Taylor Swift buys back rights to the master recordings of first 6 albums
Taylor Swift now controls her entire music catalog after she bought back the master recordings of her first six albums.
"I'm trying to gather my thoughts into something coherent, but right now my mind is just a slideshow. As a flashback sequence of all the times I daydreamed about, wished for, and pined away for a chance to get to tell you this news," she said in a letter on her website Friday. "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."
Swift lost the rights in 2019 after her first record label, Big Machine, sold them to record executive Scooter Braun. In a June 2019 Tumblr post, she called it the "worst case scenario" and accused Braun of years of "incessant, manipulative bullying."
Braun denied bullying the singer, telling Variety in 2021 that he had offered to sell her the catalog back, but her team refused.
In an attempt to regain some control, Swift rerecorded four of her albums, calling them "Taylor's Version."
"I've been bursting into tears of joy at random intervals ever since I found out that this is really happening," Swift said in her letter. "I really get to say these words: All of the music I've ever made… now belongs... to me."
Swift thanked her fans — known as Swifties — for their "passionate support" of the rerecorded albums and "The Eras Tour," saying that it helped her buy back her music.
"I can't thank you enough for helping to reunite me with this art that I have dedicated my life to, but have never owned until now," she said.
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Popstar Taylor Swift has bought back the rights to her first six albums in an historic deal that is reported to have cost the chart-topper a staggering $360 million—after a years-long fight in which she battled to regain control of her entire song catalog. The 35-year-old 'Love Song' singer revealed the happy news in a letter shared on her website, in which she explained that she reached a deal with Shamrock Capital to take ownership of the music, describing it as her 'greatest dream' coming true. 'I've been bursting into tears of joy at random intervals ever since I found out that this is really happening. I really get to say these words: All of the music I've ever made… now belongs… to me,' she said in the letter. 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The songstress boasts almost as many homes as she does albums, having built up an incredible collection of properties during her legendary career—from Nashville to New York City. One of the first properties Swift snapped up was a chic penthouse in Nashville's Music Row, which she purchased for $1.9 million in 2009. The penthouse sprawls across 3,240 square feet and boasts three bedrooms, high ceilings, and an open floor plan. It also comes complete with a heated resort-style pool. Two years later, Swift snapped up a mansion in the Northumberland Estate neighborhood of Nashville for $2.5 million. The property measures 5,600 square feet and comes complete with four bedrooms and five bathrooms. A 2,000-square-foot guesthouse sits adjacent to the abode. Swift also holds the keys to a luxurious Beverly Hills, CA, home, which she purchased in 2015 for $25 million. The lavish spread was once owned by movie producer Samuel Goldwyn, co-founder of Goldwyn Pictures. 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However, the renovation plans were drawn up on Nov. 25 and Dec. 4, 2024, before Swift's final 'Eras Tour' show on Dec. 8, with an expiration date of Dec. 4, 2025. The renovation will be completed by a team of Rhode Island–based contractors, led by David W. Shafovaloff, who is located in Hope Valley and describes himself on LinkedIn as a 'self employed construction project manager' who specializes in 'high end residential and commercial construction.' In addition to its many bedrooms and bathrooms, Swift's opulent home currently features a 36-foot-long parlor and an octagonal dining room. The extravagant seaside estate was built in 1930 and once belonged to composer and socialite Rebekah Harkness, who was married to William Hale 'Bill' Harkness. Swift's abode has been described as the ultimate getaway, offering '700 feet of private beachfront' and eight fireplaces, per its original listing. Then, of course, there is the celebrity cachet that Swift's ownership of the home has added. Over the years, the property has played host to many of Swift's star-studded events, including her iconic Fourth of July parties, which have welcomed a long list of A-listers such as Selena Gomez and Blake Lively. More recently, Swift and Kelce were seen lounging around her Rhode Island home with Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, in August 2024, as well as the Kansas City Chiefs star's teammate Patrick Mahomes and his brother, Jason Kelce. At the time, an insider detailed Swift's love of the property, revealing that the star wants to spend 'more time' and be more 'grounded' at the beachside estate in the future. 'Taylor has been on tour and working nonstop, and she loves the Rhode Island house and wanted to spend some time there while the weather is still good and she can enjoy it,' the source explained. 'It has felt wonderful to be grounded back home again. 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