Taylor Swift has has been fighting to regain ownership of her own music. Photo / AFP
Taylor Swift has has been fighting to regain ownership of her own music. Photo / AFP
Taylor Swift has bought back the masters for her first six albums, ending the music star’s fight over the ownership of her music that inspired her “Taylor’s Version” project to rerecord many of her albums.
Swift announced she was able to buy back her earlier recordings from private equity firmShamrock Capital in a letter posted to her website Friday: “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.”
In 2019, the megastar reacted negatively to the purchase of her masters by music manager Scooter Braun, known for having worked with Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande and Demi Lovato. Braun bought the masters from Swift’s old recording label Big Machine. Then in 2020, he sold that catalogue to Shamrock, a deal believed to be worth over US$300 million (NZ$500m) at the time.
On Friday, Swift said she hasn’t yet recorded even a quarter of the highly awaited Taylor’s Version of Reputation - nicknamed Rep TV - saying that “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”.
“There will be a time (if you’re into the idea) for the unreleased vault tracks from that album to hatch,” she wrote.
She also said she could release a Taylor’s Version of her debut album “when the time is right”.
“I’m extremely heartened by the conversations this saga has reignited within my industry among artists and fans,” Swift wrote. “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.”
She continued: “Thanks to you and your goodwill, teamwork, and encouragement, the best things that have ever been mine... finally actually are.”
