Taylor Swift reclaims ownership of her masters in landmark deal

Taylor Swift has successfully regained ownership of the master recordings of her first six studio albums, in a decisive turn in one of the music industry's most closely watched artist-label disputes. The agreement, finalized with private equity firm Shamrock Capital Advisors, ends a years-long saga over control of Swift’s early catalog and marks a significant milestone in the pop superstar’s career.

While financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, the assets include master recordings, music videos, concert films, and associated iconography, according to individuals familiar with the matter. The acquisition returns to Swift the rights to music originally recorded under Big Machine Label Group, which was sold in 2019 to media executive Scooter Braun in a deal valued at over $300 million. Braun later transferred those rights to Shamrock in 2020.

You belong with me.
💚💛💜❤️🩵🖤

Letter on my site :) pic.twitter.com/pdb6kGDcVO

— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) May 30, 2025

In a letter shared with fans on social media, Swift described the moment as the culmination of a two-decade-long battle. “All the music I’ve ever made… now belongs to me,” she wrote. “To say this is my greatest dream come true is actually being pretty casual about it.”

Swift first signed with Big Machine in 2005 as a teenager. The label retained ownership of her masters, a common industry practice. But her public opposition to the sale of those masters to Braun, whom she accused of bullying, helped galvanize a broader conversation around artist rights and equity in music contracts.

Rather than accept the situation, Swift embarked on an unprecedented strategy: re-recording her early discography in a series of releases dubbed “Taylor’s Version.” To date, she has re-recorded four of the six albums, achieving both commercial and critical success. The re-releases were also instrumental in diminishing the value of the original masters, a tactic some observers described as savvy and disruptive.

In her letter, Swift credited the success of her re-recordings and her record-breaking Eras Tour as critical leverage in securing the deal with Shamrock. “The passionate support you showed those albums and the success you found giving The Eras Tour into why I was able to buy back my music,” she told fans.

Swift’s move is likely to reverberate across the music business, where ownership of intellectual property, especially legacy catalogs, has become an increasingly hot commodity. Catalog sales have become a booming market for private equity, hedge funds, and music firms, with top artists fetching multi-million-dollar valuations for rights to their work.

For Swift, regaining control of her catalog is not just a personal victory but a symbolic one. “All I’ve ever wanted was the opportunity to work hard enough to be able to one day purchase my music outright,” she wrote. Now, after years of legal wrangling and public scrutiny, that ambition has been realized.

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