Deal Strengthens Partnership Between Swift and Universal Music Family
SANTA MONICA, California, Feb. 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Taylor Swift, one of the music industry's most creatively and commercially successful artist-songwriters in history, signed an exclusive global publishing agreement with Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG), a leading global music publisher.
"I'm proud to extend my partnership with Lucian Grainge and the Universal Music family by signing with UMPG, and for the opportunity to work with Jody Gerson, the first woman to run a major music publishing company," said Taylor Swift. "Jody is an advocate for women's empowerment and one of the most-respected and accomplished industry leaders."
Swift continued, "Troy Tomlinson has been an amazing part of my team for over half my life and a passionate torchbearer for songwriters. It's an honor to get to work with such an incredible team, especially when it comes to my favorite thing in the world: songwriting."
One of the most accomplished songwriters of her generation, Swift has been honored by the Songwriters Hall of Fame with the Hal David Starlight Award and was featured in Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time.
Swift has penned numerous Billboard No. 1s: "Shake It Off," "Blank Space," "Bad Blood," "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" and "Look What You Made Me Do." With 25 Billboard Top 10 songs in her iconic catalog, Swift famously penned major global hits including "Lover," "You Need To Calm Down," "ME!," "Fearless," "Speak Now," "You Belong With Me" and "Love Story," among many others.
Jody Gerson, Chairman and CEO of UMPG, said, "We are honored to welcome Taylor Swift to UMPG. Using her power and voice to create a better world, Taylor's honest and brave songwriting continues to be an inspiration to countless fans. We look forward to further amplifying Taylor's voice and songs across the globe."
Troy Tomlinson, Chairman and CEO of UMPG Nashville, said, "I've had the distinct pleasure of working with Taylor since she was 14-years-old, and she still amazes me daily. The true definition of a multigenerational artist and songwriter, Taylor's songs, vision and unwavering determination have always been an inspiration. I am so happy and so proud to continue representing Taylor and her music, and I am confident that UMPG will be the best, most creative partner in providing unparalleled opportunities for her songs."
The agreement, effective immediately, strengthens the partnership between Swift and the Universal Music family. Through a multi-album and multi-year agreement, Universal Music Group serves as Swift's exclusive worldwide recorded music partner. UMG's Republic Records serves as her U.S. label partner.
A ten-time Grammy winner, Swift is distinguished as one of the youngest recipients of the Grammy for Album of the Year and she is the first female solo artist to win the award twice. Billboard Magazine named her Woman of the Decade along with one of the Top Artists Of All Time. She is one of the world's best-selling music artists, with 97 million total global album consumption and 54 billion total global streams.
Swift is the only artist in history to have four albums with sales of more than one million copies in their first week of release (2010's Speak Now, 2012's RED, 2014's 1989 and 2017's reputation), respectively. Lover surpassed 3 million in consumption globally within its first week of release, and in just five months, it has already surpassed 5 million, including more than 1 million in China, where the release earned Swift a new record for an international artist.
Following the 2019 release of her latest album, Lover, Swift became the first female artist in history to have six albums sell more than 500,000 copies in a single week. Lover was the only album to sell 1 million in U.S. pure album sales in addition to being the top-selling album of 2019.
About Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift's seventh studio album Lover is not only the top-selling album of 2019; it is the highest-selling album since reputation was released back in 2017 and broke the record for most simultaneous entries by a female artist in Billboard's Hot 100 history. With all 18 tracks from Lover charting, it is the only album to sell 1 million in U.S. pure album sales. This is a testament not only to Taylor's devoted fans but also to her songwriting prowess. As USA Today said, "Critics are falling in love with Taylor Swift's latest album Lover." Rolling Stone hailed, "Lover is a career-topping masterpiece" and "the superstar's writing is better than it's ever been." A.V. Club called Lover, "one of her strongest, most relatable albums to date" and Vulture said, "The old Taylor is back on Lover and the best she's been in years."
Taylor recently released the title track, "Lover," with critics raving, "Both aching and achingly pretty, "Lover" effectively transmits its romantic signals by putting the songwriting of Swift -- a masterful writer who gets the solo credit here -- front and center" (Billboard Magazine) while People Magazine said "Lover" "Might be her most romantic song yet." Taylor's socially conscious second single, "You Need To Calm Down," followed the debut single "ME!," which broke multiple records to-date. With 65.2 million views in 24 hours, Taylor now holds YouTube's most viewed video by any female and solo artist. "ME!" is also the fastest music video to reach 100M views on Vevo - in only 79 hours - and broke the record for the most views in a single day by any artist.
Taylor is a ten-time Grammy winner, a singer, songwriter, musician and producer. She is one the youngest people in history to win the music industry's highest honor, the Grammy Award for Album of the Year, and is the first female solo artist to win this prestigious award twice. She is the American Music Awards' Artist of the Decade. Rolling Stone listed Taylor as one of the 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time. TIME magazine featured Taylor on their prestigious 2017 Person of the Year cover, has named her one of the 100 Most Influential People in the world and included Taylor three times at TIME 100. A Brit and Emmy Award winner, Taylor is Billboard's youngest-ever Woman of the Year and the only artist to have been awarded this honor twice. Taylor is also the first-ever recipient to be named Billboard's Woman of the Decade. She is the only artist in history to have four consecutive albums sell over one million copies in their week of release (Speak Now, RED, 1989 and reputation) and the only female artist to have six albums each sell at least 500,000 copies in a single week (Fearless, Speak Now, RED, 1989, reputation and Lover).
About Universal Music Publishing Group
Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) is a leading global music publisher with 48 offices in 46 countries. Headquartered in Los Angeles, UMPG represents music across every genre from some of the world's most important songwriters and catalogs. These include ABBA, Adele, Jhené Aiko, Alabama Shakes, Alex Da Kid, Axwell & Ingrosso, J Balvin, Bastille, Beach Boys, Beastie Boys, Bee Gees, Irving Berlin, Leonard Bernstein, Jeff Bhasker, Justin Bieber, Benny Blanco, Chris Brown, Kane Brown, Mariah Carey, Michael Chabon, Desmond Child, The Clash, Coldplay, J. Cole, Elvis Costello, Miley Cyrus, Jason Derulo, Alexandre Desplat, Neil Diamond, Disclosure, Dua Lipa, Billie Eilish, Danny Elfman, Eminem, Gloria and Emilio Estefan, Florence + the Machine, Future, Martin Garrix, Selena Gomez, Ariana Grande, Al Green, HAIM, Halsey, Emile Haynie, Jimi Hendrix, Don Henley, Kacy Hill, Hit-Boy, Sam Hunt, Imagine Dragons, Carly Rae Jepsen, Jeremih, Tobias Jesso Jr., Billy Joel, Elton John/Bernie Taupin, Joe Jonas, Nick Jonas, Alicia Keys, Lil Yachty, Linkin Park, Logic, Demi Lovato, the Mamas & the Papas, Steve Mac, Maroon 5, Shawn Mendes, Metro Boomin, Miguel, Nicki Minaj, Stephan Moccio, Maren Morris, Mumford & Sons, Randy Newman, New Order, Ne-Yo, Pearl Jam, Rudy Perez, Post Malone, Otis Redding, R.E.M., Rex Orange County, Rosalía, Carole Bayer Sager, Gustavo Santaolalla, Sex Pistols, Carly Simon, Paul Simon, Britney Spears, Bruce Springsteen, Stax (East Memphis Music), Harry Styles, SZA, Shania Twain, Justin Timberlake, U2, Keith Urban, Troy Verges, Jack White, Zedd and many more.
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