In a groundbreaking development for the music industry, Taylor Swift has successfully regained ownership of her first six albums, marking the end of a lengthy battle over her musical legacy.
“All of the music I’ve ever made now belongs to me,” said the star, announcing the news on her official website. “I’ve been bursting into tears of joy… ever since I found out this is really happening.”
The drama kicked off in June 2019 when music mogul Scooter Braun acquired Swift’s former label Big Machine, gaining control over all tracks from Taylor Swift, Fearless, Speak Now, Red, 1989, and Reputation.
Swift vocally opposed the deal, citing Braun’s involvement in what she described as “incessant, manipulative bullying” against her by his client Kanye West.
Taking to her website, Swift expressed how reclaiming her music rights had seemed like an impossible dream for so long.
“To say this is my greatest dream come true is actually being pretty reserved about it,” she added, expressing gratitude to fans who supported her throughout the ordeal.
“I can’t thank you enough for helping to reunite me with this art that I have dedicated my life to, but have never owned until now.
“I almost stopped thinking it could ever happen, after 20 years of having the carrot dangled and then yanked away,” she wrote.
“But that’s all in the past now.”
In the music biz, master recording ownership gives the holder control over distribution and licensing rights. While artists still receive royalties, having the masters provides crucial protection over future usage of the work.
Reputation (Taylor’s Version) delayed?
After losing her masters, Swift made the bold move to re-record her albums, effectively creating new versions that would compete with the originals and put control back in her hands.
So far, she’s dropped four re-recorded albums – dubbed “Taylor’s Versions” – packed with bonus tracks and extra content.
In her latest update to fans, Swift revealed she’s hit a roadblock while working on the 2017 album Reputation – a record that dealt with public scrutiny and her infamous feud with Kanye West.
“The Reputation album was so specific to that time in my life,” she explained. “All that defiance, that longing to be understood while feeling purposefully misunderstood…
“To be perfectly honest, it’s the one album in those first six that I thought couldn’t be improved by re-doing it… so I kept putting it off.”
While Swift recently previewed a new version of Reputation‘s lead single “Look What You Made Me Do” in The Handmaid’s Tale, her message hinted that the full album re-recording might face delays or potentially be shelved.
Still, she assured fans that unreleased tracks from that era would eventually see the light of day, pending their interest in hearing them.
She also confirmed that she had re-recorded her debut album, adding: “I really love how it sounds now.”
“Those two albums can still have their moments to re-emerge when the time is right,” she added.
“But if it happens, it won’t be from a place of sadness and longing for what I wish I could have. It will just be a celebration now.”
What is a master recording?
In the pop music world, whoever owns a master recording basically holds all the cards. They get to call the shots on everything – from putting the music on streaming platforms to pressing vinyl records, creating special edition box sets, or letting the songs appear in movies and video games.
While artists still get their share of the money when their songs are used, having control of the master recordings gives them a crucial say in how their art is used down the road.
Swift, who either wrote or co-wrote all her hits, always kept her publishing rights. This meant she could block anyone from using mega-hits like “Shake It Off” and “Love Story” without her okay.
“I do want my music to live on. I do want it to be in movies. I do want it to be in commercials. But I only want that if I own it,” she told Billboard in 2019.
The exact price tag for Swift’s masters remains under wraps, but we know the catalog previously sold for $300 million in 2020.
Word on the street suggesting she paid anywhere from $600 million to $1 billion is way off base, according to sources.
How did the sale of Taylor Swift’s masters happen?
Back in 2004, when 14-year-old Taylor Swift moved to Nashville chasing country-pop stardom, she signed with Big Machine Records.
The label’s boss Scott Borchetta offered the unknown teen a big cash advance, but there was a catch – Big Machine would own her first six albums’ master recordings “in perpetuity.”
This was pretty standard practice before streaming took over, when artists needed record labels’ muscle to get radio play and handle CD production and distribution.
When Swift’s Big Machine contract ended in 2018, she bounced to Republic Records and Universal Music Group (UMG).
The following year, Borchetta sold his label to Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings.
Swift says the deal blindsided her, calling it an aggressive move that “stripped me of my life’s work.”
She didn’t hold back about Braun – who manages Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande – labeling him “the definition of toxic male privilege in our industry.”
She also expressed frustration at being blocked from bidding on her own music.
“I spent 10 years of my life trying rigorously to purchase my masters outright and was then denied that opportunity,” she told Billboard, adding that: “Artists should maybe have the first right of refusal to buy.”
In a candid interview with Variety, Braun admitted the conflict had “spiraled out of control” after he and his family received death threats.
By November 2020, Braun sold his stake in Swift’s catalog to Shamrock Holdings, an investment fund based in Los Angeles that was established by the Disney family back in 1978.
The multi-million dollar transaction left Swift feeling betrayed once again.
“This marks the second time my music has been sold without my knowledge,” she expressed in a social media statement.
Though Swift was “open to potentially partnering with Shamrock,” she later discovered that under the deal’s terms, Braun would “continue profiting from my old music catalog” for years to come.
“I simply cannot, in good conscience, allow myself to be involved in anything that benefits Scooter Braun’s interests,” she wrote in a letter to the company, which she shared on X.
In 2021, she kicked off her re-recording project with Fearless, the breakthrough album that captured her coming-of-age journey.
The re-recorded versions were crafted with meticulous attention to detail, sounding nearly identical to the originals – though with crisper production quality and more distinct instrumental separation.
But what really got fans excited were the vault tracks, especially the extended 10-minute version of her heartbreak anthem “All Too Well” – which Variety magazine dubbed the “holy grail” of Swift’s musical archives.
The track topped the US Billboard charts, making history as the longest song ever to crack the top five.
Meanwhile, Swift continued creating new music, earning Grammy Awards for albums like Folklore and Midnights.
In 2023, Forbes declared Swift the first musician to amass a $1 billion fortune purely through songwriting and performing.
Half of her wealth came from music royalties and touring revenue, while the remainder stemmed from her growing music catalog value, including the re-recordings.
Her re-recording journey also inspired the record-breaking Eras tour, which generated over $2 billion in ticket sales throughout 2023 and 2024.
In her letter, Swift credited the Eras tour’s success for enabling her to “buy back my music.”
She also expressed joy at seeing her struggle inspire other artists.
“Every time a new artist tells me they negotiated ownership of their master recordings in their contract because of this fight, I’m reminded how important this whole journey was.
“Thank you for being interested in something that used to be considered too industry-specific for broad discussion.
“You’ll never know how much your support means to me. Every single bit of it mattered and brought us to this moment.”
Read Taylor Swift’s entire letter:
Hi,
I’m trying to gather my thoughts into something coherent, but right now my mind is just a slideshow. A flashback sequence of all the times I daydreamed about, wished for, and pined away for a chance to get to tell you this news. All the times I was thiiiiiiiis close, reaching out for it, only for it to fall through. I almost stopped thinking it could ever happen, after 20 years of having the carrot dangled and then yanked away. But that’s all in the past now. I’ve been bursting into tears of joy at random intervals ever since I found out that this is really happening. I really get to say these words:
All of the music I’ve ever made… now belongs… to me.
And all my music videos.
All the concert films.
The album art and photography.
The unreleased songs.
The memories. The magic. The madness.
Every single era.
My entire life’s work.
To say this is my greatest dream come true is actually being pretty reserved about it. To my fans, you know how important this has been to me — so much so that I meticulously re-recorded and released four of my albums, calling them Taylor’s Version. The passionate support you showed those albums and the success story you turned The Eras Tour into is why I was able to buy back my music. I can’t thank you enough for helping to reunite me with this art that I have dedicated my life to, but have never owned until now.
All I’ve ever wanted was the opportunity to work hard enough to be able to one day purchase my music outright with no strings attached, no partnership, with full autonomy. I will be forever grateful to everyone at Shamrock Capital for being the first people to ever offer this to me. The way they’ve handled every interaction we’ve had has been honest, fair, and respectful. This was a business deal to them, but I really felt like they saw it for what it was to me: My memories and my sweat and my handwriting and my decades of dreams. I am endlessly thankful. My first tattoo might just be a huge shamrock in the middle of my forehead.
I know, I know. What about Rep TV? Full transparency: I haven’t even re-recorded a quarter of it. The Reputation album was so specific to that time in my life, and I kept hitting a stopping point when I tried to remake it. All that defiance, that longing to be understood while feeling purposely misunderstood, that desperate hope, that shame-born snarl and mischief. To be perfectly honest, it’s the one album in the first 6 that I thought couldn’t be improved upon by redoing it. Not the music, or photos, or videos. So I kept putting it off. There will be a time (if you’re into the idea) for the unreleased Vault tracks from that album to hatch. I’ve already completely re-recorded my entire debut album, and I really love how it sounds now. Those 2 albums can still have their moments to re-emerge when the time is right, if that would be something you guys would be excited about. But if it happens, it won’t be from a place of sadness and longing for what I wish I could have. It will just be a celebration now.
I’m extremely heartened by the conversations this saga has reignited within my industry among artists and fans. Every time a new artist tells me they negotiated to own their master recordings in their record contract because of this fight, I’m reminded of how important it was for all of this to happen. Thank you for being curious about something that used to be thought of as too industry-centric for broad discussion. You’ll never know how much it means to me that you cared. Every single bit of it counted and ended us up here.
Thanks to you and your goodwill, teamwork and encouragement, the best things that have ever been mine… finally actually are.
Elated and amazed,
Taylor
HOT DEALS
- Save $15 on the Ninja 12-Cup Stainless Steel Coffee Maker [Walmart]
- Save 34% on Physician’s Choice Probiotics 60 Billion CFU – 10 Strains + Organic Prebiotics [Amazon]
- Save $30 on the NutriBullet Pro 1000 Personal Blender [Kohl’s]
- Now 20% off! Paula’s Choice SKIN PERFECTING 2% BHA Liquid Salicylic Acid [Amazon]
- Save $20 on the Easy Breather Pillow [Nest Bedding]
- Save 29% on the TCL Class S5-Series 4K UHD HDR LED Smart Google TV [Target]
- Save $45.97 on the Carote 14 Pcs Knife Set with Wooden Block Stainless Steel Knives with Ergonomic Handle [Walmart ]
- Save 25% on Clinique Even Better Clinical Brightening Moisturizer With Salicylic Acid, Glucosamine + Vitamin C | Hydrating + Dark Spot Reducing [Amazon]
Like most websites, Socialite Life uses affiliate links where available, which means we earn a little commission if you click through and buy something. Also, as Amazon Influencers, we earn from qualifying purchases. Savings shown are those from the date and time of this article’s publication.
TRENDING ON SL
Luke Evans, Fran Tomas, Bad Bunny, Nicholas Alexander Chavez, Yoshi Sudarso, and more Insta Snaps
Celeb Snaps: Benson Boone, Dylan Efron, Shaboozey, Renee Rapp, and more
Theo James, Joshua Uduma, Cooper Koch, Wonho, and more Insta Snaps