Anita Baker is getting kudos from Taylor Swift. Country star Taylor Swift is congratulating Anita Baker on her victory in the legal battle for the right to own her music masters. Baker asked fans not to stream or download her music and pointed out that she was not making any money from her famous catalog.
Baker received a notification from a friend that she was creating a Spotify playlist with her favorite songs. Baker recently announced that she had won the fight and gave her fans the green light to proceed. Baker tweeted a photo of five of her first albums on vinyl. “What a beautiful moment, CONGRATULATIONS ANITA!!”
The “Trouble” singer tweeted on Saturday, Sept. 4, 2014: Two happy-crying, clapping emojis will be available. The “Caught Up In The Rapture” singer responded, “Thank You, for Your *Fire & Support!! It Inspires us all, to Move Mountains.”
Swift has spoken out about the negative effects of streaming music for people who don’t have their masters. Baker has been supported by Swift for years, and she encourages all Baker fans to follow their request to not stream their music.
In the wake of Scooter Braun’s acquisition of Big Machine, Swift’s music catalog was acquired by a mega manager. She re-recorded her first six albums. Braun sold Swift’s masters at upwards of $450 million per year. Swift’s catalog was valued at $140 million in that year.
Fearless has been re-recorded and released so far (Taylor’s Version. Red (Taylor’s Version) with November being the due date.
Swift and Baker’s battle is quite different. Baker outlived her recording contract. Her masters could be legally returned to Baker through a copyright-reversion law, which allows musicians to regain their copyrights after being inactive for 35 years. Baker requested that fans stop streaming until the end of the battle.