or on stage. Now more than ever, it is necessary for an artist to also be a representative.
Of course, newcomers do not have the type of influence and capital that many famous artists, such as Swift, have gathered to help them compete in the industry.
We cannot ignore the fact that he kneaded a fortune with his world tour You were, almost two years, raising about US $ 2.2 billion, which allowed him to disburse the more than US $ 300 million that are reported.
It also had a faithful audience that only bought and reproduced in streaming its re -regions of previous albums, “Taylor’s Versions”, to support it. (A decision that reduced Big Machine’s profits).
But that does not mean that Swift’s victory cannot serve as an important reminder for emerging musicians and their representatives: prioritize the negotiation of smarter agreements from the beginning.
It is also an encouraging message for consolidated artists who still do not have their teachers: if they are willing, fight for their songs, especially those found in the vaults.
The catalog remains the king, and that is why these lucrative agreements continue to occur.
There is a lesson to get out of this situation. This time, it is the record of the Learn.
Swift’s victory may not have been possible without the support of his swifties, which shows that the accumulated power of fans, when they connect deeply with an artist, is a huge asset, something with which some experts in the industry did not count.
This note does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Bloomberg LP editorial board and its owners.
Read more at Bloomberg.com
