In November 2008, music artist Taylor Swift released her second album, “Fearless.”

In June 2019, the masters to Swift’s first six studio albums were acquired by talent manager Scooter Braun as part of his acquisition of Big Machine Records, Swift's record company until 2019. Big Machine Records took complete ownership of her first six albums, meaning Taylor no longer owned these masters and could no longer receive profit from them, nor have control over where the songs are used.

A master recording is the official recording of a song, sound or performance. It is the source from which all the later copies are made.

"A lot of artists, especially in the early days of their career, don’t realize that signing away your masters means selling the rights to their own work - sometimes for all future,” says Diego Farias, CEO, and co-founder of Amuse.

Swift said she had been trying to buy the masters for years, but Big Machine had offered unfavorable conditions. She condemned Braun's purchase; although she attempted to make peace, she denounced him as an "incessant, manipulative bully."

In response to this, Swift is re-recording her first six albums. She released “Fearless (Taylor’s Version)” on April 9th, 2021. This new album contains 6 songs that were not previously released on the original Fearless album. All of her classics including “Love Story” can now be streamed with her mature voice. While it is unfortunate that thousands of hours of work from 2006 to 2019 have been stolen from her, the success of her self-owned album of older songs shows her legacy and power in the music industry.