Swift–like everyone else in the music industry–saw Spotify as a platform that could hurt the music industry, stunting album sales and propagating the problem of piracy and disinterest in CDs. This power play was not merely a ploy to increase her net worth it was a rallying cry to artists everywhere that “ music should not be free” and that it was time to start valuing art again.

You may remember that Swift suddenly pulled her entire library off Spotify’s streaming service back in November of 2014, but you may not know the underlying reasons.

How? By negotiating a crazy unprecedented recording deal that once again brings Spotify into the spotlight for unfair artist payout practices. Despite being infamous for her girl squad and her feud with Katy Perry, she’s also on a mission to make the music industry better for artists.ĭon’t believe us? This year the 28-year-old R eputation country singer turned pop idle single-handedly changed the game for thousands of other musicians. She has a massive net worth, a rabid fanbase of ‘Swifties,’ and some serious clout in the entertainment industry. Taylor Swift is undeniably one of the top-grossing pop stars in the world. And for Spotify in particular, it provides a much-needed boost, as the company prepares for a potential stock offering that some analysts expect to hit the market later this year.Taylor Swift keeps winning | Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images Whatever the rationale, the detente between Swift and the major streaming services seems likely to even further inflate the already massive marketing machine that is Taylor Swift. Perry’s new album was just released on Friday, leading some to speculate that Swift timed her return to streaming services in such a way as to steal the spotlight from her musical nemesis.

The two have been taking thinly veiled musical potshots at each other since 2014. Meanwhile, some music fans and industry insiders are whispering about another potential reason why Swift might have chosen to return her music to Spotify and other streaming services now: her long-running feud with fellow pop star Katy Perry. Streaming services have also grown to the point where consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers says it expects revenue from streaming to eclipse sales of both CDs and traditional records for the first time this year.

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