Taylor Swift buys back music rights of first 6 albums. Read Swift's letter to fans
- Taylor Swift bought the rights to her first six albums
- The albums Swift purchased include "Taylor Swift," "Fearless," "Speak Now," "Red," "1989" and "Reputation"
- The six albums were originally purchased by record producer Scooter Braun in 2019 for $300 million
- This is the first time Swift has owned the rights to all of her music
It's a new era for Taylor Swift.
The world-famous pop star announced on May 30 that she bought back the rights to music her catalog after years-long battle with record producer Scooter Braun.
This is the first time Swift has control of her entire music catalog.
Here's Swift's reaction:
Taylor Swift music: 'You belong to me'
Swift made the news official, posting a lengthy letter on her website and photos of her surrounded by her first six albums on Instagram.
Taylor Swift website letter to fans
"I'm trying to gather my thoughts into something coherent, but right now my mind is just a slideshow," Swift wrote. "I flashback sequence of all the times I dreamed 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 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 this is really happening. I really get to say these words:
"All the music I have ever made ... now belongs... to me."
"And all of my music videos. All the concert films. The album art and photography. The unreleased songs. The memories. The magic. The madness. Every single era. The life's work."
To read Swift's entire letter to fans, click here.
Taylor Swift master: Which Taylor Swift albums did she buy back?
Swift purchased the rights to her first six albums, which include:
- "Taylor Swift," 2006
- "Fearless," 2008
- "Speak Now," 2010
- "Red," 2012
- "1989," 2014
- "Reputation," 2017
Who owned Taylor Swift's music?
Previously, Swift's first six albums were owned by record producer Scooter Braun after he purchased the masters from record label Big Machine for $300 million in 2019.
Swift described the sale to Braun as her “worst case scenario,” and said she had not been given the opportunity to buy her work outright, the Guardian reported.
Since 2020, Swift has retained the rights to songs from albums "Lover," "Folklore," "Evermore," "Midnights" and "The Tortured Poets Department," which were all released through Republic Records.
How much did Taylor Swift pay for her masters?
She acquired the master rights to her first six albums from Shamrock Holdings, a Los Angeles investment fund which purchased the catalog from Braun's Ithaca Holdings for $300 million in November 2020.
It is unclear how much Swift paid for the catalog.
Taylor Swift net worth 2025
According to Forbes, Swift's total net worth is roughly $1.6 billion with $600 million in royalties and touring, another $600 million attributed to her music catalog and additional $125 million in real estate.
Taylor Swift credits 'Eras Tour' and fans for purchase
In her letter, Swift thanked her fans — affectionately known as "Swifties" — for helping make her dreams of acquiring all her music come true.
"To say this is my greatest dream come true is actually being pretty reserved about it," Swift wrote. "To my fans, you know how important this has been to me — so much so that I meticulously re-recorded and released 4 of my albums, calling them Taylor's Version. The passionate support you showed those albums and the success story you turned the Eras Tour into is why I was able to buy back my music.
"I can't thank you enough for helping me reunite me with this art that I have dedicated by life to, but have never owned until now."
'Taylor's Version': No new 'Reputation'?
Before the recent purchase, Swift embarked on a project to rerecord and release her first six albums by branding each “Taylor’s Version" and adding "From the Vault" tracks.
Between 2021 and 2023, Swift rerecorded her albums "Fearless," "Red," "Speak Now" and "1989."
Many fans had speculated the next "Taylor's Version" would have been "Reputation."
Swift commented on the delayed release of "Reputation (Taylor's Version)" and said she hasn't yet rerecorded a quarter of it and "there will be a time for the unreleased vault tracks to hatch."