Taylor Swift has sealed a deal to buy back the master recordings of her first six studio albums for about $360 million, ending a six-year battle that began when Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings snapped them up in 2019. The catalog was later sold to investment firm Shamrock Capital; Friday’s agreement transfers full ownership to the 34-year-old star.
In a post on her website, Swift called the acquisition “the final piece of a very long puzzle” and thanked fans for supporting her interim plan to re-record the albums. But she also delivered a twist: work on Reputation (Taylor’s Version), the last of the re-records to be released, is “paused indefinitely.”
“Owning the 2017 masters changes the creative calculus. I poured months into a new cut of Reputation, but doubling the catalogue just to compete with myself no longer feels right.”
What the deal covers—and what it doesn’t
- Masters and artwork for the self-titled debut through Reputation (2006–2017)
- Associated multitrack stems and video assets
- Ongoing royalties, estimated at $85 million a year
Swift retains the right to issue her re-recorded versions; Fearless, Red, Speak Now, 1989 and Taylor Swift (Taylor’s Version) will remain on streaming platforms. “I made them for you; they’re not going anywhere,” she assured fans. Reputation (TV), however, will stay shelved “unless there’s clear demand that won’t cannibalise the art we already love.”
Why the sudden shift?
Music lawyers say the purchase rewrites the economics that drove the re-recording project. Reputation was always the least lucrative of the first six albums for Shamrock, in part because the re-record clause prevented the firm from exploiting sync deals without Swift’s blessing. Now, as sole owner, she can license the original 2017 recordings directly—often at higher fees than a fresh cut would command.
Industry ripple
Analysts at MIDiA Research called the move “a landmark win for creator autonomy” and warned labels that artists will increasingly demand sunset clauses on master ownership. The Recording Industry Association of America declined comment but privately worries the deal will embolden other megastars approaching catalogue-sale talks.
Fan reaction
Swifties greeted the ownership victory with #TaylorOwnsTaylor trending worldwide, yet social feeds filled with mixed feelings over the Reputation delay. “Happy she got her babies back, but I still want that venom-spitting vault track,” one post read.
The road ahead
Swift enters the European leg of her Eras Tour in June with full control of her legacy recordings and leverage to strike premium sync deals in film, TV and gaming. For now, though, fans expecting a snarling Reputation (Taylor’s Version) this autumn will have to settle for the 2017 original—now, at last, entirely hers.