Jay-Z and the long road to your own catalogue.

Shawn Carter has spent the better part of three decades reacquiring publishing and masters he originally signed away. From the early Roc-A-Fella era through the 2020s, the through-line has been the same: every time he could afford to buy a piece of his own work back, he did.

Set Tidal aside. The streaming service was a vehicle, and a struggling one. It never seriously threatened Spotify's listener share, and a reader who knows the music business already knows that. The principle Jay-Z was arguing for, though, did not depend on Tidal succeeding.

The principle is older than streaming and survives it. Own the recording. Own the publishing. Treat the catalogue as the asset, because that is what it is. The label's role is supposed to be advance and distribution, not permanent ownership of work the artist made.

For an artist building a small catalogue now, the decisions made on the first three releases will define the next thirty years of revenue. The most expensive thing you can sign is the thing you sign because you needed the advance.