Taylor Swift has officially regained ownership of the master recordings of her first six studio albums following a years-long effort by the artist to secure the rights to her early work.
Swift has purchased the rights to “Taylor Swift” (2006), “Fearless” (2008), “Speak Now” (2010), “Red” (2012), “1989” (2014)” and “Reputation” (2017) from Los Angeles-based investment firm Shamrock Holdings, Swift announced in a letter on her website on Friday.
The purchase price was not disclosed.
Along with the masters, Swift now also holds full ownership of associated materials, including music videos, concert films, album art, unreleased songs, and other creative assets from that period.
“All the music I’ve ever made now belongs to me,” Swift wrote in the letter.
“All I’ve ever wanted was the opportunity to work hard enough to be able to one day purchase my music outright with no strings attached, no partnership, with full autonomy. I will be forever grateful to everyone at Shamrock Capital for being the first people to ever offer this to me.”
Shamrock purchased the rights to Swift’s early albums from Big Machine Records in 2019. The sale was led by Big Machine Records’ new owner, music executive Scooter Braun, and was reportedly valued at $300 million.
Swift stated she was not informed of the sale in advance and ultimately declined Shamrock’s proposal to collaborate, citing Braun's continued financial involvement with the catalog.
In response, she began re-recording her earlier albums and releasing them as “Taylor’s Versions,” a strategic move that allowed her to create and own new masters, while encouraging fans to support these versions instead of the originals.
Her current contract with Republic Records and Universal Music Group, signed in 2018 after her departure from Big Machine, grants her full ownership of her master recordings for all subsequent releases, beginning with her 2019 album “Lover.”