Taylor Swift Finally Owns Her Music Catalog — Ending a Six-Year Battle for Creative Control

After a six-year battle that captivated the music industry and Swifties worldwide, Taylor Swift has officially regained ownership of her entire music catalog — a historic moment not just for the pop icon, but for artist rights across the board.

Taylor Swift announced the news on May 30 via a heartfelt letter to fans on her website and social media.

“All of the music I’ve ever made now belongs to me,” she wrote, confirming that she has purchased the rights to her first six albums — the original recordings that were controversially sold without her consent in 2019.

The deal includes more than just master recordings. It also covers music videos, concert films, unreleased songs, and album artwork. “The memories. The magic. The madness,” she wrote. “Every single era. My entire life’s work.”

A Victory Years in the Making

The saga began in 2019, when Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings acquired Big Machine Label Group, the label that originally signed Taylor Swift. As part of that deal, Braun gained control of Taylor Swift’s masters — a move she called “sad and grossed out” at the time. Swift publicly criticized Scooter Braun for years of what she described as industry bullying, particularly in connection with Kanye West and Justin Bieber.

Despite trying to repurchase her master’s, Swift said she was told she’d need to sign an “ironclad NDA” to even begin negotiations. Instead, she launched one of the boldest artist-led campaigns in music history: re-recording her first six albums as “Taylor’s Version” — turning a power grab into a creative revolution.

A $300 Million+ Industry Shakeup

While initial estimates pegged the value of Taylor Swift’s catalog near $600 million, sources say that figure was inflated. In reality, Taylor Swift’s music catalog changed hands again in 2020 when Shamrock Capital acquired it from Scooter Braun. Now, Swift has bought it outright — no strings attached.

Taylor Swift thanked Shamrock Capital for being “honest, fair, and respectful,” and credited her fans and the success of the Eras Tour for making the purchase possible. “All I’ve ever wanted was the opportunity to work hard enough to one day purchase my music outright,” she said.

 

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A New Era of Artist Empowerment

Swift’s story serves as a modern blueprint for artist empowerment in the era of corporate music ownership. Her re-recordings not only dominated charts but helped shift public awareness about master ownership — an issue most fans hadn’t even heard of before 2019.

With Taylor Swift’s full catalog finally under her control, Swift has come full circle. “To call it my greatest dream come true is actually being pretty reserved about it,” she wrote.

For fans, the message is clear: Taylor Swift didn’t just rewrite the music industry’s rules — she owns them now.