The End of an Era: Taylor Swift Reclaims Her Name and Her Reputation

Since 2019, Taylor Swift has been on a long journey to re-record her first six studio albums after the rights to her original masters were sold from under her. Now, six years later, she has achieved what many thought impossible, buying back her art.

In June 2019, Swift’s original label, Big Machine Records, was acquired by Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings for $300 million. This deal included the master recordings for Swift’s first six albums. Taylor Swift publicly stated that she attempted to buy back her masters but was only offered meetings to discuss the possibility of a deal if she agreed to sign non-disclosure agreements. She refused, as she values transparency with her fans.

Later in November 2020, Braun sold the masters to private equity firm Shamrock Holdings in a deal reportedly worth over $300 million. At the time, Swift expressed disappointment, saying she was not given a fair chance to regain ownership of her music.

Earlier this week, Page Six reported that the masters for Swift’s first six albums were back up for sale, and that Scooter Braun was reportedly encouraging Shamrock Holdings to sell them back to Swift, a rumor that was soon shut down by a source close to the contract negotiations.

On the morning of May 30, Swift took to Instagram and her website to share a personal letter with fans, sharing that after a long six-year journey, her records were finally hers.

“All the music I’ve ever made… now belongs… to me,” Swift wrote.

Fans took to social media to celebrate this achievement, with some even drawing comparisons between this letter and the one she released in 2019 after the original sale. 

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