Taylor Swift has officially reclaimed ownership of her entire music catalog and creative archive, marking the end of a years-long battle to control what she calls her “life’s work.”
In an announcement made May 30, Swift confirmed she has acquired the master recordings and full rights to all music she has released, including videos, concert films, photography, and unreleased material. The deal, completed with the cooperation of Shamrock Capital, grants her control over the first six albums of her career, originally sold without her consent in 2019.
Swift’s statement, shared on her website, framed the acquisition as a moment of personal and professional triumph. On Instagram, she posted a photo surrounded by her early albums, captioned with a nod to her 2008 hit, “You Belong with Me.”
This purchase concludes a saga that began when Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings acquired Big Machine Records and the masters to Swift’s early work. Swift has long asserted she was denied a fair chance to purchase her recordings at that time, prompting her to begin rerecording and releasing “Taylor’s Version” albums.
Four rerecorded albums have already been released, with her 2017 album Reputation still in progress. Swift noted the emotional weight of revisiting that project, calling it uniquely difficult to re-create. Meanwhile, her self-titled debut album, released in 2006, is complete and will be released soon.
Source: USA Today