Taylor Swift's Record Label: Which Company Represents the Pop Star?

Taylor Swift's Record Label: Which Company Represents the Pop Star?

By Alexander Mitchell

February 27, 2025 at 04:30 AM

Taylor Swift is currently signed with Republic Records, a division of Universal Music Group (UMG), after leaving her long-time label Big Machine Records in 2018. This switch marked a significant moment in her career, giving her ownership of her master recordings for all new music created under the Republic Records deal.

Swift's journey with record labels began in 2005 when she signed with Big Machine Records at just 15 years old. During her 13-year tenure with Big Machine, she released six studio albums, from her self-titled debut to "reputation." However, she didn't own the master recordings of these albums, which later became a major point of controversy.

In November 2018, Swift announced her historic deal with Republic Records and UMG. The agreement included several groundbreaking terms:

- Full ownership of all master recordings for new music
- A higher percentage of sales from her recordings
- A guarantee that any sale of UMG's Spotify shares would result in money distributed to artists

The dispute over her earlier masters led Swift to re-record her first six albums, branded as "Taylor's Version," under Republic Records. These re-recordings began releasing in 2021, starting with "Fearless (Taylor's Version)" and "Red (Taylor's Version)."

Since joining Republic Records, Swift has released several new albums including "Lover" (2019), "folklore" (2020), "evermore" (2020), and "Midnights" (2022). The partnership has proven incredibly successful, with multiple record-breaking releases and Grammy wins.

Under Republic Records' leadership by Monte Lipman, Swift continues to maintain creative control over her music while benefiting from the marketing and distribution power of one of the world's largest record labels, Universal Music Group.

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