After nearly six years of opposing the sale of her master recordings by her previous label, Taylor Swift has now successfully gained full ownership of her entire music catalog.
Taylor Swift shared the news in a letter posted on her website Friday, stating, “Every piece of music I’ve created… now belongs… to me.”
The Grammy-winning artist clarified that she now owns all of her music videos, concert footage, album artwork, and photography, in addition to unreleased tracks. She acquired her music “completely, with no conditions, no partnership, and full control,” from Shamrock Capital, a private equity firm that had previously purchased her master recordings.
“Calling this my biggest dream come true is actually an understatement,” Swift wrote, explaining that she was able to “reclaim” her music from Shamrock after the success of the Eras Tour.
“I can’t express enough gratitude for helping me reconnect with this art that I’ve devoted my life to, but never owned until now,” she continued.
She also extended her thanks to Shamrock Capital “for being the first to give me the chance” to repurchase her music, describing her business relationship with them as “genuine, fair, and respectful.”
She wrote, “To them, it was just a business transaction, but I truly felt they understood what it meant to me: my memories, my hard work, my handwriting, and decades of dreams.”
The 2019 sale of the master recordings for Swift’s first six albums to producer Scooter Braun’s company, Ithaca Holdings, was highly disputed. Swift claimed she was caught off guard and wasn’t given a chance to purchase her catalog at that time, while Braun insisted her team was informed about the deal beforehand. This situation motivated the singer to regain control of her music by committing to re-record her albums herself.
However, she teased that if her fans are “interested in the idea,” she might eventually release unreleased tracks from that album’s vault.
Swift’s long-standing effort to re-record her first six albums has ignited an ongoing discussion in the music industry about artist rights and ownership, something she touched upon in her letter.
“I am truly encouraged by the conversations this journey has sparked within my industry among both artists and fans,” she wrote. “Every time a new artist shares with me that they negotiated ownership of their master recordings in their contracts because of this struggle, I’m reminded of just how crucial it was for all of this to unfold.”