Taylor Swift Buys Back Rights To Her First Six Albums Years After Scooter Braun Drama

by

Taylor Swift has recently revealed that she has purchased the rights to her initial six studio albums, entering into an agreement with Shamrock Capital. This move brings the renowned artist back together with her early work, marking a reunion six years after its original sale to Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings ignited one of the most heated conflicts in contemporary music industry history.

Last Friday, the artist posted a heartfelt, handwritten message for her followers on her official site, announcing some major news. The specifics regarding the monetary aspects of the acquisition were kept confidential.

Hello! I’m currently struggling to organize my thoughts into a structured form, but it feels like my mind is showing a continuous reel of moments where I imagined, yearned for, and longed for the opportunity to share this news with you. Moments when I was so close, stretching out towards it, only for it to slip away. At times, I almost lost hope that this could become a reality, after two decades of having the prospect dangled then taken away. But all of that is now history.”

“Ever since I discovered that this is truly coming true, I’ve been experiencing sudden bursts of joy-filled tears. It’s finally happening; I get to express these words: Every piece of music I’ve ever created… belongs to me now.

The news is about a dispute that has been going on for years with Scooter Braun, following his purchase of Big Machine Records and Taylor Swift’s master recordings back then. In 2020, Ithaca sold Taylor Swift’s catalog to Shamrock Holdings for an estimated $300 million. In a letter, Swift expressed her deep gratitude towards Shamrock for facilitating this transaction.

In their eyes, this was merely a commercial transaction, but to me, it represented my memories, my labor, my unique style, and my long-held aspirations,” Swift penned down.

2019 saw Swift expressing her concerns over Braun’s acquisition, labeling it as her most unfavorable prediction. She had long requested the right to own her work from Big Machine’s Scott Borchetta but was only granted the option to re-sign with Big Machine Records and regain one album for every new one she produced.

Upon hearing about Braun’s acquisition in 2019, Swift referred to it as her least preferred outcome. For years, she had asked Borchetta of Big Machine for the opportunity to own her work, but was instead given the choice to renew her contract with Big Machine Records and reclaim one album for each new album she released.

I discovered that Scooter Braun acquired the rights to my albums when this news became public. All I could focus on was the relentless, underhanded harassment I’ve endured from him for years. He’s taken away my life’s creation, a chance for me to purchase it wasn’t given… In essence, my musical heritage is soon to be controlled by someone who sought to destroy it.

Back in 2019, I made a big move to regain control over my music by re-recording some of my songs. Since then, I’ve been working tirelessly on projects like “Fearless (Taylor’s Version)”, “Red (Taylor’s Version)”, “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)”, and even “1989 (Taylor’s Version)”. These re-recordings have turned out to be massive successes, with each release creating a stir of its own. In fact, “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” outperformed the original in first-week sales and ended up being one of the year’s top sellers. Now, I’ve got just two more albums left on my list – “Reputation” and my debut album – to complete this re-recording journey.

In a letter sent on Friday, Taylor Swift stated that she had fully remade her initial album yet again, but clarified that only about a fourth of the songs for “Reputation (Taylor’s Version)” have been re-recorded so far.

Taylor Swift hinted at the possibility (if there’s interest) of releasing previously unheard tracks from her album that are currently in the vault. She has already re-recorded the entire album, and she’s thrilled with how it sounds now. If these two albums do resurface, it will be when the moment is right, assuming you would find it exciting. However, if this happens, it won’t stem from a place of longing for what could have been. Instead, it will simply be a celebration.

Since her album “Lover,” which was released in 2019, Taylor Swift has been publishing her subsequent albums through Republic Records under Universal Music Group. Notably, she retains ownership of the master recordings for these albums.

More to come.

Read More

2025-05-30 19:24