Taylor Swift is releasing her entire catalog on all streaming services, ending the pop star's boycott of Spotify Ltd. over her ability to limit her songs to paying subscribers.
The albums will become available at midnight New York time Thursday night, Swift's management said on Twitter. None of the catalog has been available on Spotify, the world's largest paid streaming service, since November 2014 due to a dispute over the release of Swift's last album, "1989." While Swift wanted the record to just be available to paid users, who yield more revenue for artists, Chief Executive Officer Daniel Ek defended the practice of making the company's entire library available on an advertising-supported free tier.
Spotify changed its policy in April to allow artists to restrict new releases to paying customers. Since Swift abandoned the service, Spotify's growth has surged, with more than 50 million paying subscribers as of March, and the company pays out billions of dollars to the music industry. Paid streaming services are now the largest contributor of music sales in the U.S. Swift hasn't released a new album since "1989" — an unusually long hiatus, indicating that a new record could be in the works.
In its Twitter post, Swift's management characterized the move as a way for the artist to thank her fans after selling 10 million copies of "1989." The album, which was already streaming through Apple Music, is becoming available on Amazon.com Inc.'s streaming service, too.