Taylor’s Triumph: Swift Reclaims Her Original Masters

Image Credit – TAS Rights Management

Written by Amy Alexander, edited by Ruairi Bolton

On the 30th May, Taylor Swift took to Instagram to announce she now owns the master recordings (Masters) of her first six albums. She shared three photos of her, surrounded by vinyls of her original albums: Taylor Swift, Fearless, Speak Now, Red, 1989, and Reputation. “All of the music I’ve ever made…now belongs…to me”, she wrote in a lengthy letter uploaded onto her website. For the very first time, Swift now owns the music, the artwork, the concert films, and the unreleased songs for her albums made between 2006 and 2017. 

The process for Swift to own her music has been challenging. In 2019, she announced that her Masters had been sold without her knowledge by her former label, Big Machine Records, to music mogul Scooter Braun. Swift voiced her frustrations on Tumblr, writing that Braun’s own clients (Justin Bieber and Kanye West) had been bullying her online about the infamous 2016 phone call feud involving Swift, West, and Kim Kardashian. Braun had also not contacted Swift to let her know about the acquisition of her Masters, leaving her to find out online with the rest of the world.

“My musical legacy is about to lie in the hands of someone who tried to dismantle it”, she wrote on the social media platform, evidencing her dismay and heartbreak over the calculated business deal. Swift promptly signed to Republic Records, ensuring ownership of the Masters for any music made under the label. She has released nine albums since 2019. 

In the letter celebrating the ownership of her music, Swift thanked Shamrock Capital, the private equity firm which her Masters were sold to by Braun for $300M in 2020; “The way they’ve handled every interaction we’ve had has been honest, fair, and respectful”. Previous reports noted that Swift had paid between $600M to $1B for the Masters, although that has now been confirmed as “inaccurately high”. 

According to sources at Billboard, Swift bought back her music from Shamrock Capital for $360M, a price similar to what they paid for it. 

Since 2021, Swift has released re-recordings of the albums she previously did not own, using the term “Taylor’s Version” to distinguish them from the originals. Fearless (Taylor’s Version) and Red (Taylor’s Version) were both released in 2021, and Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) and 1989 (Taylor’s Version) were released in 2023. 

The inclusion of “From the Vault” tracks in these versions were what made them exciting and a novelty for fans. These were unreleased tracks that had never been heard before, giving Swift the opportunity to de-value her original work whilst also investing in the success of her new “Taylor’s Version” albums. 

Image Credits: TAS Rights Management 

Swift embarked on a wildly successful ‘Eras Tour’ (March 2023-December 2024). “The passionate support you showed those [re-recorded] albums and the success story you turned the Eras Tour into is why I was able to buy back my music”, she wrote in the letter, crediting fans for their interest, love, and support during her years spent touring. “I can’t thank you enough for helping to reunite me with this art that I have dedicated my life to, but have never owned until now”. 

The Eras Tour became the highest-grossing tour of all-time, and were 3.5-hour-long shows with 40 songs on the setlist. Each night, Swift performed at least two different “Surprise Songs”, from fan-favourites, to deep-cuts, unexpected mashups and even unreleased songs. The success of the Eras Tour provided Swift with enough revenue to buy back her music, and gain control of her life’s work. 

In the letter, Swift also shared that she will not be releasing Reputation (Taylor’s Version), a fan-favourite album detailing the scrutiny she faced back in 2016, as well as her budding relationship with actor Joe Alwyn. “I haven’t even re-recorded a quarter of it”, she admitted, with fans taking to X and TikTok to voice their shock, as they had been speculating for months that this album would be the next re-release. 

Swift wrote 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. All that defiance, that longing to be understood while feeling purposefully misunderstood…”. The difficulties to re-record are understandable, especially in light of her breakup with Alwyn in 2023 coinciding with the start of the Eras Tour, as well as the painful memories of being scorned and relentlessly bullied online at the time. 

Though Swift did mention that the “Vault” tracks from Reputation, as well as the re-recording of her debut album will be released “when the time is right”, and that “it won’t be from a place of sadness and longing…it will just be a celebration now”. 

The letter ended with a praise for the new conversations emerging within the music industry; artists now feel more confident negotiating to own their music. Swift wrote: “Thank you for being curious about something that used to be thought of as too industry-centric for broad discussion. You’ll never know how much it means to me that you cared”. 

Swift’s legacy as a trailblazer in music is evident; her voice, activism and courage to speak out about fairness and ownership of one’s music is exactly what led to her acquiring the first six albums she created and shared with the world. 

Read Swift’s Letter Here: https://www.taylorswift.com/