Taylor Swift’s new album “Evermore” embraces “more is more” release strategy

“I’ve never done this before,” Ms. Swift said on social media. “In the past, I always treated albums as one-time eras and moved on to planning the next album after the album was released. There was something different with the folklore.”

“I loved the escape from reality that I found in these fictional / non-fiction tales,” she continued. “So I kept writing it.”

Ev Ramor’s quick access reflects the reality of today’s streaming music economy: More means more. Like fellow pop star Ariana Grande, Mrs. Swift has switched from carefully planned versions to more spontaneous and less valuable ones – borrowed from the rulebook of hip-hop and R&B stars.

Mrs. Grande, for example, has spoken publicly about wanting to drop music like a rapper. Artists like YoungBoy was never broke again And Sada Baby, similar to rapper’s great statesmen Gucci Mane and Lil Wayne, have been known to fall behind on multiple projects within a year. Indie rock band is a big thief She recently released consecutive “accompanying” albums. In Mrs. Swift’s case, “Folklore” itself came quickly after the movie “Lover” released in August 2019. Prior to that, Mrs. Swift tended to place two or more years between albums. The pandemic, which has prevented musicians from touring, has also prompted artists such as Mrs. Swift to increase their releases.

Releasing more music makes sense for Ms. Swift’s business: Under the latest recordings deal for Universal Music Group, she has new master records of her, spurring even more great productions. The more her new songs are aired, the more streaming royalties she has filled her coffers. To date, Mrs. Swift’s “folklore” has generated 1.95 million total sales in the United States, including full album copies and on-demand audio and video streams, according to MRC Data / Nielsen Music.

It’s a different story with her first six albums, which Los Angeles-based investment company Shamrock Capital Advisors recently bought from rival, celebrity talent manager Scooter Brown, in a deal valued at more than $ 300 million. Mrs. Swift said she is re-recording her previous work, which will encourage fans to listen to new releases that she owns rather than old versions she does not own.

Record companies, for their part, are hungry for new releases in the era of broadcasting and are welcoming more content. Over the past five years or so, the recording business in the United States has been revitalized by revenue generated from streaming music to services like Spotify and Apple Music. Much of what is popular on broadcast is 21st-century music, not tunes from the 1960s and 1970s. However, having persistent content can also create Challenges when it comes to controlling quality levelsMusic industry watchers say.

Ms. Swift’s ad for “Evermore,” which also includes the female rock trilogy of Haim, arrives on the first night of Hanukkah and three days before her 31st birthday. “This time I thought I’d give you something!” She said on social media. A music video clip for the album’s main track, “Willow”, will be shown on Friday morning.

Write to Neil Shah at [email protected]

Corrections and amplifications
Sada Baby has been known to abandon multiple projects within a year. A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that the artist’s name was Saba Bibi. (Corrected December 10)