Last week, rumours began swirling that Taylor Swift may have the opportunity to buy back the master recordings. As the saga goes, six years ago, music management mogul Scooter Braun's company, Ithaca Holdings, purchased the rights to the pop star's first six albums from Big Machine Records in a $300 million USD deal that Swift claimed happened behind her back.
Responding immediately, she said the deal was her "worst case scenario," leaving her "sad and grossed out," as she'd been hoping to have the opportunity to buy back the recordings. From there, Swift launched her Taylor's Version re-recording campaign, which has currently seen her re-release newly recorded versions of 2008's Fearless, 2010's Speak Now, 2012's Red and 2014's 1989, with the project even acting as the genesis for her wildly successful Eras Tour.
As Billboard reports, the rumours are true: the pop star was able to successfully repurchase her master recordings catalogue from Shamrock Capital, the private equity firm that purchased them from Ithaca Holdings in 2020. According to sources, Swift bought her early catalogue back from Shamrock for relatively close to what they paid for it, which was reportedly around $360 million.
"All of the music I've ever made… now belongs to me," the singer-songwriter shared in a handwritten letter uploaded to her website. "All of my music videos. All the concert films. The album art and photography. The unreleased songs. The memories. The magic. The madness. Every single era. My entire life's work."
Swift also addressed the primary fan concern that this good news inevitably prompts: what about the rest of the re-releases? Swifties were pretty convinced that Reputation (Taylor's Version) was going to be announced at the American Music Awards on Monday (May 26) after a new recording of "Look What You Made Me Do" was featured in a recent episode of The Handmaid's Tale — but Swift didn't even attend the awards (and, wildly, also didn't win any of the ones she was nominated for for this first time in 18 years).
"I know, I know. What about Rep TV? Full transparency: I haven't even re-recorded a quarter of it," the artist wrote. "The Reputation album was so specific to that time in my life, and I kept hitting a stopping point when I tried to remake it," she explained, adding that it was the one album of the six that she thought couldn't be improved upon.
Swift continued, "There will be a time (if you're into the idea) for the unreleased Vault tracks from that album to hatch," going on to say that she had already finished re-recording her 2006 self-titled debut. "Those 2 albums can still have their moments to re-emerge when the time is right, if that would be something you guys would be excited about. But if it happens it won't be from a place of sadness and longing for what I wish I could have. It will just be a celebration now."
Read her full letter below.
Hi
I'm trying to gather my thoughts into something coherent, but right now my mind is just a slideshow. A flashback sequence of all the times I daydreamed about, wished for, and pined away for a chance to get to tell you this news. All the times I was thiiiiiiiiis close, reaching out for it, only for it to fall through. 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. I've been bursting into tears of joy at random intervals ever since I found out that this is really happening. I really get to say these words:
All of the music I've ever made… now belongs… to me.
And all my music videos.
All the concert films.
The album art and photography.
The unreleased songs.
The memories. The magic. The madness.
Every single era.
My entire life's work.
To say this is my greatest dream come true is actually being pretty reserved about it. To my fans, you know how important this has been to me — so much so that I meticulously re-recorded and released 4 of my albums, calling them Taylor's Version. The passionate support you showed those albums and the success story you turned the Eras Tour into is why I was able to buy back my music. 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.
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. The way they've handled every interaction we've had has been honest, fair, and respectful. This was a business deal to them, but I really felt like they saw it for what it was to me. My memories and my sweat and my handwriting and my decades of dreams. I am endlessly thankful. My first tattoo might just be a huge shamrock in the middle of my forehead.
I know, I know. What about Rep TV? Full transparency: I haven't even re-recorded a quarter of it. The Reputation album was so specific to that time in my life, and I kept hitting a stopping point when I tried to remake it. All that defiance, that longing to be understood while feeling purposely misunderstood, that desperate hope, that shame-born snarl and mischief. To be perfectly honest, it's the one album in those first 6 that I thought couldn't be improved upon by redoing it. Not the music, or photos, or videos. So I kept putting it off. There will be a time (if you're into the idea) for the unreleased Vault tracks from that album to hatch. I've already completely re-recorded my entire debut album, and I really love how it sounds now. Those 2 albums can still have their moments to re-emerge when the time is right, if that would be something you guys would be excited about. But if it happens it won't be from a place of sadness and longing for what I wish I could have. It will just be a celebration now.
I'm extremely heartened by the conversations this saga has reignited within my industry among artists and fans. 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. 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.
Thanks to you and your goodwill, teamwork, and encouragement, the best things that have ever been mine… finally actually are.
Elated and amazed,
Taylor