Taylor Swift announced May 30, 2025 she purchased all her music and creative property after years of trying to gain ownership over "my life's work."
In this letter posted to her website May 30, 2025, Taylor Swift announced she purchased all her music and creative property after years of trying to gain ownership over "my life's work."

"All of the music I've ever made now belongs to me."

With that statement, Taylor Swift really has become the chairman of her own board.

The superstar posted a lengthy letter on her website detailing that every aspect of her career including videos, concert films, art, photography and unreleased materials is under her control.

On her Instagram account, Swift posted a photo of herself sitting on the floor surrounded by her first six albums with the comment, “You belong with me,” a nod to her hit from 2008’s “Fearless” album.

Taylor Swift thanks Shamrock Capital for masters sale: How much did Taylor pay for her masters?

Swift credited Shamrock Capital, the private equity firm that purchased the master rights to Swift's first six albums from Scooter Braun's Ithaca Holdings in 2020, for giving her the opportunity to purchase every aspect of her career work.

According to a source close to contract negotiations, there was no outside party who "encouraged" the sale and any rumored price range reported is "highly inaccurate."

Taylor Swift 'Rep TV' in the works

In her post, Swift also commented on the delayed release of "Reputation (Taylor's Version)" and said she hasn't yet rerecorded a quarter of it and "there will be a time for the unreleased vault tracks to hatch."

Fans have hungered for tidbits about the "Taylor's Version" of the 2017 album that highlighted a musical shift to harder-edged pop and a ruthless lyrical tone from Swift in songs including "…Ready for It?" and "Look What You Made Me Do."

But Swift explained she kept "hitting a stopping point" while trying to remake the album, adding, "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 six that I thought couldn’t be improved upon by redoing it."

Swift did note that the one other album from her early catalog yet to be released as "Taylor's Version" – her self-titled country-rooted debut from 2006 – has been rerecorded and "I love how it sounds now."

Taylor Swift buys back her masters after Scooter Braun feud

Swift’s journey to owning the rights to her material stems from an acrimonious dispute with Braun after he purchased Big Machine Records – home to Swift's initial six albums – in 2019. Swift has maintained she tried to buy back her masters at the time, but Big Machine presented a convoluted contract that stripped her rights to her music.

In 2020, Swift began rerecording her back catalog and released "Taylor’s Version" of "Fearless," "Red," "Speak Now" and "1989," which enabled her to own the new masters and licensing of her songs. Her current label, Republic Records, a subsidiary of Universal Music Group, has released all of her albums since, starting with 2019's "Lover."

Swift's bold move has inspired veteran artists from Bryan Adams to John Fogerty to follow her blueprint, which she acknowledged in her letter.

"I am extremely heartened by the conversations this saga has reignited within my industry among artists and fans," she wrote, noting that she's proud of new artists who negotiate in their contracts to own their master recordings.

Swift ended her memo with outright joy.

"The best things that have ever been mine … finally actually are."

Taylor Swift letter: Read her masters announcement in full

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 thiiiiiis 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

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Taylor Swift owns her music catalog following masters controversy with Scooter Braun

Reporting by Melissa Ruggieri, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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