TAYLOR SWIFT BUYS BACK MASTERS OF FIRST SIX ALBUMS

The whispers are true: Taylor Swift has bought back her original catalog, which was purchased by Scooter Braun as part of the Big Machine deal in 2019 and subsequently re-sold to investment house Shamrock Capital for an estimated $405m.

The rift over the Shamrock sale prompted the Republic megastar to begin re-recording the six albums that comprise said catalog as “Taylor’s Versions,” which not only afforded her a flood of new revenue but formed the foundation for her astoundingly lucrative Eras Tour.

No financial details were disclosed, but Swift spoke at length about the transaction in a note posted on her website.

"I've been bursting into tears of joy at random intervals ever since I found out that this is really happening," she wrote. "I really get to say those words. All of the music I've ever made... now belongs… to me. And all my music videos. All the concert films. The album art and photography. The unreleased songs. The memories. The magic. The madness. Every single era. My entire life’s work."

Swift cited "the passionate support" her fans have shown the four extant re-recordings and further remarked, "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 to reunite me with this art that I have dedicated my life to but have never owned until now."

The artist thanked Shamrock Capital "for being the first people to ever offer" the chance "to one day purchase my music outright with no strings attached, no partnership, with full autonomy," continuing, "This was a business deal to them, but I really felt like they saw it for what it was to me: my memories and my sweat and my handwriting and decades of dreams."

Fans had speculated that Swift's 2017 album Reputation would be the next re-recording to emerge, but she admitted, "Full transparency: I haven't even re-recorded a quarter of it. The Reputation album was so specific to that time in my life, and I kept hitting a stopping point when I tried to remake it. All that defiance, that longing to be understood while feeling purposely misunderstood, that desperate hope, that shame-born snarl and mischief. To be perfectly honest, it's the one album in those first six that I thought couldn't be improved upon by redoing it. Not the music, or photos, or videos. So I kept putting it off."

She elaborated, "There will be a time (if you're into the idea) for the unreleased Vault tracks from that album to hatch. I've already completely re-recorded my entire debut album, and I really love how it sounds now. Those two albums can still have their moments to re-emerge when the time is right, if that would be something you guys would be excited about. But if it happens, it won't be from a place of sadness and longing for what I wish I could have. It will just be a celebration now."

Swift closed her note by framing the rights dispute as a larger issue plaguing the industry. "I'm extremely heartened by the conversations this saga has reignited within my industry among artists and fans," she said. "Every time a new artist tells me they negotiated to own their master recordings in their contract because of this fight, I'm reminded of how important it was for all of this to happen. Thank you for being curious about something that used to be thought of as too industry-centric for broad discussion. You'll never know how much it means to me that you cared. Every single bit of it counted, and ended us up here."