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Taylor Swift's most recent album won't be available on Apple Music

Taylor Swift's most recent album won't be available on Apple Music

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Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images

Platinum-selling pop megastar Taylor Swift will not be bringing her latest album to Apple Music, BuzzFeed News reports, depriving Apple's soon-to-be-live streaming service of the biggest record of the last two years. But while Swift's most recent full-length release, last year's 1989, won't appear on Apple Music, the service has secured the rights to her back catalog, giving it one up over key rival Spotify.

Swift's back catalog will be available on Apple Music

The pop icon removed her entire back catalog from the Swedish company's streaming service last year. She's been outspoken about her disapproval for Spotify, claiming that it doesn't pay artists fairly, and arguing that "music should be consumed as albums." Swift kept her older music on paid-subscription services such as Rdio and Tidal, but ensured that her latest album was only available as a CD or paid download, a business decision that ensured she sold more than 1 million copies of 1989 in its first week.

Apple's failure to get the rights to 1989 won't help it stand out in a crowded music streaming market, but Swift's decision is hardly a surprise. The pop star maintains that free music is devaluing her art form, and Swift's label Big Machine records says that it has still has no plans to release 1989 on any streaming service in the near future. Why would it need to, when Swift is one of the few pop icons who can still shift millions of old-style albums?