The recording industry's 2018 hot-stove season has begun, and possibly ended. The headline from TAYLOR SWIFT's blockbuster signing with UMG and REPUBLIC RECORDS is that she demanded, and got, a most-favored-nation clause for *all other* UMG artists. Swift's new contract requires Universal to share proceeds from any future sale of its SPOTIFY stock not just with her but with all its artists and that the distribution be non-recoupable. That was the "one condition that meant more to me than any other deal point," she wrote in her INSTAGRAM announcement of the deal. I don't care what you think of Swift's music, her motives or her ability to generate press for herself—this is an act of superstar generosity and artist solidarity. Would BRYCE HARPER or KEVIN DURANT do something like that? The other Taylor Swift free-agent headline is that she signed a deal at all. In an era when artists like CHANCE THE RAPPER are taking DIY to the top of the charts and companies like AWAL and even Spotify are floating alternatives to traditional label deals, Swift had unprecedented leverage and seemingly unlimited options. She's 28, she's released only six albums and she's in her commercial prime. And she was free. This didn't happen in the record industry many of us grew up with. Hashtag PRINCE. But that leverage and the facts of a rapidly changing industry presumably helped Swift get what most of her idols only dreamed of—a major-label deal with full ownership of her masters. And, just as important, a precedent for future artists who idolize her... Also, props for the typewriter font she used for her Instagram post... Also also, in the maybe-everybody-gets-to-have-some-cake department, UMG reportedly remains a major player in the race to buy BIG MACHINE, which would come with six enormously valuable Taylor Swift masters... More on the changing industry: BILLBOARD's Q&A with RIAA chairman and CEO CARY SHERMAN, who will step down next month after 21 years at the organization, could easily supply me with a week's worth of quotes of the day. Worth a read for his thoughts on suing individual music downloaders ("it was a desperate situation and it called for desperate measures"), how the industry was able to secure a digital performance right in the long-ago 1990s ("there were no digital services to kill the legislation'), and much more. Sherman will be succeeded by MITCH GLAZIER... The RECORDING ACADEMY is tweaking its membership rules to try to increase diversity... Troubled rapper TEKASHI 6IX9INE is being held without bail after federal authorities charged him with being part of a violent drug-trafficking gang whose alleged crimes include attempted murder and armed robbery. If convicted, he faces a potential life sentence. His second album, DUMMY BOY, featuring collaborations with KANYE WEST and NICKI MINAJ, is due Friday.. RIP CODY BELGARD and AL JAMES.