'I've been bursting into tears of joy': Taylor Swift buys back the rights to her first six albums
TAYLOR SWIFT HAS bought back her first six studio albums, after a years-long battle to own the rights to her earlier music.
Now, she says, she will not release re-recorded versions of her self-titled debut album or Reputation, her sixth album.
It's undoubtedly a bittersweet moment for fans, who fiercely backed the singer after she opened up about the sale of her masters, as well as the rights to all her music videos and artwork, by her record label in 2019. She said she tried to purchase them herself but that the conditions were undesirable.
Since then, she's released re-recordings, known as Taylor's Versions, of four of the 'stolen' albums: Fearless, Speak Now, Red and 1989.
Each album came with previously-unheard bonus tracks – 'from the vault'.
Rumours have swirled constantly about when she may announce the re-release of her first and sixth albums. Fans can stand down now, in the knowledge that they'll never come.
In an emotional letter posted on her website, Swift wrote: 'I've been bursting into tears of joy at random intervals ever since I found out that this is really happening.
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'I really get to say these words: All of the music I've ever made… now belongs to me.
'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.
I almost stopped thinking it could ever happen, after 20 years of having the carrot dangled and then yanked away.
'To my fans, you know how important this has been to me — so much so that I meticulously re-recorded and released four albums, calling them Taylor's Versions.'
In December, Swift finished the Eras Tour, a 149-show tour that celebrated each phase of her music career.
The 35-year-old said it was the success of that tour, combined with the re-releases, that enabled her to buy back the masters.
Swift didn't say how much she paid, but
Billboard reports
it was in the region of $360 million.
'All I've ever wanted was the opportunity to work hard enough to be able to one day purchase my music outright.'
She added that she was heartened that her fight to own her music inspired younger artists to negotiate better deals for themselves.
'Every time a new artist tells me they negotiated to own their master recordings in their record contract because of this fight, I'm reminded of how important it was for all of this to happen.'
She now not only owns her music, but the music videos and artwork associated with them.
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Irish Independent
a day ago
- Irish Independent
June bank holiday in Limerick: here is what's on around the county
With so much on, there is no reason to not find something of interest in the county. Here are just some of the events taking place: Visit Limerick's famous Milk Market on Friday, Saturday and Sunday As it does every weekend, Limerick's milk market will be running over the Bank Holiday weekend and is sure to be bustling with crowds enjoying all that will be on offer. Friday and Sunday will see crafts, antiques and vintage put on display, will live music played by local artists will provide a fine atmosphere. Of course, there will be plenty of nourishment on offer too. Saturday will be all about the food, with a wide range of fresh produce and street food set to be available. The farmer's market will boast goods including cheeses, chutneys, just-caught fish and artisan meats. The Milk Market should provide plenty to see and taste for those of all ages this Bank Holiday weekend. 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The Journal
2 days ago
- The Journal
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Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
Irish Examiner
3 days ago
- Irish Examiner
‘Feels bigger than herself': the importance of Taylor Swift's latest victory
It goes without saying, but Taylor Swift has scored a lot of victories in the past few years. There was, first and foremost, the blockbuster Eras Tour, which became the bestselling concert tour of all time and a certifiable cultural era in itself. She released the bestselling concert film of all time, with a distribution model that upended the theatrical market. There was yet another album of the year Grammy. She turned the Super Bowl into the ultimate rom-com. Even with mediocre critical reviews, her most recent album, The Tortured Poets Department, set more streaming records than I can count. Read More Taylor Swift announces she has acquired the rights to all of her music All of these were beyond impressive, if at times threatening overexposure and annoyingly at odds with her self-styled narrative as an underdog – the emotionally astute lyricist battling against a sliding scale of villains, from careless boys, bitchy girls and heartbreak to gossip, criticism and misogynistic double standards. Often, the targets are petty; I never want to hear a Kim Kardashian reference again. But on Friday, with the announcement that she purchased the master recordings of her first six albums, Swift notched arguably the most significant victory of her career, over the one remaining foe worthy of her stature: the artist-devaluing practices of the music industry. For those who do not follow what has become canon in Swift's massive fandom, ownership of her masters has been the animating force behind the last six years of Swift's career, ever since Scooter Braun, most famous as the music manager behind Justin Bieber, purchased them from Swift's former label Big Machine Records for $300m in 2019. Like virtually all young artists, Swift had signed a deal that did not entitle her to ownership of her recordings, just royalties from their sales. The deal 'stripped me of my life's work', Swift wrote at the time, and left her catalog 'in the hands of someone who tried to dismantle it'. (Braun used to manage longtime Swift antagonizer Kanye West.) Taylor Swift performs during her Eras Tour. Picture: Charles McQuillan/TAS24/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management For the following six years, even after Braun sold the catalog to private equity group Shamrock Capital for $360m, Swift re-recorded each album under the moniker 'Taylor's Version', a business masterstroke that at once devalued the originals, ginned up nostalgia and set the stage for the Eras Tour. The ownership of her master recordings, as well as her all her music videos, concert films, album art, photography and unreleased songs, is, in Swift's own words, deeply meaningful on a personal level. 'To say this is my greatest dream come true is actually being pretty reserved about it,' she said in a handwritten letter posted on her website to announce the acquisition. 'All I've ever wanted was the opportunity to work hard enough to be able to one day purchase my music outright with no strings attached, no partnership, with full autonomy.' (Swift, the daughter of a Merrill Lynch stockbroker and forever a savvy dealmaker, also thanked Shamrock Capital for being 'the first people to ever offer this to me' and praised the private equity firm for being 'honest, fair, and respectful'.) But it is also a victory that, for once in this era, feels bigger than Swift herself. Swift owning her masters is a small step toward transparency and artistic integrity in the music industry, and one made possible by her immense wealth and power. The fact that we're even talking about ownership of master recordings, that millions of music listeners now question the business standard of recording industry contracts, is a testament to the power Swift can wield when she chooses a worthy target, even if that target often takes direct form in the figure of Braun (who, for what it's worth, said he's 'happy for her'.) 'I'm extremely heartened by the conversations this saga has reignited within my industry among artists and fans,' Swift wrote. 'Every time a new artist tells me they negotiated to own their master recordings in their record contract because of this fight, I'm reminded of how important it was for all of this to happen.' This is Swift in her best crusader mode – grounded in the work, clear-eyed on the stakes, speaking as a songwriter in perhaps the one arena where she remains an underdog with something to fight for. Though often overshadowed by gossip and her personal life, in ways both self-inflected and expected by a culture that loves to see women fail, her flexing of her exceptional clout over the music industry for artists rights is one of her most enduring fights. It dates back at least to an open letter to Apple Music withholding her album 1989 from the company's streaming service because it would not pay royalties to artists during the service's first three months. (Apple quickly caved.) Or her Billboard's Woman of the Year speech in 2014 in which she called for fairer compensation of writers, musicians and producers – a point she cited five years later when accepting Woman of the Decade in 2019, in a speech that is worth revisiting for the contrast between which fights resonate, and which rankle. Taylor Swift arrives on to the Aviva stage for the first of her three sold-out Dublin gigs as part of her Eras tour. Picture: Chani Anderson The part about adjusting her sound and image to appease critics? Flop, mild applause, one of many instances where Swift evinces a sensitivity to criticism and bone-deep desire for popularity that is so incongruous with her stature as arguably the most famous woman on the planet that I find it endearing, the most human element of her incomprehensible celebrity. The part where she bluntly calls out 'the unregulated world of private equity coming in and buying up our music as if it is real estate, as if it's an app or a shoe line'? It's the most strident and fair she's ever sounded, and it holds up. Even if the purchase of her masters feels a bit like settling out of court before the full trial – the re-record project remains unfinished – this is the win that could have the most salient downstream effect for both artists and people who appreciate music. Similar to how her criticism of Ticketmaster, and fan frustration over the experience of buying tickets for the Eras Tour, led to efforts to reform ticket transparency and break up the Live Nation monopoly, this is power appropriately applied upward. 'Thank you for being curious about something that used to be thought of as too industry-centric for broad discussion,' she wrote to her fans. 'You'll never know how much it means to me that you cared. Every single bit of it counted and ended us up here.' Swiftie or no, this is a Swift victory worth cheering for. - The Guardian Read More Aviva stadium company enjoys Taylor Swift and Pink dividend as operating profits increase to €7m
