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Taylor Swift's back catalog available on Jay Z's streaming service

Written by . Published: March 25 2015

Taylor Swift has given rap mogul and entrepreneur Jay Z's new streaming music service a big boost by making her back catalog available on it.


Last November (14), the Shake It Off hitmaker took a stand against popular music program Spotify, removing all her tracks from the site without prior notice, just days after the release of her latest album 1989.


Swift justified her decision by arguing that the streaming site, which allows users to listen to millions of songs for free, isn't compensating artists and songwriters properly.


She previously told Yahoo! Music, "I'm not willing to contribute my life's work to an experiment that I don't feel fairly compensates the writers, producers, artists and creators of this music... I just don't agree with perpetuating the perception that music has no value and should be free."


But now Swift has struck a deal with Jay Z and his partners at Tidal and she's allowing them to stream her songs.


Swift's representatives confirmed the collaboration in a statement which reads: "Taylor Swift’s albums, except for the multi-platinum 1989, all appear on streaming services that require a subscription fee. This has never changed. (Record label) Big Machine Records believes music has value and we do not believe Taylor’s music should be made available for free."


But Swift and her managers are keen to point out that her latest album will not be available to stream on Tidal, adding, "1989 is NOT available on any streaming service. I realize the image appears there but it does not stream on their platform."


Tidal, which Jay Z recently purchased from a Swedish company for $56 million , is a subscription service that users can access for $19.99 a month. Tidal is set for a 30 March (15) relaunch in the U.S.

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