After nearly two decades of public disputes, re-recordings, and unwavering fan support, Taylor Swift has officially regained ownership of her first six studio albums. In a powerful and emotional statement posted to her website, the global pop icon announced that she has successfully purchased the rights to her master recordings from private equity firm Shamrock Capital.
“All of the music I’ve ever made now belongs to me,” Swift wrote. “I’ve been bursting into tears of joy ever since I found out this is really happening.”
The announcement brings a triumphant end to one of modern music history’s most high-profile and contentious artist-label conflicts. It began in 2019, when music manager Scooter Braun acquired Big Machine Label Group, Swift’s former label, and with it, the masters to her albums Taylor Swift, Fearless, Speak Now, Red, 1989, and Reputation. The acquisition blindsided Swift, who said she was not given the opportunity to purchase her catalogue and described Braun’s involvement as her “worst case scenario.”
The fallout was swift [no pun intended] and highly public. Swift accused Braun, then-manager of Kanye West and Justin Bieber, of enabling “manipulative bullying” and leveraging her life’s work without her consent. When Braun sold the catalogue to Shamrock Capital in 2020 for a reported $300 million, Swift again expressed outrage, explaining that Braun would continue profiting from her music under the terms of the deal – something she could not accept.
In response, Swift launched a bold and unprecedented campaign: she began re-recording her entire early discography, reclaiming ownership and control by releasing updated versions known as “Taylor’s Versions.” Each release – Fearless (Taylor’s Version), Red (Taylor’s Version), Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), and 1989 (Taylor’s Version)—was met with critical and commercial acclaim. She enhanced the originals with unreleased “vault” tracks, giving fans even more reason to support her new versions and diminish the value of the old masters.
In her latest statement, Swift described the road to reclaiming her catalogue as long, exhausting, and at times, seemingly hopeless. “I almost stopped thinking it could ever happen, after 20 years of having the carrot dangled and yanked away,” she wrote. “But that’s all in the past now.”
Swift confirmed that while the re-recordings of Reputation and her self-titled debut have not yet been released, she still plans to revisit them, though now with a different mindset. “Those two albums can still have their moments to re-emerge when the time is right. 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.”
Additional sources: BBC News & NPR News
Are you looking forward to Tay-Tay’s inevitable re-releases as much as we are?! Let us know via our socials below!
Facebook | X | Instagram | Bluesky
