Now They're All Her Version: Taylor Swift Reclaims Rights Of Original Recordings

Taylor Swift has finally brought back the rights to her first six albums. She bought back ownership of her master recordings from Shamrock Capital, the private equity firm that purchased them from Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings in late 2020. According to Bloomberg, the deal cost about $360 million. The elated singer announced the news on her official website. In a handwritten note, the singer-songwriter stated, "All of the music I've ever made now belongs to me."

Swifties all over the world have been elated by the new development. Many took to social media to congratulate the star for finally receiving the official rights to her original music. Her now viral Instagram post with Swift posing with the vinyl copies of her first six albums to celebrate the news has got more than 7 million likes.

On her website, Swift expressed her thoughts about the recent development. She wrote: 

"To say this is my greatest dream come true is actually being pretty reserved about it," she added, thanking fans for their support as the drama played out.

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.I almost stopped thinking it could ever happen, after 20 years of having the carrot dangled and then yanked away, but that's all in the past now."

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The Story Behind 'Taylor's Version'

Taylor Swift started her career in 2004 when she moved to Nashville as a 14-year-old to chase her dream of becoming a country-pop star. She then signed a record deal with Big Machine. Her contract with Big Machine expired in 2018, after which she left and signed with Republic Records and Universal Music Group (UMG).

During her time at Big Machine, the label boss, Scott Borchetta, gave the young singer a significant cash advance in exchange for ownership of the master recordings of her first six albums in perpetuity. In 2019, Scott Borchetta sold his label to Scooter Braun's Ithaca Holdings. With the label being acquired by Ithaca Holdings, the rights to her master recordings officially came under its control.

A master recording is the original recorded performance of a song. Whoever owns it controls all rights to exploit the music. It is important to obtain the required permission from the owner of the master recording before adapting it into other versions. Taylor Swift learnt about this development only after it was publicly announced. She felt betrayed and described it as an act of aggression that "stripped me of my life's work."

Scooter Braun, the music manager who owned Ithaca Holdings, acquired the rights to her albums: Fearless, Speak Now, Red, 1989, and Reputation. Swift blamed Braun for complicity in the "incessant, manipulative bullying" against her by Kanye West, one of Braun's clients. She labelled Braun, who also managed Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande, as "the definition of toxic male privilege in our industry."

After Braun sold his stake in Swift's back catalogue to Shamrock Holdings, a Los Angeles investment fund, in November 2020, Swift felt betrayed yet again. In 2021, Swift began releasing her re-recorded albums under Taylor's Version, alongside some original material. This included the albums Folklore and Midnights, both of which went on to win Grammy Awards.

Produced with attention to detail to prevent copyright strikes, the re-released songs were virtually indistinguishable from the originals. Featuring slightly cleaner mixes and greater separation between instruments, the re-recorded versions quickly became fan favourites.

In a letter, Swift credited the success of the Eras Tour as the reason she was eventually able to buy back her music. She added that she was heartened to see her years of struggle inspiring other artists.

"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."

She continued, "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. Every single bit of it counted, and ended us up here."