Taylor Swift’s Old Album Streams More Than Double on Spotify After Catalog Deal

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As a gamer, I’d rephrase it like this: Last Friday, Taylor Swift shared some big news – she’s back with ownership of her first six albums! And just like that, the world was streaming her Big Machine era hits non-stop on Spotify. It was a massive surge in streams, all thanks to the return of the superstar to her music catalog.

Based on data provided to The Hollywood Reporter by Spotify, streams for her older albums significantly increased at least twice as much on Friday, May 30th, compared to their daily average from April 1st to May 29th. Spotify did not reveal exact streaming numbers, only the percentage of change.

Speak Now experienced the greatest single surge in streaming, with global streams increasing by an impressive 430%. Notably, Taylor Swift‘s self-titled debut from 2006 and her 2017 album Reputation, neither of which have a “Taylor’s Version” available yet, followed closely in second and third place. The number of streams for Taylor Swift increased by 220% while those for Reputation rose by 175%. Fearless saw a surge of 160%, Red had a 150% increase, and 1989 received a 110% boost. Taylor Swift is one of the most popular artists on Spotify with over 82 million monthly listeners, and her overall streams increased by 40% on Friday.

Before making the announcement of her purchase on Friday, the acquisition of Swift’s first six albums had been a topic of intense debate in recent music industry history following Scooter Braun’s acquisition of Swift’s former record label Big Machine in 2019. With this deal, Braun obtained ownership rights to Swift’s music. Swift referred to the transaction as her “worst nightmare,” and accused Braun of persistent, manipulative harassment over the years. In 2020, Braun sold Swift’s music to the private equity firm Shamrock Capital for approximately the same amount he paid for Big Machine. Last week, Swift purchased her music back from Shamrock.

Ever since I learned that I’ve actually acquired the catalog, I’ve been unexpectedly overwhelmed with happiness and tears of joy,” Taylor Swift expressed last week. “It feels incredible to finally utter these words: All the music I’ve ever created… is now mine.”

Prior to this acquisition, Swift had already released “Taylor’s Versions” for four out of her six Big Machine albums as a way to regain control over her musical legacy. These versions turned into hits, selling millions and reaching number one on the charts, enhancing Swift’s status as a superstar even further. With the original albums still generating sales and streams, it had become customary among some of Swift’s fans not to listen to the older versions because she was working to reclaim her music rights.

Now that Swift has reclaimed her music catalog, it’s intriguing to consider which albums Swift fans will listen to more in the future. With only two more albums left for “Taylor’s Versions,” fans are eagerly waiting to find out what’s coming next. Last week, when she announced the acquisition, Swift disclosed that she had only re-recorded about a fourth of “Reputation,” but she did confirm that she has already completed the re-recording of her debut album.

Swift mentioned on Friday that the two albums might resurface at an appropriate moment, assuming you’d all be interested. However, she clarified that if this occurs, it won’t stem from any sense of sadness or yearning for what could have been. Instead, it would simply be a joyful celebration.

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2025-06-03 03:24