Taylor Swift made major waves in the music world in 2014 when she pulled her entire catalog off Spotify and other streaming services with free listening. Now the pop icon is at it again, with a plan to withhold her upcoming album Reputation from streaming services for at least a week after it releases on November 10. It will be available from retailers and online stores beginning on that date. People familiar with the negotiations told Bloomberg that they are still in the process of determining when Reputation will be available to stream.
In 2016, many popular performers opted to pursue carefully controlled release plans for their new albums. Some big releases were gated to one streaming service, such as Frank Ocean’s Blonde on Apple Music and Beyoncé’s Lemonade on Tidal. The trend will likely continue as more artists want to be more directly responsible for where and how people can access their music as streaming becomes ever more common.