Whilst we’ve all been on high alert, looking at every possible clue that might eventually lead to the release of Reputation (Taylor’s Version), Taylor has shocked us all by announcing on Instagram via a letter that, “All of the music I’ve ever made… now belongs to me.”
Instead of snakes and “look what you made me do,” we got something even bigger: Taylor has officially bought back the rights to the master recordings of her first six albums.
The ones she’s been fighting for since 2019.
So while we all thought we were on to something, Taylor was typically three steps ahead.
And of course, because Taylor never just does something—she writes about it, we got a letter.
In the letter, she confirmed that she could “buy back [her] music with the profits from The Eras Tour, which made the singer over $2 billion.
“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 [and] with full autonomy,” Swift said. “I will forever be 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.”
She reflected on her journey, the meaning behind her music, and what it truly means to own your art. The girl who lost her voice six years ago is finally in control of her legacy.
What does Taylor Swift’s full letter say?
“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 thiiiiiiiis 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 four 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 the 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.”
So, what does this mean?
It has now been confirmed by Taylor herself that Reputation TV is not even close to being finished: “Full transparency: I haven’t even started recording it. The Reputation album was so specific to that time in my life, and I kept it in the vault because I wanted to be over it before I re-recorded it. All that drama, the heartbreak, the rage, the mischaracterisation. I kept putting it off because I thought it couldn’t be improved upon by re-doing the music or visuals. So I kept putting it off.”
However, we have now gotten the reassurance that Debut and TTPD are in the works, and the vault tracks from Rep TV will come. And all we really want is new music, right?
Why does Taylor have to buy back music that is hers, you may ask? Taylor had lost the rights in 2019 to her music after her first record label, Big Machine, sold them to a record executive, Scooter Braun. And then everything went up in flames basically. Hence the re-recordings.
This happened off the recommendation from Kelly Clarkson to re-record, with the singer tweeting on X, “@taylorswift13 just a thought: U should go in & re-record all the songs that U don’t own the masters on exactly how U did them but put brand new art & some kind of incentive so fans will no longer buy the old versions. I’d buy all of the new versions just to prove a point.”
And so she did, and sent Kelly flowers after each re-release was put into the world.
“”You know what’s so funny? [Swift] just sent me flowers,” Clarkson told E! News.. “She’s so nice, she did. She was like, ‘Every time I release something’—cause she just did 1989. I got that really cute cardigan, too.”
How much did Taylor Swift pay for her masters?
The exact amount of her master’s has not been reported, but according the Billboard’s sources, she paid around $360 million.
This amount is nearly the same amount that Shamrock had paid to Scooter Braun in 2020.
When did Taylor Swift’s fight to reclaim her music start?
2005: Taylor Swift signs with Big Machine Records at the age of 15, signing on for a 13-year recording deal.
2018: At the end of her deal with Big Machine, Taylor signs a worldwide deal with Universal Music Group.
June 2019: Scott Borchetta sells Big Machine Records to Scooter Braun, with the rights to Taylor’s master recordings in a reported $300 million deal.
“For years I asked, pleaded for a chance to own my work. Instead I was given an opportunity to sign back up to Big Machine Records and ‘earn’ one album back at a time, one for every new one I turned in. I walked away because I knew once I signed that contract, Scott Borchetta would sell the label, thereby selling me and my future,” Taylor shared on Tumblr following the news.
“I had to make the excruciating choice to leave behind my past. Music I wrote on my bedroom floor and videos I dreamed up and paid for from the money I earned playing in bars, then clubs, then arenas, then stadiums.”
August 2019: Taylor Swift announces her plan to re-record her albums.
2020: Scooter Braun sells Taylor’s master records for more than $300 million to Shamrock Holdings.
2021: Taylor releases Fearless (Taylor’s Version) and Red (Taylor’s Version).
2023: Taylor releases Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) and 1989 (Taylor’s Version).
2025: Six years after her music was sold to Scooter Braun, Taylor has bought back her masters.
