Dua Lipa Says Buying the Rights to Her Own Music 'Feels Really Good': 'Something I Always Wanted to Have'

Dua Lipa is in control of her business — and that's how she likes it.

In a new interview with the Audacy Check In podcast, the pop star opened up about purchasing the publishing rights to her own catalog from its previous owner, TAP Music, earlier this year and how Taylor Swift inspired many artists to understand more about the music industry.

"I think it’s just something I’ve always wanted — to be in control of my own music, and I think all young artists should really understand the business behind music, especially in the beginning," said Lipa, 28, who bought her catalog earlier this month. "I think it’s incredibly important, and so to be able to have all the rights back to my music feels really good. You know, it’s my life’s work, so it’s cool to be the person who says what happens with it.”

Over the past few years, Swift, 33, made headlines after Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings acquired the rights to her first six albums from Big Machine Label Group for $300 million. In order to regain ownership over her songs, she's in the process of rerecording all six albums.

According to Lipa, Swift's situation didn't "necessarily" inspire the "Don't Start Now" singer's purchase of her own music, but she acknowledged how the "Karma" musician has inspired many other artists to gain a better understanding of the business surrounding their art.

"I think what happened to Taylor obviously was something that completely started getting people to understand they should have a lawyer and understand the business of music, for sure," said Lipa.

"I think owning your publishing was just something that I really wanted to have. I think a lot of artists go, like, independent or do their own thing," she explained. "I just wanted to have my whole catalogue under my own company, which is something I started this year, which is publishing and a production company. I just wanted to have everything under one umbrella. It just felt like a new chapter!”

During another recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter’s Songwriter Roundtable, Lipa spoke about the process behind creating “Dance the Night,” her Grammy-nominated hit off the blockbuster Barbie film’s soundtrack.

She explained that, although she was out on tour when she first heard from the soundtrack’s producer Mark Ronson, she was thrilled about making the collaboration work. “He was like, ‘I’m working on this film with Greta Gerwig and it’s Barbie, and it’s possibly the funniest script I’ve read, and I really want you to write the song for the big dance scene in the film,” said the Grammy winner. “I was like, 'This is an absolute no-brainer. One thousand percent yes.’”

Lipa said she was on tour when the record producer, 48, contacted her, but she made time to travel to New York City to get in the studio and speak to the writer/director, 40, about her vision. 

“Greta was saying how inspired by disco she was,” the "One Kiss" performer explained. “I just thought about disco and the community it brings, and the way it brings people together. It was always a genre of music that was such a release when things weren’t going well in the world.” 

Lipa continued, “And so ‘Dance the Night’ was created specifically for Barbie’s best day ever, which then results in her thinking about death. So it’s really about those dualities of life and being able to merge the two together.”

The British musician added that it ended up being the perfect fit for her artistically. “And that’s what I love the most. I love dance-crying,” she said.