Taylor Swift announced Friday that she now owns the master recordings to her first six albums, a happy conclusion to a career-defining feud with retired manager Scooter Braun, who purchased and then sold the recordings to a private equity company in a move Swift called “nefarious,” and provided the impetus for both her (Taylor’s Version) re-recording project and an ad hoc crash course in copyright law.
On Friday, Swift posted an emotional statement to her website with the news. “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. And 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.”
Swift bought back the master recordings for her first six albums from Shamrock Capital, the private equity firm that itself purchased them in 2020 from Braun's Ithaca Holdings for $300 million. The details of Swift's new deal with Shamrock have not been disclosed.
The move is the culmination of a feud that can be traced all the way back to Kanye West’s infamous utterance of “Imma let you finish” onstage at the 2009 MTV VMAs, cutting a stunned Swift’s acceptance speech off to explain why a mortified-looking Beyoncé should have gotten the honor instead.
In the intervening years, Swift’s long-term reaction to that incident has upended the music industry. See, West was then managed by Braun, who has since retired from management but also shepherded the careers of Selena Gomez, Ariana Grande, and Justin Bieber, among others. In 2017, Swift released Reputation, a sonic middle finger to her haters, Braun included.
In 2019, Braun purchased Big Machine Records, the label that had released Swift’s first six albums, meaning that her enemy’s ally was in full control of her back catalogue, and would not only make money any time Swift herself saw success, but also that Swift had to get specific permission from Braun to use her songs in many cases.
Then, in 2020, Braun sold the masters to private equity group Shamrock Capital. Swift said that she was never given a true opportunity to buy them.
When Swift's contract with Big Machine expired in November 2018, she signed with Republic Records, and also hatched a plan with a little help from Kelly Clarkson: She began, one by one, re-recording and re-releasing those early albums, appending (Taylor’s Version) to each track and album title to differentiate them from the originals. Beginning in 2021 with the release of Fearless (Taylor's Version), Swift found ways to encourage the new versions to take precedence on streaming services, cutting Braun and the new owners out of the revenue loop and ensuring that she would eventually hold the rights to at least some version of her full catalogue. But the blood, it remained bad.
“To say this is my greatest dream come true is actually being pretty reserved about it,” Swift wrote in the letter posted Friday. She thanked fans for coming out in droves during her record-breaking Eras Tour, which made the billionaire musician even richer.
“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,” she wrote of the tour and re-releases. “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.”
Recent reports quoted anonymous sources hinting that Swift may have the chance to strike a deal with Shamrock, but with one huge error: They claimed that Braun was actively encouraging Shamrock to work with the musician.
“Contrary to a previous false report, there was no outside party who ‘encouraged’ this sale. All rightful credit for this opportunity should go to the partners at Shamrock Capital and Taylor’s Nashville-based management team only,” the source said. “Taylor now owns all of her music, and this moment finally happened in spite of Scooter Braun, not because of him.”
Swift’s own statement underlined her elation.
“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 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.”
All of this was a real twist for fans with predictions about a looming Reputation (Taylor’s Version) release, as according to Swift’s letter, she hasn't “even recorded a quarter of it.”
“There will be a time (if you're into the idea) for the unreleased vault tracks from that album to hatch," she said of the 2017 album. "I've already completely re-recorded my debut album, and I really love how it sounds now. Those two 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.”
On social media Friday, Swift posted photos of herself posing with the vinyl pressings of her early albums, captioned “You belong with me,” and pointing readers toward her site.
