Taylor Swift Purchases Rights To First Six Albums

Topline

Billionaire pop star Taylor Swift purchased the rights to her first six albums back from Shamrock Capital, the singer said in a statement posted to her website Friday, after the sale of her master recordings in 2019 prompted her to re-record much of her early work.

Taylor Swift now owns her entire catalog of work. (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images for MTV)

Getty Images for MTV

Key Facts

Swift now owns her entire music catalog, including the rights to the master recordings of her first six albums: “Taylor Swift,” “Fearless,” “Speak Now,” “Red,” “1989” and “Reputation.”

In 2019, Swift said the rights to her catalog were stripped from her without her consent or knowledge after record executive Scooter Braun purchased her former label, Big Machine Label Group, which she called her “worst case scenario,” a deal estimated to be worth $300 million.

Swift said on Friday she purchased her masters back from Shamrock Capital, an investment firm that purchased her catalog from Braun in 2020, though Swift did not say how much she acquired her music for.

The master recording dispute prompted Swift to embark on a years-long re-recording project, and she has so far re-released four of her first six albums, each subtitled “Taylor’s Version” with new songs.

Swift said on her website she now owns her “entire life’s work,” including all of her music videos, concert films, unreleased songs and album art, calling it her “greatest dream come true.”

“I am happy for her,” Braun told Forbes in a statement.

What About “reputation (taylor’s Version)?”

Swift said on her website Friday she may still release the two still-unreleased re-recorded albums left in her catalog—“Reputation” and “Taylor Swift.” Swift said she has fully re-recorded her self-titled debut album but has not yet re-recorded even a quarter of “Reputation” because she felt it was her only album that “couldn’t be improved upon by redoing it.” She said the “vault” songs—new, previously unreleased songs she has attached to each re-recorded album thus far—will still be released if fans are “into that idea.” She said the fully re-recorded albums may still be released if fans “would be excited” about it, stating the re-releases would be a “celebration” instead of coming from a “place of longing for what I wish I could have.”

What Happened With Swift’s Master Dispute?

Swift said the sale to Braun in 2019 happened without her consent or knowledge, though Braun pushed back and said that Swift had the opportunity to purchase her masters herself. Swift said in November 2020 her masters were sold to Shamrock Capital without her knowledge, and that she had previously entered negotiations with Braun to purchase her music back, but she alleged Braun’s team wanted her to sign an “ironclad” NDA that would prevent her from speaking negatively about him. In her 2020 statement, Swift said Braun would continue to profit from her old music under Shamrock’s ownership, and that she had begun the process of re-recording her first six albums. Swift released her first re-recording, a newly recorded version of her hit “Love Story,” in February 2021, followed by her first re-recorded album, “Fearless (Taylor’s Version)” in April 2021. She re-released “Red” later that year, followed by new versions of “Speak Now” and “1989” in 2023. Her re-recordings achieved wide commercial success, in some cases outperforming her original albums. “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” earned Swift her best-ever sales week (until surpassed by “The Tortured Poets Department the following year) with more than 1.6 million album equivalent units and 1.3 million in pure sales.

Tangent

In her statement, Swift said she has been “heartened by the conversations this saga has reignited within my industry among artists and fans,” stating several artists have told her they negotiated to own their own work. Some artists have credited Swift with negotiating deals to own their masters, including Olivia Rodrigo and Rita Ora. Singer Ashanti said she would re-record her older music and credited Swift with her decision.

Forbes Valuation

Swift, the wealthiest woman in music, has a net worth of $1.6 billion, according to Forbes estimates. She joined the billionaire ranks in 2023 as the Eras Tour shattered records to become the highest-grossing tour of all time, at more than $2 billion.