Taylor Swift’s Whole Music Catalogue Finally Belongs to Her

Taylor Swift has some big news to share: she now owns all of her music!

On Friday, Swift announced that she acquired her whole catalogue of recordings, which was originally owned by Big Machine Records.

In a handwritten letter, she told her fans, “I’m trying to gather my thoughts into something coherent, but right now my mind is just 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 thiiiiiiiiiiiis 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 say to say these words: All of the music I’ve ever made… now belongs… to me.”

Swift went on, "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.”

Showing love for Shamrock Capital, who sold her the catalogue, she said, “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. … My first tattoo just might be a huge shamrock in the middle of my forehead.”

It is unclear how much Swift paid for the rights to her music.

Taylor also addressed what owning her masters means for any future "Taylor's Version" albums, since she has yet to re-release "Reputation" or her debut album, "Taylor Swift."

As for "Reputation," which has been the subject of fervent fan speculation recently, Taylor admits she hasn’t “even re-recorded a quarter of it.”

She explained, “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."

She also reveals, "I’ve already completely re-recorded my album, and I really love how it sounds now."

Taylor says, "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.”

Swift ended her letter, writing, “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.”

In 2019, Big Machine Records sold her entire music catalogue to Scooter Braun for a reported $300 million, against her wishes.

After the sale, Taylor expressed her disapproval, writing on Tumblr, “I learned about Scooter Braun's purchase of my masters as it was announced to the world.”

She noted that she was “sad and grossed out” by the news.

“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,” Swift stressed. “I walked away because I knew once I signed that contract, Scott Borchetta would sell the label, thereby selling me and my future. 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.”

Calling it her “worst-case scenario,” Taylor argued, “When I left my masters in Scott's hands, I made peace with the fact that eventually he would sell them. Never in my worst nightmares did I imagine the buyer would be Scooter. Any time Scott Borchetta has heard the words 'Scooter Braun' escape my lips, it was when I was either crying or trying not to. He knew what he was doing; they both did. Controlling a woman who didn't want to be associated with them. In perpetuity. That means forever.”

After Braun’s acquisition, Swift went into the studio to re-record her albums “Fearless,” “Red,” “Speak Now,” and “1989.”