In a move that rewrites music industry history, Taylor Swift has bought back the master recordings of her first six studio albums – Taylor Swift, Fearless, Speak Now, Red, 1989, and Reputation – reclaiming full ownership of the work that built her into one of the biggest stars on the planet. The news, delivered via a heartfelt letter on her website, marks the culmination of a years-long fight between the pop star and former Big Machine Records executive Scooter Braun, who infamously acquired her masters in 2019 without offering Swift the chance to purchase them herself.
“I almost stopped thinking it could ever happen,” Swift wrote. “After 20 years of having the carrot dangled and then yanked away… all of the music I’ve ever made now belongs to me.”
While the terms of the deal were not disclosed, the sale was made by Shamrock Capital, the private equity firm that previously acquired Swift’s catalogue from Braun. Swift thanked Shamrock for seeing her music as more than just a business deal, calling it her “memories and sweat and handwriting and decades of dreams.”
Taylor’s Versions – And The Ones Still to Come
Swift’s battle over ownership birthed a cultural phenomenon: Taylor’s Version. She meticulously rerecorded and re-released four of the six albums – Fearless, Red, Speak Now, and 1989 – infusing them with new life and vault tracks while sending a message to the industry: artists should own their work.
In Friday’s post, Swift confirmed that she has also rerecorded her self-titled debut album and loves how it sounds. As for Reputation (Taylor’s Version)? Not just yet. “I haven’t even re-recorded a quarter of it,” she wrote. “It’s the me album in those first six that I thought couldn’t be improved upon by redoing it.” The creative challenge, she admitted, stems from how closely Reputation captured a complex period in her life – one where she felt both misunderstood and defiantly unapologetic.
But Swift assures fans the albums “can still have their moments to re-emerge when the time is right.” For now, she’s celebrating what she once thought impossible – owning the music that launched her career.
A Victory For Artists Everywhere
Swift’s fight – and triumph – has become a blueprint for others. Her bold stance on re-recording music catalysed a wider movement, with artists like Australia’s Pete Murray now releasing their own versions of past work. “Taylor did it and I was thinking, ‘Wow, that’s how you do it,’” he said.
In her note, Swift acknowledged the broader implications of her journey: “Other artists have told me they were able to negotiate to own their master recordings… because of this fight.” Her emotional message ended with a lyric from her song Mine: “The best things that have ever been mine… finally actually are.”
Accompanying her letter was a powerful image: Swift seated cross-legged, smiling amid the physical copies of her original six albums – a visual reclaiming of her past, her power, and her future.
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