Thanks...it was more complicated than I remembered.  Taylor Swft has apparently found a way around the recording company owning her songs.  

I didn't know that about Taylor Swift, but I looked it up and found this:

Taylor Swift’s Music Ownership Controversy With Scooter Braun: What It Means and Why It Matters | Pitchfork

FWIW

It's interesting.  I remember when It was revealed that when a singer released an album, the singer only got pennies from each sale.

Jeri (azpaints) said...

when a singer released an album, the singer only got pennies from each sale.

I remember hearing that way back when, but it was like more than 40 years ago.

FWIW

I suspect younger singers have negotiated better deals but Taylor Swift's issues show there is still hanky Panky going on.

Didn’t Michael Jackson buy their songs out from under McCartney? Why did they ever sell?

1985: ATV Music, having been acquired by Robert Holmes a Court, was put up for sale. Michael Jackson, who had famously been told about the value of publishing by McCartney during the sessions for their 1982 collaboration "Say, Say, Say," purchased ATV's 4,000-song catalog for $47.5 million, becoming the owner of the approximately 250 Lennon-McCartney songs, as well as tracks by Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones, Elvis Presley and more. McCartney, to say the least, was not pleased.

It's all in the history I posted earlier: A Brief History of the Ownership of the Beatles Catalog | Billboard | Billboard

FWIW

It was the record company that sold the rights.  I think.

I read it.  Their music had an amazing journey.

It looos like it started early on when they had no idea how big they would get and let their producers take over copyrights. The money isn’t in performing, it comes from licensing.