On May 30, 2025, Taylor Swift announced that she had officially bought back the rights to her entire back catalog.
“All of the music I’ve ever made … now belongs … to me,” she wrote on her website, marking the end of a years-long battle over the ownership of her first six albums. These records, which include award-winning titles like *Reputation* and her self-titled debut *Taylor Swift*, had long been at the center of a high-profile industry feud.
Swift repurchased the masters from Shamrock Capital, a Los Angeles-based investment firm, for an undisclosed amount. While her most dedicated fans have followed the saga closely, many still wonder how such a globally successful artist lost the rights to her own music in the first place.
The dispute began in 2019 when Scooter Braun’s company, Ithaca Holdings, acquired Big Machine Label Group—Swift’s former record label. This acquisition included the master recordings of her first six albums: *Taylor Swift* (2006), *Fearless* (2008), *Speak Now* (2010), *Red* (2012), *1989* (2014), and *Reputation* (2017).
By that time, Swift had already left Big Machine for Republic Records in 2018. She claimed she was not given the chance to buy her masters and described the sale to Braun as her “worst-case scenario,” citing his alleged history of “manipulative bullying.”
In 2020, Braun sold the masters to Shamrock Capital for a reported \$300 million, further distancing Swift from ownership of her early work.
In response, Swift took a bold and unprecedented step: she began re-recording her early albums, releasing *Taylor’s Version* editions of *Fearless*, *Red*, *Speak Now*, and *1989* between 2021 and 2023. These new versions, which she owns outright, not only allowed her to regain creative and financial control but also diminished the market value of the original masters.
Now, with her recent acquisition from Shamrock, Swift has full control of her music catalog—both old and new—solidifying her place not just as a pop icon but as a powerful force in the music industry.