135-545: Big Machine Records is an American record label , distributed by Universal Music Group . Big Machine is based on Music Row in Nashville , Tennessee . The label was founded in September 2005 by former DreamWorks Records executive David Gould and became a joint venture between Borchetta and country singer Toby Keith . The purchase of Big Machine Records by Scooter Braun 's company, Ithaca Holdings, in 2019 resulted in
270-535: A dispute over the ownership of Swift's back catalog , she began re-recording her first six studio albums that had been released by Big Machine. By re-recording them, Swift had the full ownership of the masters, which granted her full authorization of using her music for commercial purposes and therefore substituted the Big Machine-owned masters. Swift released the re-recording of 1989 , subtitled Taylor's Version , on October 27, 2023, nine years after
405-780: A pop icon and promoted poptimism , but Swift's heightened fame was accompanied by media scrutiny on her public and private lives. Following a 2019 dispute regarding the ownership of Swift's back catalog, she released a re-recording , 1989 (Taylor's Version) , on October 27, 2023. Taylor Swift had identified as a country musician until her fourth studio album, Red , which was released on October 22, 2012, by Big Machine Records . The album incorporates eclectic styles of pop and rock in addition to country, and its two most commercially successful singles—" We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together " and " I Knew You Were Trouble " —are pop songs with electronic stylings. The album's associated world tour , which from March 2013 to June 2014,
540-591: A weighted average score out of 100, 1989 received a score of 76 that was based on 29 reviews. Most reviewers highlighted Swift's mature perception of love and heartbreak. The A.V. Club ' s Marah Eakin praised her shift from overtly romantic struggles to more positive themes of accepting and celebrating the moment. Neil McCormick of The Daily Telegraph commended the album's "[sharp] observation and emotional engagement" that contrasted with lyrics found in "commercialised pop". Alexis Petridis of The Guardian lauded Swift's artistic control that resulted in
675-411: A "joyful" record, he listened to the album frequently to cope with his broken marriage in late 2014. On his rendition, Adams incorporated acoustic instruments, which contrast with the original's electronic production. Swift was delighted with Adams' cover and told him, "What you did with my album was like actors changing emphasis." Along with 1989 's success, Swift's status as a pop star became
810-454: A "perfectly attuned" 1980s-styled synth-pop authenticity. The album's 1980s synth-pop production divided critics. In an enthusiastic review, The New York Times ' Jon Caramanica complimented Swift's avoidance of contemporary hip hop/R&B crossover trends, writing, "Ms. Swift is aiming somewhere even higher, a mode of timelessness that few true pop stars...even bother aspiring to." Writing for Rolling Stone , Rob Sheffield characterized
945-551: A "record group" which is, in turn, controlled by a music group. The constituent companies in a music group or record group are sometimes marketed as being "divisions" of the group. From 1929 to 1998, there were six major record labels, known as the Big Six: PolyGram was merged into Universal Music Group (UMG) in 1999, leaving the remaining record labels to be known as the Big Five. In 2004, Sony and BMG agreed to
1080-405: A 50% profit-share agreement, aka 50–50 deal, not uncommon. In addition, independent labels are often artist-owned (although not always), with a stated intent often being to control the quality of the artist's output. Independent labels usually do not enjoy the resources available to the "big three" and as such will often lag behind them in market shares. However, frequently independent artists manage
1215-447: A Taylor [Swift] record, they're like, 'Oh, he's selling the company.'" Borchetta did not, however, rule out a future change of ownership, stating that "the business is changing so quickly, and if I see a strategic opportunity that's going to be better for our artists and executives, it's going to be a serious conversation." Following the release of 1989 , Swift's contract with Big Machine obliged her to produce one more full-length album for
1350-562: A US Senate committee, that the Byrds never received any of the royalties they had been promised for their biggest hits, " Mr. Tambourine Man " and " Turn! Turn!, Turn! ". A contract either provides for the artist to deliver completed recordings to the label, or for the label to undertake the recording with the artist. For artists without a recording history, the label is often involved in selecting producers, recording studios , additional musicians, and songs to be recorded, and may supervise
1485-479: A bigger company. If this is the case it can sometimes give the artist greater freedom than if they were signed directly to the big label. There are many examples of this kind of label, such as Nothing Records , owned by Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails ; and Morning Records, owned by the Cooper Temple Clause , who were releasing EPs for years before the company was bought by RCA . If an artist and
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#17327866912401620-637: A chaotic sound. Swift said that the song, which was inspired by a relationship that evoked constant anxiety because of its fragility, "best represents" 1989 . " All You Had to Do Was Stay " laments a past relationship and originated from Swift's dream of desperately shouting "Stay" to an ex-lover against her will. The dance-pop track " Shake It Off ", sharing a loosely similar sentiment with "Blank Space", sees Swift expressing disinterest in her detractors and their negative remarks on her image. The bubblegum pop song "I Wish You Would", which uses pulsing snare drums and sizzling guitars, finds Swift longing for
1755-408: A conventional cash advance to sign the artist, who would receive a royalty for sales after expenses were recouped. With the release of the artist's first album, however, the label has an option to pay an additional $ 200,000 in exchange for 30 percent of the net income from all touring, merchandise, endorsements, and fan-club fees. Atlantic would also have the right to approve the act's tour schedule, and
1890-458: A country singer to a pop icon . According to Time 's Raisa Bruner, " 1989 changed the music industry forever and cemented Swift's place as not only an artist with longevity, but a star who would make music on her own terms." It was the second album to spawn five or more US top-10 singles in the 2010s decade, and made Swift the second woman to have two albums each score five US top-10 hits. Its singles received heavy rotation on US radio over
2025-643: A deal in which she would maintain ownership of her master recordings going forward. On November 3, 2014, Swift removed all but one of her songs from Spotify after indications of her disapproval of the streaming service emerged in July of the same year. Swift, one of the world's most popular musicians at the time, had previously delayed the streaming of her 2012 album, Red . Big Machine country music artists Justin Moore and Brantley Gilbert removed their music from Spotify on November 12, 2014. Like Swift, both artists allowed
2160-472: A deal with Clear Channel—which later changed its name to iHeartMedia—in 2012 that ensures payment for Big Machine artists from terrestrial and digital radio airplay. Three years after the deal was signed, Borchetta said that the revenue streams were "very meaningful." In November 2014, Borchetta denied a claim that he was looking to sell Big Machine for $ 200 million following the release of Swift's then-upcoming fifth studio album 1989 : "Every time we have
2295-579: A deal with a proper label. In 2002, ArtistShare was founded as the Internet's first record label where the releases were directly funded by the artist's fans. 1989 (Taylor Swift album) 1989 is the fifth studio album by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift , released on October 27, 2014, by Big Machine Records . Executive-produced by Swift and the Swedish producer Max Martin , it
2430-459: A fleeting moment. Many publications ranked 1989 among their best albums of the 2010s decade—according to Metacritic, it is the 16th-most prominently acclaimed album on decade-end lists. The A.V. Club and Slant Magazine placed it in the top ten of their lists, and it featured in the top 50 on lists by Billboard , Consequence , NME , Paste , Rolling Stone , and Uproxx . Consequence additionally ranked it sixth on their list of
2565-459: A highly publicized dispute and controversy with American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift regarding the ownership of the masters to her albums for the label. Big Machine Records was founded by Scott Borchetta , a former punk rock bass guitar player who had worked in the mailroom of his father Mike's music company and became a promotions staff member in 1991 for Universal Music Group 's MCA Records . According to Bloomberg Businessweek , Borchetta
2700-621: A joint venture and merged their recorded music division to create the Sony BMG label (which would be renamed Sony Music Entertainment after a 2008 merger); BMG kept its music publishing division separate from Sony BMG and later sold BMG Music Publishing to UMG. In 2007, the remaining record labels—then known as the Big Four—controlled about 70% of the world music market , and about 80% of the United States music market. In 2012,
2835-476: A label want to work together, whether an artist has contacted a label directly, usually by sending their team a demo, or the Artists & Repertoire team of the label has scouted the artist and reached out directly, they will usually enter in to a contractual relationship. A label typically enters into an exclusive recording contract with an artist to market the artist's recordings in return for royalties on
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#17327866912402970-462: A large international media group , or somewhere in between. The Association of Independent Music (AIM) defines a 'major' as "a multinational company which (together with the companies in its group) has more than 5% of the world market(s) for the sale of records or music videos." As of 2012 , there are only three labels that can be referred to as "major labels": Universal Music Group , Sony Music , and Warner Music Group . In 2014, AIM estimated that
3105-417: A lavender sweatshirt embroidered with flying seagulls. Her initials are written with black marker on the bottom left, and the title 1989 on the bottom right. Each CD copy of 1989 includes a packet, one of five available sets, of 13 random Polaroid pictures, made up from 65 different pictures. The pictures portray Swift in different settings such as backdrops of New York City and recording sessions with
3240-414: A meeting with him at the studio after forming a fully developed idea on her own; the recording process the following day finalized it. Tedder spoke of Swift's work ethic and perfectionism with Time : "Ninety-five times out of 100, if I get a track to where we're happy with it, the artist will say, 'That's amazing.' It's very rare to hear, 'Nope, that's not right.' But the artists I've worked with who are
3375-547: A minimal hip hop-influenced beat, satirizes the media's perception of Swift as a promiscuous woman who dates male celebrities only to gather songwriting material. The production of " Style ", a funk -flavored track, was inspired by "funky electronic music" artists such as Daft Punk ; its lyrics detail an unhealthy relationship. "Out of the Woods" is an indietronica -flavored synth-pop song featuring heavy synthesizers, layered percussions and looping background vocals, resulting in
3510-590: A nostalgic and classic sound; the BBC 's Rob Freeman described the sound as " retrofuturist ". NME 's Hannah Mylrea deemed 1989 Swift's best album with a refined production and sharp lyrics. For the Alternative Press 's Kelsey Barnes and Slant Magazine 's Annie Galvin, the album fostered Swift's artistic autonomy to experiment with different sounds and songwriting tropes. Some critics, such as Lucy Harbron from Clash and Neil Smith from
3645-419: A one-sentence hidden message for each of the 13 songs, collectively tell a story of a girl's tangled relationship. Ultimately, she finds that, "She lost him but she found herself and somehow that was everything." Swift's feelings when she first moved to New York City inspired the opening track, "Welcome to New York", a synthesizer-laden song finding Swift embracing her newfound freedom. "Blank Space", set over
3780-605: A return by recording for a much smaller production cost of a typical big label release. Sometimes they are able to recoup their initial advance even with much lower sales numbers. On occasion, established artists, once their record contract has finished, move to an independent label. This often gives the combined advantage of name recognition and more control over one's music along with a larger portion of royalty profits. Artists such as Dolly Parton , Aimee Mann , Prince , Public Enemy , among others, have done this. Historically, companies started in this manner have been re-absorbed into
3915-555: A single song to remain on the streaming platform. After Swift and Big Machine withdrew her catalog from Spotify in November 2014, the streaming service launched a social media campaign to persuade Swift to return and, in a statement on its website, claimed that 16 million of over 40 million users had played her music in the preceding 30-day period. In mid-November, Borchetta disputed figures released by Spotify that claimed that Swift would receive US$ 6 million annually from
4050-430: A subject of media scrutiny. Swift described herself as a feminist , but her public appearances with singers and fashion models whom the media called her "squad" gave the impression that she did so just to keep her name afloat in news headlines. Kristy Fairclough, a professor in popular culture and film, commented, "Her shifting aesthetic and allegiances appear confusing in an overall narrative that presents Taylor Swift as
4185-471: A wistful perspective. She attributed this change of attitude to her realization of "more complex relationships", in which she was also responsible for the downfall instead of completely putting the blame on the other. For USA Today 's Brian Mansfield , even though the songs were inspired by Swift's personal life, they resonated with a wide audience who found themselves and their situations represented in her songs. The album's liner notes, which include
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4320-566: A year and a half following its release, which Billboard noted as "a kind of cultural omnipresence" that was rare for a 2010s album. Shaun Cullen, an academic specializing in the humanities, described Swift as a figure "at the cutting edge of postmillennial pop". Swift continued to incorporate the 1980s pop sound of 1989 to her next albums such as Reputation (2017), Lover (2019), and Midnights (2022). Antonoff continued working with Swift on those albums and collaborated with other musicians to commercial success, and he credited Swift as
4455-468: A younger audience, she had promoted her country songs online previously. Her social media posts showcased her personal life, making fans feel engaged with her authentic self and thus cemented their support while attracting a new fan base besides her already large one. She also promoted the album through product endorsements with Subway , Keds , and Diet Coke . Swift held a live stream via Yahoo! sponsored by ABC News on August 18, where she announced
4590-652: Is "arguably the most important current catalog there is" and stated that the streaming issue is "about each individual artist, and the real mission here is to bring ... attention to it." Taylor Swift's catalog returned to Spotify in June 2017. In October 2018, Big Machine was placed for sale, with bids from Macquarie Group , Evan Spiegel and Universal Music Group . Big Machine was valued at $ 300 million. On June 30, 2019, Billboard reported that Scooter Braun 's Ithaca Holdings had purchased Big Machine Records for $ 300 million, with funding from Carlyle Group . A few hours after
4725-544: Is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos , or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture , distribution , marketing, promotion, and enforcement of copyright for sound recordings and music videos, while also conducting talent scouting and development of new artists , artist financing and maintaining contracts with recording artists and their managers. The term "record label" derives from
4860-543: Is a remix that retains the distinctive snare drums. For " Out of the Woods ", Antonoff sent his finished instrumental track to Swift while she was on a plane. She sent him a voice memo containing the lyrics roughly 30 minutes later. The song was the first time Swift composed lyrics for an existing instrumental. Swift contacted Ryan Tedder , with whom she had always wanted to work, by a smartphone voice memo. He co-wrote and co-produced two songs—" Welcome to New York " and " I Know Places ". For "I Know Places", Swift scheduled
4995-454: Is often marketed as a "unit" or "division" of the parent label, though in most cases, they operate as pseudonym for it and do not exist as a distinct business operation or separate business structure (although trademarks are sometimes registered). A record label may give a musical act an imprint as part of their branding, while other imprints serve to house other activities, such as side ventures of that label. Music collectors often use
5130-684: Is owned by Sony Group Corporation ). Record labels and music publishers that are not under the control of the big three are generally considered to be independent ( indie ), even if they are large corporations with complex structures. The term indie label is sometimes used to refer to only those independent labels that adhere to independent criteria of corporate structure and size, and some consider an indie label to be almost any label that releases non-mainstream music, regardless of its corporate structure. Independent labels are often considered more artist-friendly. Though they may have less sales power, indie labels typically offer larger artist royalty with
5265-493: Is primarily about the emotions and reflections resulting from past romantic relationships. Swift's songwriting retained its storytelling which had been nurtured by her country-music background, but it is more ambiguous and embraces pop-music songwriting prioritizing emotional intensity and general ideas over intricate details. Swift's characters in the 1989 songs cease to vilify ex-lovers and failed relationships like those on her past songs did and instead look at them through
5400-708: The Los Angeles Times , found the album inauthentic, but acknowledged her effort to emulate the music of an era she did not experience. 1989 won industry awards, including Favorite Pop/Rock Album at the American Music Awards and Album of the Year (Western) at the Japan Gold Disc Awards in 2015, and Album of the Year at the iHeartRadio Music Awards in 2016. It also earned nominations for Best International Pop/Rock Album at
5535-680: The New Statesman , Anna Leszkiewicz wrote that the "most highbrow music critics" praised Adams for transforming Swift's 1989 from a "cheesy" album to a more serious one. The philosopher Alison Stone argued that this critical reaction was a result of both rockism and sexism. According to Stone, music journalism assumed that Swift's pop music had its "feminine" qualities of "superficiality and triviality", which it deemed inferior to Adams's indie rock and "singer-songwriter" identities that supposedly embodied authenticity and meaningfulness. Stone and Slate 's Forrest Wickman commented that this
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5670-665: The Echo Music Prize , International Album of the Year at the Juno Awards , and Best International Album at the Los Premios 40 Principales in 2015. At the 58th Annual Grammy Awards in 2016, 1989 won Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album . Swift became the first female solo artist to win Album of the Year twice—her first win was for Fearless (2008) in 2010 . Many publications ranked 1989 among
5805-671: The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), 1989 was the second-best-selling album of 2014 and third-best-selling of 2015. By 2022, the album was Swift's best-selling and had sold 14 million copies worldwide. After Swift embarked on her sixth headlining world tour, the Eras Tour , in March 2023, sales and streams of Swift's discography resurged. 1989 reached new peaks on
5940-543: The US pop radio chart for seven weeks a motivation to fully embrace the electronic-pop sound that they produced. She enjoyed working with them because they often took her ideas in a different direction, which challenged her as a songwriter. Big Machine president Scott Borchetta initially was skeptical of Swift's decision and persuaded her to record a few country songs with instruments such as fiddle , but she rejected his request. Borchetta ultimately agreed with her to not promote
6075-468: The acoustic arrangements of Swift's past albums. Because she aimed to recreate authentic 1980s pop, the album is devoid of contemporary hip hop or R&B crossover elements popular in mainstream music at the time. Although Swift declared her move from country to pop on 1989 , several reviewers, including The A.V. Club ' s Marah Eakin, argued that Swift had always been more pop-oriented even on her early country songs. The three voice memos on
6210-461: The acoustic arrangements that had characterized Swift's past albums. The lyrics expand on her autobiographical songwriting about love and heartbreak, depicting failed relationships from relatively lighthearted and more complex perspectives. 1989 was promoted with the 1989 World Tour , the highest-grossing concert tour of 2015. Five of the album's singles —" Shake It Off ", " Blank Space ", " Bad Blood ", " Style ", and " Wildest Dreams "—charted in
6345-463: The free software and open source movements and the success of Linux . In the mid-2000s, some music publishing companies began undertaking the work traditionally done by labels. The publisher Sony/ATV Music, for example, leveraged its connections within the Sony family to produce, record, distribute, and promote Elliott Yamin 's debut album under a dormant Sony-owned imprint , rather than waiting for
6480-604: The masters of Swift's first six studio albums, which Swift had been trying to buy for years, following her departure from Big Machine in November 2018. In addition to online promotion, Swift made many appearances on radio and television. She performed at awards shows including the MTV Video Music Awards and the American Music Awards . Her appearances on popular television talk shows included Jimmy Kimmel Live! , The Ellen DeGeneres Show , Late Show with David Letterman and Good Morning America . She
6615-574: The "first person" who recognized him a producer. Artists who cited 1989 as an influence included the singer-songwriter Conan Gray , the actor and musician Jared Leto , and the pop band Vamps , who was inspired by 1989 to compose their album Wake Up (2015). The director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson cited 1989 as an inspiration for her feature film debut, Someone Great (2019). The singer-songwriter Ryan Adams released his track-by-track cover album of 1989 in September 2015. Finding it
6750-510: The "parent" of any sublabels. Vanity labels are labels that bear an imprint that gives the impression of an artist's ownership or control, but in fact represent a standard artist/label relationship. In such an arrangement, the artist will control nothing more than the usage of the name on the label, but may enjoy a greater say in the packaging of their work. An example of such a label is the Neutron label owned by ABC while at Phonogram Inc. in
6885-602: The 1980s new wave -influenced soundtrack single " Sweeter than Fiction " (2013). Antonoff extensively used the Juno-6 synthesizer, which he thought to have "such a sadness and a glory all at once", and co-wrote and co-produced three tracks, two for the standard edition and one for the deluxe edition. " I Wish You Would " stemmed from his experimental sampling of the snare drums on Fine Young Cannibals ' 1988 single " She Drives Me Crazy ". He played his sample to Swift on an iPhone and sent it to her to re-record. The final track
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#17327866912407020-412: The 1980s. The cover is a Polaroid portrait of Swift's face cut off at the eyes, which Swift said would bring about a sense of mystery: "I didn't want people to know the emotional DNA of this album. I didn't want them to see a smiling picture on the cover and think this was a happy album, or see a sad-looking facial expression and think, oh, this is another breakup record." She is wearing red lipstick and
7155-414: The 1990s and early 2000s. Cumulus also operates Nash Icon-branded radio stations with a similar focus. On October 21, 2014, it was announced that McEntire would be the first artist signed to Nash Icon Music. Nash Icon Records folded into Big Machine Records in 2018. Record label [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company
7290-632: The BBC, regarded 1989 as a pioneer for artists who experimented beyond their perceived musical boundaries. Nora Princiotti of The Ringer wrote in 2024 that "before we routinely talked about Swift in the conversation with Michael Jackson and the Beatles ", she created 1989 as "a singular pop album designed to exist in the context of Thriller and Abbey Road " but not Coldplay 's Ghost Stories (2014) or Ariana Grande 's My Everything (2014) because it positioned itself in pop history rather than
7425-457: The Girl ", a bubblegum pop track featuring guitar strums over a heavy disco -styled beat, Swift hints at her desire to reunite with an ex-lover. "This Love" is a soft rock -flavored electropop ballad . The penultimate track of the standard edition is "I Know Places", which expresses Swift's desire to preserve an unstable relationship. Swift stated that it serves as a loose sequel to "Out of
7560-461: The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, and Switzerland. The album received multi-platinum certifications in many countries, such as Australia (eleven-times platinum), Austria (triple platinum), Belgium (four-times platinum), New Zealand (nine-times platinum), and Norway (triple platinum). In Canada, it was certified six-times platinum by Music Canada (MC) and sold 542,000 copies to become
7695-504: The UK. At one point artist Lizzie Tear (under contract with ABC themselves) appeared on the imprint, but it was devoted almost entirely to ABC's offerings and is still used for their re-releases (though Phonogram owns the masters of all the work issued on the label). However, not all labels dedicated to particular artists are completely superficial in origin. Many artists, early in their careers, create their own labels which are later bought out by
7830-528: The US Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 1.287 million copies, according to data compiled by Billboard for the chart dated November 15, 2014. Swift became the first artist to have three albums each sell one million copies within the first week, and 1989 was the first album released in 2014 to exceed one million copies. 1989 topped the Billboard 200 for 11 non-consecutive weeks and spent
7965-515: The United States and Canada, the deluxe edition was available exclusively through Target Corporation . The songs "Out of the Woods" and "Welcome to New York" were released through the iTunes Store as promotional singles on October 14 and 20, respectively. 1989 was supported by a string of commercially successful singles, including Billboard Hot 100 number ones "Blank Space" and "Bad Blood" featuring rapper Kendrick Lamar , and top-10 hits "Style" and "Wildest Dreams". Other singles were "Out of
8100-546: The United States would typically bear a 4th & B'way logo and would state in the fine print, "4th & B'way™, an Island Records, Inc. company". Collectors discussing labels as brands would say that 4th & B'way is a sublabel or imprint of just "Island" or "Island Records". Similarly, collectors who choose to treat corporations and trademarks as equivalent might say 4th & B'way is an imprint and/or sublabel of both Island Records, Ltd. and that company's sublabel, Island Records, Inc. However, such definitions are complicated by
8235-614: The Woods", previously a promotional single, and "New Romantics". The deluxe edition bonus tracks, which had been available exclusively through Target, were released on the US iTunes Store in 2015. On November 3, 2014, Swift removed her entire catalog from Spotify , the largest on-demand streaming service at the time, arguing that their ad-supported free service undermined the platform's premium service, which provides higher royalties for songwriters. She had written an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal in July 2014, expressing her concerns over
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#17327866912408370-452: The Woods". Accompanied by dark, intense drum and bass -influenced beats, the song uses a metaphor of foxes running away from hunters to convey hiding from scrutiny. The final track on the standard edition, "Clean", is an understated soft rock and synth-folk song talking about the struggles to escape from a toxic yet addictive relationship; the protagonist is "finally clean" after a destructive yet cleansing torrential storm. "Wonderland",
8505-433: The album to country radio, which had been formative in driving Swift's career. Martin and Shellback produced seven of the standard edition's thirteen tracks. Swift credited Martin as co-executive producer because he also recorded and produced the vocals on tracks where he was uncredited, which she deemed important in producing a coherent album. Jack Antonoff was another key producer on 1989 ; he had worked with Swift on
8640-407: The album will sell better if the artist complies with the label's desired requests or changes. At times, the record label's decisions are prudent ones from a commercial perspective, but these decisions may frustrate artists who feel that their art is being diminished or misrepresented by such actions. In other instances, record labels have shelved artists' albums with no intention of any promotion for
8775-508: The album's sales. During one week leading to 1989 's release, publications predicted the album would sell short of one million copies in its debut week, with estimations from 600,000 to 750,000 to 800,000–900,000. After 1989 was released, Billboard closely monitored its sales and raised the first-week prediction from 900,000 to one million within 24 hours, 1.2 million within 48 hours, and 1.3 million after six days of tracking. Through November 2, 2014, 1989 debuted atop
8910-455: The albums charts in Greece (number one), Austria (number four), Sweden (number 17). It appeared on new albums charts of Argentina (number one), Uruguay (number seven), and Iceland (number 25). When 1989 was first released, contemporary music critics gave it generally positive reviews. On Metacritic , a review aggregator site that compiles reviews from mainstream publications and assigns
9045-500: The amount Swift earned from streaming her music videos on the Vevo site was greater than the payout she received from Spotify. Borchetta then clarified in a February 2015 interview that Swift's catalog would be permitted on a streaming service "that understands the different needs that we [Swift and Big Machine] have," whereby "the choice to be [on the free, ad-supported tier] or not" is provided. Borchetta argued that Swift's musical oeuvre
9180-591: The announcement of the purchase, Taylor Swift wrote on Tumblr that she was unaware of the buyer of the masters of her first six albums. Later that night, Scott Borchetta revealed through the Big Machine Label Group website his and Swift's conversation regarding the purchase. A copyright issue arose later in the year just ahead of Swift's American Music Awards ' Artist of the Decade performance when Swift tweeted regarding Big Machine's prohibition on
9315-442: The area of non-country radio formats and international promotion, and Varvatos oversaw branding and styling. In a February 2015 interview, Borchetta refused to comment on the status of the label's distribution deal with Universal Music Group (UMG), which was up for renegotiation at the time. He confirmed that the label would release the next American Idol album, in partnership with 19 Entertainment and UMG—Borchetta would be one of
9450-411: The artist from their contract, leaving the artist in a state of limbo. Artists who have had disputes with their labels over ownership and control of their music have included Taylor Swift , Tinashe , Megan Thee Stallion , Kelly Clarkson , Thirty Seconds to Mars , Clipse , Ciara , JoJo , Michelle Branch , Kesha , Kanye West , Lupe Fiasco , Paul McCartney , and Johnny Cash . In
9585-415: The artist in question. Reasons for shelving can include the label deciding to focus its resources on other artists on its roster, or the label undergoing a restructure where the person that signed the artist and supports the artist's vision is no longer present to advocate for the artist. In extreme cases, record labels can prevent the release of an artist's music for years, while also declining to release
9720-425: The artist is established and has a loyal fan base. For that reason, labels now have to be more relaxed with the development of artists because longevity is the key to these types of pact. Several artists such as Paramore , Maino , and even Madonna have signed such types of deals. A look at an actual 360 deal offered by Atlantic Records to an artist shows a variation of the structure. Atlantic's document offers
9855-484: The artists may be downloaded free of charge or for a fee that is paid via PayPal or other online payment system. Some of these labels also offer hard copy CDs in addition to direct download. Digital Labels are the latest version of a 'net' label. Whereas 'net' labels were started as a free site, digital labels represent more competition for the major record labels. The new century brought the phenomenon of open-source or open-content record labels. These are inspired by
9990-582: The best 2010s-decade pop albums, and Variety 's Chris Willman ranked it first on his personal list. The Guardian featured the album at number 89 on a 2019 list of the 100 best albums of the 21st century. The Times ' Ed Potton dubbed it the "album of the century". On Pitchfork ' s readers' poll for the 2010s decade, it ranked 44th. 1989 placed at number 393 on Rolling Stone 's 2023 revision of their 500 Greatest Albums of All Time , and number 39 on Consequence 's The 100 Greatest Albums of All Time (2022). In November 2020, after
10125-786: The best albums of 2014. Those who placed the album within their top 10 included Billboard (first), American Songwriter (4th), Time (4th), The Daily Telegraph (5th), The Music (5th), Drowned in Sound (6th), Complex (8th), and Rolling Stone (10th). Other publications that featured 1989 in their lists were The Guardian , The A.V. Club , PopMatters , Pitchfork , and MusicOMH . The album ranked 7th on The Village Voice 's 2014 Pazz & Jop mass critics' poll and featured in individual critics' lists by Jon Caramanica for The New York Times (7th), Ken Tucker for NPR (3rd), and Brian Mansfield for USA Today (1st). 1989 transformed Swift's image from
10260-453: The catalyst for poptimism —a critical reassessment of "mainstream" pop music that had been largely dismissed by "indie" music audiences. Lucy Ford of GQ said by embracing synth-pop, Swift "[proved] genres don't indicate authenticity". For many critics, the album stood out in contemporary music because Swift deliberately avoided contemporary hip-hop trends to incorporate 1980s/1990s musical influences, which made it an ambitious album with
10395-549: The centre of the cultural universe." Swift's disputes with several celebrities, including rapper Kanye West , diminished the sense of authenticity that she had maintained. Swift announced a prolonged hiatus following the 1989 World Tour because "people might need a break from [her]". Her follow-up album, Reputation , was influenced by the media commotion surrounding her celebrity. After Adams released his 1989 cover in 2015, Pitchfork attracted criticism when it reviewed his rendition while neglecting Swift's artistic output. In
10530-650: The circular label in the center of a vinyl record which prominently displays the manufacturer's name, along with other information. Within the mainstream music industry , recording artists have traditionally been reliant upon record labels to broaden their consumer base, market their albums, and promote their singles on streaming services, radio, and television. Record labels also provide publicists , who assist performers in gaining positive media coverage, and arrange for their merchandise to be available via stores and other media outlets. Record labels may be small, localized and " independent " ("indie"), or they may be part of
10665-403: The company. Some independent labels become successful enough that major record companies negotiate contracts to either distribute music for the label or in some cases, purchase the label completely, to the point where it functions as an imprint or sublabel. A label used as a trademark or brand and not a company is called an imprint , a term used for a similar concept in publishing . An imprint
10800-400: The corporate mergers that occurred in 1989 (when Island was sold to PolyGram) and 1998 (when PolyGram merged with Universal). PolyGram held sublabels including Mercury, Island and Motown. Island remained registered as corporations in both the United States and UK , but control of its brands changed hands multiple times as new companies were formed, diminishing the corporation's distinction as
10935-634: The cover of 1989 as one of the 50 greatest album covers of all time. Swift marketed 1989 as her first "official pop" album. To bolster sales, Swift and Big Machine implemented an extensive marketing plan. As observed by Maryn Wilkinson, an academic specialized in media studies, Swift adopted a "zany" aspect for her 1989 persona. As Swift had been associated with a hardworking and authentic persona through her country songs, her venture to "artificial, manufactured" pop required intricate maneuvering to retain her sense of authenticity. She used social media extensively to communicate with her fan base. To attract
11070-748: The decade's fifth-best-selling album. It was the fastest-selling album by a female artist of 2014 in the United Kingdom, where it earned a six-times platinum certification from the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). In the Asia-Pacific markets, 1989 was certified platinum in Japan and Singapore, and it sold over one million units as of August 2019 to become one of the best-selling digital albums in China . According to
11205-427: The decline of the album as an economic entity following the rise of free, on-demand streaming. Big Machine and Swift kept 1989 only on paid subscription-required platforms such as Rhapsody and Beats Music . This move prompted an industry-wide debate on the impact of streaming on declining record sales during the digital era. In June 2015, Swift stated that she would remove 1989 from Apple Music , criticizing
11340-498: The deluxe edition contain Swift's discussions of the songwriting process and unfinished demos for three songs—"I Know Places", "I Wish You Would", and " Blank Space ". Myles McNutt, a professor in communications and arts, described the voice memos as Swift's effort to claim her authority over 1989 , defying pop music's "gendered hierarchy" which had seen a dominance of male songwriters and producers. As with Swift's past albums, 1989
11475-698: The details of 1989 and released the lead single "Shake It Off", which debuted atop the US Billboard Hot 100 . To connect further with her supporters, Swift selected a number of fans based on their engagement on social media and invited them to private album-listening sessions called "the 1989 Secret Sessions". They took place at her properties in Los Angeles, New York City, Nashville, Rhode Island , and London throughout September 2014. The album's standard and deluxe editions were released for download on digital platforms on October 27, 2014. In
11610-416: The early days of the recording industry, recording labels were absolutely necessary for the success of any artist. The first goal of any new artist or band was to get signed to a contract as soon as possible. In the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, many artists were so desperate to sign a contract with a record company that they sometimes ended up signing agreements in which they sold the rights to their recordings to
11745-512: The end of their contract with EMI when their album In Rainbows was released as a " pay what you want " sales model as an online download, but they also returned to a label for a conventional release. Research shows that record labels still control most access to distribution. Computers and internet technology led to an increase in file sharing and direct-to-fan digital distribution, causing music sales to plummet in recent years. Labels and organizations have had to change their strategies and
11880-499: The established "drums-guitar-bass-whatever" production to make songs with synthesizers , drum pads , and overlapped vocals. Two of her main inspirations were Annie Lennox and Peter Gabriel —she admired how the former conveyed her "intense" thoughts through music and the latter's synth-pop sound created "an atmosphere behind what he was singing, rather than a produced track". Swift enlisted Martin and Shellback as prime collaborators because she found "I Knew You Were Trouble" topping
12015-572: The final US show of the Eras Tour, and released it on October 27, 2023. On April 2, 2021, it was announced that Ithaca Holdings, including Big Machine, would be sold to the South Korean music and entertainment firm Hybe Corporation (formerly Big Hit Entertainment), with Borchetta to remain CEO of Big Machine. In November 2007, Big Machine Records founded a subsidiary imprint called Valory Music Co. Acts signed to this roster include Jimmy Wayne (who
12150-404: The first full year after its release in the top 10 of the Billboard 200. The album had spent 500 weeks on the chart by July 2024, becoming the third album by a female artist to achieve this feat in history. 1989 exceeded sales of five million copies in US sales by July 2015, the fastest-selling album since 2004 up to that point. With 6.215 million copies sold by the end of 2019, the album
12285-524: The first of the three bonus songs on the deluxe edition, alludes to the fantasy book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland to describe a relationship tumbling down a "rabbit hole". Inspired by Antonoff and Lena Dunham 's relationship, the ballad " You Are in Love " is about an ideal relationship from another woman's perspective. The final song's title, " New Romantics ", refers to the cultural movement in
12420-702: The first rerecorded song, " Love Story (Taylor's Version) ", would be released the following day at midnight, which was then followed by the album Fearless (Taylor's Version) on April 9. Swift announced the next re-recorded album to be released, originally slated for a November 19 release then changed to a November 12 release date, would be Red (Taylor's Version) , on June 18. Following the release of her tenth studio album, Midnights , Swift announced her third rerecorded album, Speak Now (Taylor's Version) at her Nashville show of her Eras Tour , and released it on July 7, 2023, under Republic Records . She announced her fourth re-recorded album, 1989 (Taylor's Version) at
12555-572: The label. The Zac Brown Band announced on January 12, 2015, that it had finalized a four-way strategic partnership involving the Southern Ground Artists record label, Big Machine Label Group, Republic Records and John Varvatos Records for the release of its fourth studio album. The terms of the deal stated that Zac Brown Band would work with Big Machine Label Group for marketing and distribution, while Southern Ground Artists would work on radio promotion, Republic provided support in
12690-402: The label. The departure occurred during a downturn period for the overall U.S. music industry. In February 2010 , Swift won four Grammys —including Album of the Year ( Fearless ), Best Country Album ( Fearless ), Best Country Song ( "White Horse" ), and Best Female Country Vocal Performance ("White Horse")—becoming the first Big Machine artist to win a Grammy Award. Borchetta signed
12825-419: The late 1970s and early 1980s. With a strong 1980s synth-pop sound, the song sees Swift reigniting her hopes and energy after the heartbreaks she had endured. Swift named 1989 after her birth year and said it signified a symbolic rebirth of her image and artistry. As creative director for the album's packaging, Swift included pictures taken with a Polaroid instant camera—a photographic method popular in
12960-410: The mainstream pop scene. Some critics lamented that Swift's move from country to pop eroded her authenticity as a songwriter, particularly because of pop music's " capitalist nature" as opposed to country music's emphasis on authenticity. Slant Magazine ' s Annie Galvin observed that Swift maintained the clever songwriting that had distinguished her earlier releases, but was disappointed with
13095-683: The major divisions of EMI were sold off separately by owner Citigroup : most of EMI's recorded music division was absorbed into UMG; EMI Music Publishing was absorbed into Sony/ATV Music Publishing; finally, EMI's Parlophone and Virgin Classics labels were absorbed into Warner Music Group (WMG) in July 2013. This left the so-called Big Three labels. In 2020 and 2021, both WMG and UMG had their IPO with WMG starting trading at Nasdaq and UMG starting trading at Euronext Amsterdam and leaving only Sony Music as wholly-owned subsidiary of an international conglomerate ( Sony Entertainment which in turn
13230-433: The major labels (two examples are American singer Frank Sinatra 's Reprise Records , which has been owned by Warner Music Group for some time now, and musician Herb Alpert 's A&M Records , now owned by Universal Music Group). Similarly, Madonna 's Maverick Records (started by Madonna with her manager and another partner) was to come under control of Warner Music when Madonna divested herself of controlling shares in
13365-537: The majors had a collective global market share of some 65–70%. Record labels are often under the control of a corporate umbrella organization called a "music group ". A music group is usually affiliated to an international conglomerate " holding company ", which often has non-music divisions as well. A music group controls and consists of music-publishing companies, record (sound recording) manufacturers, record distributors, and record labels. Record companies (manufacturers, distributors, and labels) may also constitute
13500-447: The media called Swift's "squad" which received media coverage. The 1989 World Tour was the highest-grossing tour of 2015, earning over $ 250 million at the box office. In North America alone, the tour grossed $ 181.5 million, setting the record for highest-grossing US tour by a woman. Swift broke this record in 2018 with her Reputation Stadium Tour . US music-industry publications were fond of predicting 1989 's sales performance;
13635-459: The media scrutiny of her public image. Swift began writing her fifth studio album in mid-2013, when she was touring to support Red . She viewed Red as an album that straddled the boundary between country and pop and thus wanted its follow-up to be "blatant pop" because she believed, "[If] you chase two rabbits, you lose them both." Inspired by 1980s synth-pop , she viewed the decade as an "experimental time in pop music" when musicians abandoned
13770-508: The mentors on the reality program's next series. Borchetta also disclosed that Swift agreed to the withdrawal of her catalog from Spotify after he first suggested the idea to her, and that he would remove the music of all Big Machine artists if it was within his power. In May 2017, the label branched out into the alcoholic beverage industry by launching Big Machine Vodka, a premium brand distilled in Lynnville, Tennessee . Borchetta described
13905-493: The most successful are the ones who'll tell me to my face, 'No, you're wrong,' two or three times in a row. And she did." For " Clean ", Swift approached British producer Imogen Heap in London after writing the song's lyrics and melody. Heap helped to complete the track by playing instruments on it; the two finished recording after two takes in one day at Heap's studio. Nathan Chapman , Swift's longtime collaborator, co-produced
14040-419: The music industry had seen declining record sales brought by digital download and streaming platforms, but Swift had established herself as a best-selling album artist in the digital era: her last two albums, Speak Now (2010) and Red (2012), each sold over one million copies within one week. Many industry personnel questioned whether Swift abandoning country music and withdrawing from streaming would impact
14175-426: The new musical style. Entertainment Weekly ' s Adam Markovitz and Spin 's Andrew Unterberger were critical of the heavy synthesizers, which undermined Swift's conventionally vivid lyrics. AllMusic 's Stephen Thomas Erlewine described the album as "a sparkling soundtrack to an aspirational lifestyle" that fails to transcend the "transient transparencies of modern pop". Mikael Wood, in his review for
14310-468: The new venture as "perfectly [complementing] the music we take such great pride in". In November 2017, Swift released her sixth studio album Reputation , her last album released under Big Machine. After this album, Swift refused to renew her contract with the label. She eventually stayed with Universal Music Group, Big Machine's distributor, and on November 19, 2018, after her contract with Big Machine had expired, Swift signed with Republic Records , under
14445-537: The original release of 1989 . It was the fourth re-recorded album in the series, following the Taylor's Version re-recordings of Fearless (2021), Red (2021), and Speak Now (2023). 1989 (Taylor's Version) 's standard track-list contains re-recorded versions of all tracks on the deluxe 1989 edition and five previously unreleased "From the Vault" tracks. After the announcement of 1989 (Taylor's Version) ,
14580-507: The output of recording sessions. For established artists, a label is usually less involved in the recording process. The relationship between record labels and artists can be a difficult one. Many artists have had conflicts with their labels over the type of sound or songs they want to make, which can result in the artist's artwork or titles being changed before release. Other artists have had their music prevented from release, or shelved. Record labels generally do this because they believe that
14715-447: The producers. The photos are out-of-focus, off-framed, with a sepia -tinged treatment, and feature the 1989 songs' lyrics written with black marker on the bottom. Polaroid Corporation chief executive Scott Hardy reported that the 1989 Polaroid concept propelled a revival in instant film, especially among the hipster subculture who valued the "nostalgia and retro element of what [their] company stands for". Billboard in 2022 ranked
14850-603: The record as "deeply weird, feverishly emotional, wildly enthusiastic". In a review published by Cuepoint , Robert Christgau applauded her departure from country to experiment with new styles, but felt this shift was not radical. NME 's Matthew Horton considered Swift's transition to pop "a success", save for the inclusion of the "soft-rock mush" of "This Love" and "Clean". Shane Kimberlin writing for musicOMH deemed Swift's transition to pop on 1989 "not completely successful", but praised her lyrics for incorporating "enough heart and personality", which he found rare in
14985-548: The record label in perpetuity. Entertainment lawyers are usually employed by artists to discuss contract terms. Due to advancing technology such as the Internet , the role of labels is rapidly changing, as artists are able to freely distribute their own material through online radio , peer-to-peer file sharing such as BitTorrent , and other services, at little to no cost, but with correspondingly low financial returns. Established artists, such as Nine Inch Nails , whose career
15120-540: The relationship between streaming and record sales . Initial reviews of 1989 generally complimented its catchy production but were divided over the songwriting. Some critics argued that the synth-pop production undermined Swift's singer-songwriter identity—a criticism that has been retrospectively regarded as rockist . 1989 won Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album at the 2016 Grammy Awards , and Rolling Stone listed it among their " 500 Greatest Albums of All Time " list. The album transformed Swift's status to
15255-464: The return of a past relationship. Swift said that " Bad Blood ", a track that incorporates heavy, stomping drums, is about betrayal by an unnamed female peer, alleged to be Katy Perry , with whom Swift was involved in a feud that received widespread media coverage. " Wildest Dreams " speaks of a dangerous affair with an apparently untrustworthy man and incorporates a sultry, dramatic atmosphere accompanied by string instruments . On " How You Get
15390-443: The revival of Dot Records and, as of February 2015, the imprint was run in partnership with Republic Records. Dot was shuttered in March 2017 and a number of its artists moved to other Big Machine imprints. In 2014, Big Machine announced a partnership with Cumulus Media to create Nash Icon Music, a Big Machine imprint serving as an offshoot of Cumulus's Nash FM brand, focusing on active country acts who achieved mainstream fame in
15525-418: The salaries of certain tour and merchandise sales employees hired by the artist. In addition, the label also offers the artist a 30 percent cut of the label's album profits—if any—which represents an improvement from the typical industry royalty of 15 percent. With the Internet now being the dominant source for obtaining music, netlabels have emerged. Depending on the ideals of the net label, music files from
15660-419: The selling price of the recordings. Contracts may extend over short or long durations, and may or may not refer to specific recordings. Established, successful artists tend to be able to renegotiate their contracts to get terms more favorable to them, but Prince 's much-publicized 1994–1996 feud with Warner Bros. Records provides a strong counterexample, as does Roger McGuinn 's claim, made in July 2000 before
15795-511: The service for not offering royalties to artists during their free three-month trial period. After Apple Music announced that it would pay artists royalties during the free trial period, she agreed to leave 1989 on their service; she then featured in a series of commercials for Apple Music. She re-added her entire catalog on Spotify in June 2017. Swift began rerecording her first six studio albums, including 1989 , in November 2020. The decision came after talent manager Scooter Braun acquired
15930-480: The single " Tim McGraw " and her debut album Taylor Swift . Keith dropped his affiliation with the label in 2006, but he was reported as an equity holder in November 2014, alongside the Swift family and Borchetta (the latter reportedly owning 60 percent of the company at the time). In October 2012, Borchetta told Rolling Stone magazine: "[Taylor Swift's father] Scott Swift owns three percent of Big Machine." By March 2009, Big Machine artist Danielle Peck had left
16065-464: The streaming site—Borchetta said in a Time magazine interview that Swift was paid a total of US$ 500,000 over the previous 12 months. Spotify responded to Borchetta, by clarifying that Swift had been paid US$ 2 million for global streaming over the year-long time frame. Spotify further explained: "We [Spotify] paid Taylor [Swift]'s label and publisher roughly half a million dollars in the month before she took her catalog down". According to Borchetta,
16200-400: The term sublabel to refer to either an imprint or a subordinate label company (such as those within a group). For example, in the 1980s and 1990s, 4th & B'way Records (pronounced as "Broadway") was a trademarked brand owned by Island Records Ltd. in the UK and by a subordinate branch, Island Records, Inc., in the United States. The center label on a 4th & Broadway record marketed in
16335-489: The time, Borchetta had no infrastructure or financing. He made an offer to Swift and her parents, whereby he would recruit her to the new label's roster after it was established. Swift eventually recontacted Borchetta around two weeks later, telling him: "I'm looking for you." He formed the label in 2005, naming it "Big Machine" after a 2004 song by the band Velvet Revolver . The first signees to Big Machine were Jack Ingram and Danielle Peck . Big Machine's first album release
16470-658: The top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 , with the first three reaching number one. In the United States, 1989 spent 11 weeks atop the Billboard 200 and was certified nine-times platinum . The album has sold 14 million copies worldwide and received platinum certifications in many countries across Europe, the Americas, and Asia–Pacific. Swift and Big Machine withheld the album from free streaming services for nearly three years, which prompted an industry discourse on
16605-680: The track " This Love ". The album was mastered by Tom Coyne in two days at Sterling Sound Studio in New York City. Swift finalized the record upon completing the Asian leg of the Red Tour in mid-2014. The standard edition of 1989 includes 13 tracks; the deluxe edition includes six additional tracks—three original songs and three voice memos. The album prominently incorporates synthesizers, programmed drum machines , pulsating basslines , and processed backing vocals—a stark contrast to
16740-437: The use of her old music. On August 22, 2019, Swift announced on Good Morning America that she would rerecord her first six albums in November 2020 and release them through Republic Records . On November 16, 2020, Variety reported that Big Machine had sold the rights to Taylor Swift's first six albums to Shamrock Holdings . Swift stated that she had not been contacted about the sale. On February 11, 2021, Swift announced that
16875-433: The way they work with artists. New types of deals called "multiple rights" or "360" deals are being made with artists, where labels are given rights and percentages to artist's touring, merchandising, and endorsements . In exchange for these rights, labels usually give higher advance payments to artists, have more patience with artist development, and pay higher percentages of CD sales. These 360 deals are most effective when
17010-463: Was Ingram's Live: Wherever You Are , a re-release of a live album he had previously issued independently in 2004. The album features two new studio tracks, "Wherever You Are" and "Love You", both of which were released as singles. In mid-2006, " Wherever You Are " off this album reached number one on Billboard Hot Country Songs , thus becoming the label's first single to top that chart. Soon after, Big Machine released Swift's first ever recording,
17145-530: Was Swift's effort to recalibrate her artistic identity from country to pop . Swift produced 1989 with an ensemble that included Martin, Shellback , Jack Antonoff , Ryan Tedder , Nathan Chapman , and Imogen Heap . Recorded in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Sweden, the album was titled after Swift's birth year as a symbolic rebirth. Inspired by 1980s synth-pop , the production incorporates dense synthesizers , programmed drum machines , and processed electronic backing vocals—a stark contrast to
17280-576: Was an "involved manager" at MCA, "choosing singles and dispensing advice." After he was fired from MCA in 1997, Borchetta accepted a role at the Nashville division of DreamWorks Records , but later decided to start his own label after Universal acquired the division. Before he left DreamWorks, Borchetta approached Taylor Swift and her family after the musician performed at the Bluebird Café in Nashville, Tennessee after first meeting her in 2004. At
17415-455: Was developed with major label backing, announced an end to their major label contracts, citing that the uncooperative nature of the recording industry with these new trends is hurting musicians, fans and the industry as a whole. However, Nine Inch Nails later returned to working with a major label, admitting that they needed the international marketing and promotional reach that a major label can provide. Radiohead also cited similar motives with
17550-499: Was formerly signed to Big Machine), Jewel , The Mavericks , Thomas Rhett , and Justin Moore . By the end of November 2008, the Valory imprint entered into a partnership with Midas Records —promotion, sales, marketing, production, publicity and distribution—for Canadian acts Adam Gregory and Emerson Drive . The announcement that Reba McEntire would join Valory was also publicized in November 2008. McEntire's debut single on Valory
17685-466: Was in line with Pitchfork and other rock-music critics' tendency to prefer male-oriented, "edgy" musicians to "mainstream" acts. Retrospective reviews have considered 1989 an artistically accomplished album. Paste 's Ellen Johnson wrote that it was "one of the best American pop albums of all time", and Esquire 's Alex Bilmes regarded it as Swift's masterpiece and a modern classic. The Guardian 's Ian Gormely wrote that 1989 made Swift
17820-639: Was part of the line-up for the iHeartRadio Music Festival , CBS Radio 's "We Can Survive" benefit concert, the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show and the Jingle Ball Tour . The album's supporting tour, the 1989 World Tour , ran from May to December 2015. It kicked off in Tokyo , and concluded in Melbourne . Swift invited various special guests on tour with her, including singers and fashion models
17955-428: Was scheduled for 2009, with her new studio album scheduled for mid-2009. Big Machine joined with Universal Republic Records in June 2009 to found a new label, Republic Nashville. In August 2016, Republic Nashville was rebranded as BMLG Records after Big Machine took back full ownership of the label. BMLG Records rebranded as Nashville Harbor Records & Entertainment in 2024. In March 2014, Big Machine announced
18090-741: Was the all-time highest-grossing country tour when it completed. Although Red was promoted to country radio and awards shows, its pop-leaning production sparked a media debate over Swift's status as a country artist. Swift's personal life was another aspect that attracted media attention. Her serial romantic relationships, including a short-lived romance with the English singer Harry Styles , generated much tabloid coverage and blemished her "America's Sweetheart" image. In March 2014, Swift relocated from Nashville to New York City; she recounted that moving geographically while being unattached romantically prompted her to embrace new creative ideas, as did
18225-469: Was the third-best-selling album of the 2010s decade in the United States. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified the album nine-times platinum , which denotes nine million album-equivalent units . As of August 2023, 1989 had accumulated 12.3 million album-equivalent units in the United States. 1989 also reached number one on the record charts of various European and Oceanic countries, including Australia, Belgium, Ireland,
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