Taylor Swift has bought back her master recordings. She made the announcement with a note on her website, sharing happily, “All of the music I’ve ever made… now belongs… to me.” It’s the first time she has ever owned the rights to all of her own music. Find the full statement below.
Infamously, in 2019, Scooter Braun’s media holding company, Ithaca Holdings LLC, acquired Big Machine Label Group. With that acquisition came the rights to Swift’s first six studio albums. Swift denounced the acquisition and criticized Braun and his “bullying.” She also said, “Scooter has stripped me of my life’s work, that I wasn’t given an opportunity to buy. Essentially, my musical legacy is about to lie in the hands of someone who tried to dismantle it.” (In a new statement, regarding Swift’s acquisition of her masters, Braun said, “I am happy for her.”)
Following the acquisition, Swift—who left Big Machine Label Group in 2018 to sign a deal with Universal Music Group—pledged to re-record her albums so that she could own the new master recordings. She made it two-thirds of the way through, releasing new editions of Fearless, Red, Speak Now, and 1989. According to her announcement, she finished the new version of her self-titled debut, but is not yet sure when it could be released. She also said she did not yet finish re-recording Reputation—a re-recorded album that was widely expected to come out soon due to her previewing of “Look What You Made Me Do (Taylor’s Version).”
Before Swift released any of her Taylor’s Version albums, however, Braun and his company sold the musician’s masters to the Los Angeles investment firm Shamrock Capitol. At the time of the acquisition, Shamrock said, “Taylor Swift is a transcendent artist with a timeless catalog. We made this investment because we believe in the immense value and opportunity that comes with her work.”
In her statement today, Swift thanked “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.”
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 fro a chance to get to tell you this news. All the times I was thiiiiiiiiiiiis 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 4 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 me 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 purposefully misunderstood, that desperate hope, that shame-born snarl and mischief. To be perfectly honest, it’s the one album in those 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 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 or 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’ve 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 yoru goodwill, teamwork, and encouragement, the best things that have ever been mine… finally actually are.
Elated and amazed,
Taylor
