TAYLOR COMES HOME
TO SPOTIFY

Taylor Swift’s music went back up on Spotify at midnight ET.

The deal to bring Tay’s chart-rocking catalog to the streaming service marks a true benchmark in the, um, mainstreaming of streaming, as the star has been one of the most outspoken critics of the service.

Until now, the only Taylor music available on Spotify has been soundtrack-based, notably her smash Fifty Shades Darker duet with ZAYN, “I Don’t Want to Live Forever,” which has earned 470 millions streams on that service alone. Her 2012 set Red was windowed (available for physical and download sale only) for an extended period but ultimately went wide for streaming. With the release of 1989, all of her music was pulled from Spotify and could only be streamed via Apple Music. 1989 is now available on all streaming services as well. It's worth noting that the bonus material from the deluxe edition, never previously available on any streaming service, is part of the bargain.

Spotify now hosts albums by nearly all major stars, with Beyoncé and Jay Z (both exclusive to Tidal), Garth Brooks (exclusive to Amazon) and Frank Ocean (exclusive to Apple) the primary exceptions.

Spotify stuck to its guns about maintaining its free tier, and gradually persuaded the industry that it could effectively transition users to its paid sub service, but also agreed to paid-tier-only releases, a move that cemented its middle ground with the music biz. Now, Spotify streams are usually an indispensable component to a big SPS chart bow, and can often singlehandedly power a release that isn’t selling—or even available for sale—to the top of the charts. Streaming is throwing off big money now and has become the gravitational center of music consumption.

In any case, this is another milestone in the evolution of streaming.