Taylor Swift finally owns her master recordings

Taylor Swift has released a statement on her website following the purchase of her master recordings for her first six studio albums, following a sale to her by Shamrock Capital.

In this statement, she also addressed the growing anticipation for Reputation (Taylor's Version), which fans have been desperate for since the re-releases began, admitting she hasn't even recorded a quarter of it yet, but when the time is right, we will be getting the highly anticipated Reputation vault tracks.

In taking back her name and her Reputation, she also announced she has re-recorded her self-titled album, adding "Those 2 albums can still have their moments to re-emerge when the time is right". and "If it happens it won't be from a place of sadness and longing for what I wish I could have, it will just be a celebration now."

The full statement:

So how come Taylor didn't already own her albums?

When Taylor was just 15 years old she signed a contract with Big Machine Records, as per the standard in the music industry, this contract meant that the master recordings (original recordings of the music) belonged to the label, not the artist, in exchange for the label paying for any recording, promo and distribution of her music.

In 2019, the same year Taylor released Lover with Republic Records, Big Machine sold her first six albums to Scooter Brauns company, Ithica Holdings, without allowing Taylor the chance to purchase them first. This became a further point of contention, as Taylor felt that Scooter had previously bullied her, meaning this was an even bigger kick in the teeth.

Scooter manages artists like Kanye West and Justin Bieber. In 2016, Kanye released the song “Famous,” which includes the line “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex / Why? I made that bitch famous.”

Following this, Taylor was upset about the lyric and claimed she never approved it. Kanye and Scooter (as his manager) were involved in the making and promotion of this song, which included a music video featuring a nude wax figure of Taylor Swift (without her consent), and Justin Bieber even posted a photo mocking Taylor about the conflict. Taylor saw Scooter as someone who enabled and supported this behaviour, publicly humiliating her and promoting misogyny.

Scooter had said he was open to working with Taylor on the masters. However, she felt the sale was done behind her back and that she didn’t trust him.

She also wrote a statement on Tumblr, addressing the behaviour and admitting she found out about his purchase of her master recordings, only when it was announced to the world.

This is how we ended up with the Taylor's Versions recordings

(Taylor's Verison)

Taylor could own her first six albums by re-recording them, so while on The Eras Tour, writing new material and dealing with personal issues as a public figure, Taylor gave us Fearless TV (2021), Speak Now TV (2023), Red TV (2021) and 1989 TV (2023), with not just re-records, but also Vault tracks. These were unreleased songs she wrote for each album that did not make the final tracklist, remaining 'in the vault' until the re-records were released.

Songs from the Vault:

Vault tracks from Fearless TV, Speak Now TV, Red TV and 1989 TV

Taylor Swift’s fight to regain ownership of her master recordings has had a major impact on the music industry. Through her openness on this, and via her massive platform, she has helped to spark an important conversation about artists’ rights.

Her transparency has not only inspired younger artists to push for control over their masters when signing contracts, but it has also boosted fans’ awareness of how the industry often exploits creative talent.

Swift’s stance on this issue has become a rallying cry for fairer deals and more transparent practices in music and now as a result of that, in her own words, "the best things that have ever been mine...finally actually are."