Ariana Grande has announced her music comeback with the album titled Petal, with a surprising move that has allegedly been inspired by Taylor Swift.
The Wicked star is set to release her eighth studio album under her own record label, meaning that Ariana will own the songs' original master recordings.
As reported by The Sun, the 7 Rings hitmaker is launching her own record label, named BabyDoll Music, to release her album Petal.
The label's name is reportedly a reference to the singer's idol Mariah Carey's 1997 track, Babydoll.
A source informed the outlet that witnessing what Taylor went through heavily influenced Ariana's decision to launch her own record label.
"Ariana has seen what happened with artists like Taylor Swift being taken advantage of with their masters," the insider noted.
They added, "This new set-up means she can earn a lot more if it’s a success and can do things exactly how she wants to."
Petal, executively produced and co-written by Ariana and IIya, is set to release through the new record label on July 31.
Notably, Ilya is a Swedish-Persian producer who worked with hitmaker Max Martin, co-produced and co-wrote much of Ariana's 2024 album Eternal Sunshine and has also worked with Taylor Swift and Sam Smith.
About Taylor Swift's masters situation
In 2019, Big Machine Records sold Taylor Swift's masters to Scooter Braun's Ithaca Holdings, without giving her an opportunity to purchase it herself.
Following that, the Blank Space hitmaker launched a re-recording project, where she re-recorded and released her first six albums to gain ownership of the new versions and devalue the original.
A year later, Scooter sold the masters to Shamrock Capital for $300 million, and in May 2025, Taylor confirmed that she bought back the original recordings, meaning she now owns all of her music, including videos and unreleased tracks.
