The Grammy-winning singer-songwriter has gained full ownership of her master recordings. It’s time to celebrate baby Tay’s country sound.
She learned that it’s important to resolve conflicts, so she went ahead and triumphed. Taylor Swift has successfully purchased her masters outright, with “no strings attached, no partnership, and full autonomy,” as she explained to fans in a letter shared on her website on Friday.
After a prolonged struggle during which Swift’s former record label Big Machine sold the masters to Scooter Braun, the singer-songwriter has now obtained her first six albums, music videos, concert films, album artwork, photography, unreleased tracks, and her “entire life’s work” from Shamrock Holdings.
For fans like me, this is a deeply emotional moment. Swift was visibly devastated over losing the chance to control her masters and has referred to her triumph in owning her work completely as her “greatest dream come true.” Her Eras Tour, which occurred from 2023 to 2024, was a celebration of her musical achievements to date, offering those of us fortunate enough to attend the chance to enjoy all the music Swift has released, regardless of her ownership status at the time.
In her pursuit of master ownership, Swift re-recorded and released four out of her first six albums – Fearless, Speak Now, Red, and 1989 – with the “(Taylor’s Version)” suffix and previously unreleased songs, known as “Vault Tracks.” In her letter on Friday, Swift disclosed that she has also completed a full re-recording of her debut album, Taylor Swift, but has not yet re-recorded her sixth album, Reputation. She mentioned that, at some point, she might release the vault tracks from Reputation, which she previously labeled as “fire,” and the (Taylor’s Version) debut, but she does not plan to do so immediately.
Over the past few years, it has been challenging for Swifties to stream the original versions of Swift’s albums, as the royalties have gone directly to those who acquired her masters without her agreement. However, now that she fully owns her music again, it is fair to listen to the originals on Spotify, Apple Music, or any other streaming service you use.
So, even though we won’t see Reputation (Taylor’s Version) and Taylor Swift (Taylor’s Version) available on streaming platforms anytime soon, I know how I’ll celebrate tonight. I’ll be honoring this victory by playing I’m Only Me When I’m With You, along with my other favorite tracks from Swift’s unjustly overlooked first album on Spotify – while still hoping that one day I can do the same with the unreleased vault track, I’d Lie.
Taylor Swift has regained the rights to her first six albums, concluding a prolonged dispute over the ownership of her music.
“All of the music I’ve ever made now belongs to me,” the star said, announcing the news on her official website. “I’ve been crying tears of joy… ever since I discovered this is really happening.”
The saga began in June 2019, when music manager Scooter Braun purchased Swift’s former record label Big Machine, along with all the songs from Taylor Swift, Fearless, Speak Now, Red, 1989, and Reputation.
Swift had personal concerns about the deal, holding Braun partly responsible for the “incessant, manipulative bullying” she endured from Kanye West, one of his clients.
On her website, Swift stated that regaining ownership of her music had, for a long time, felt unattainable.
“To say that this is my greatest dream come true is actually pretty mild,” she added, expressing gratitude to fans for their support throughout the drama.
“I can’t thank you enough for aiding in the reunion with this art that I have devoted my life to but have never owned until now.
“I almost lost hope of it ever happening, after 20 years of being teased with the possibility only to have it taken away,” she reflected.
“But that’s all in the past now.”
In the music industry, the entity holding the master recording controls its distribution and licensing. While artists still earn royalties, owning the masters provides protection over how the work is utilized in the future.
Is Reputation (Taylor’s Version) delayed? Swift reacted to the original sale of her masters by committing to re-record those albums, effectively reducing the value of those master tapes and restoring ownership to her.
Thus far, she has released four re-recorded albums – styled as “Taylor’s Versions” – complete with numerous bonus tracks and additional content.
In her letter, the star informed fans that she has yet to finish the project, having “hit a stopping point” while attempting to recreate 2017’s Reputation album, which addressed public scrutiny of her personal life and the fallout from her feud with Kanye West.
“The Reputation album was so specific to that era in my life,” she clarified. “All that defiance, that desire to be understood while feeling intentionally misunderstood…
“Honestly, it’s the one album in those first six that I believed couldn’t be enhanced by redoing it… so I kept postponing it.”
Last week, the star offered a preview of the new iteration of Reputation’s lead single, Look What You Made Me Do, during an episode of The Handmaid’s Tale – but her letter implied that a complete re-recording might be postponed or possibly abandoned.
Nonetheless, she assured fans that vault tracks from the album would be released at a later time, if they were “into the idea.”
She also verified that she had re-recorded her debut self-titled album, stating: “I really love how it sounds now.”
“Those two albums can still have their moments to resurface when the time is right,” she continued.
“But if it does happen, it won’t come from a place of sorrow and yearning for what I wish I could have. It will simply be a celebration now.”
What is a master recording?
As the term suggests, a master recording is the primary recorded performance of a song. The holder of it governs all the rights to exploit the music.
This encompasses distributing it to streaming platforms, producing new physical CDs and vinyl, creating box sets, or licensing songs for use in films or video games.
Since Swift has always been the writer or co-writer of her music, she maintained her publishing rights, which allowed her to reject efforts to license songs like Shake It Off and Love Story to other entities.
“I definitely want my music to continue thriving. I want it featured in films. I want it included in commercials. But that’s only if I own it,” she mentioned to Billboard in 2019.
It remains unclear how much Swift paid to obtain her masters, but the catalog was sold for $300m (£222m) in 2020.
The BBC understands that rumors suggesting she paid between $600m and $1bn are greatly inflated.
How did the sale of Taylor Swift’s masters transpire?
When 14-year-old Taylor Swift relocated to Nashville in 2004 to pursue her ambition of becoming a country pop artist, she entered into a record deal with Big Machine.
Label head Scott Borchetta provided the inexperienced singer with a substantial cash advance in exchange for retaining ownership of the master recordings of her first six albums “in perpetuity.”
This was a standard practice in the pre-streaming era when artists required record label support for radio play, and for the manufacturing and distribution of CDs.
Swift’s contract with Big Machine ended in 2018, after which she switched to Republic Records and Universal Music Group (UMG).
A year later, Borchetta sold his label to Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings.
Swift indicated that she found out about the deal only upon its public announcement, describing it as an aggressive action that “stripped me of my life’s work.”
She criticized Braun – known for managing Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande – labeling him as “the definition of toxic male privilege in our industry.”
She also voiced frustration over her inability to make a counteroffer for her music.
“I spent ten years desperately trying to purchase my masters outright and was ultimately denied that opportunity,” she told Billboard, adding: “Artists should perhaps have the first right of refusal to buy.”
Braun later remarked to Variety that the dispute had “escalated” after he and his family received death threats.
The music mogul subsequently sold his stake in Swift’s back catalog to Shamrock Holdings, a Los Angeles investment fund established by the Disney family in 1978, in November 2020.
This multi-million dollar transaction left Swift feeling betrayed yet again.
“This is the second time my music has been sold without my consent,” she stated in a social media post.
While she was “open to the prospect of a partnership with Shamrock,” she later discovered that under the agreement, Braun would “continue to profit from my old music” for years.
“I simply cannot, in good conscience, align myself with benefiting Scooter Braun’s interests,” she wrote in a letter to the company, which she shared on X.
She began launching her re-recorded albums in 2021, starting with her defining, coming-of-age album Fearless.
Produced with meticulous attention to detail, they were often indistinguishable from the originals – though with slightly refined mixes and improved separation between instruments.
However, the major draw was the bonus tracks, including the full, 10-minute version of her breakup ballad All Too Well – described by Variety magazine as the “holy grail” of her back catalog.
The song topped the US charts and reached number three in the UK – where it became the longest song ever to make it to the top five.
Meanwhile, the singer continued to release original content, including the Grammy Award-winning albums Folklore and Midnights.
In 2023, Forbes magazine reported that Swift had become the first artist to earn $1 billion (£740 million) solely from songwriting and performing.
Half of her wealth originated from music royalties and touring, while the remainder came from the rising value of her music catalog, including her re-recordings.
Returning to her earlier material also inspired Swift’s career-spanning Eras tour, which grossed over $2 billion (£1.48 billion) in ticket sales during 2023 and 2024.