Taylor Swift has regained full ownership of her music, according to a handwritten letter posted Friday on her official website.
The pop icon announced that she has purchased the master recordings of her first six albums—originally released through Big Machine Records—from Shamrock Capital, the private equity firm that most recently owned the catalog. In her own words, “All of the music I’ve ever made now belongs to me.” The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
According to Swift’s letter, this achievement marks the end of a long and often frustrating journey.
"All the times I was [this] close, reaching out for it, only for it to fall through,” she wrote. "I almost stopped thinking it could ever happen, after 20 years of having the carrot dangled then yanked away. But that’s all in the past now."
She described her emotional response to the news: “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. And all of my music videos. All the concert films. The album art and photography. The unreleased songs. ... My entire life's work.”
Swift’s quest to regain control of her music began after music executive Scooter Braun acquired and later sold her early catalog.
According to Swift, the overwhelming support from fans played a crucial role in her ability to reclaim her music.
“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 to reunite me with this art that I have dedicated my life to, but have never owned until now,” she wrote.
All four “Taylor’s Version” albums debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, with “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” arriving in October 2023, just four months after “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version).”
Despite fan speculation about the release of “Reputation (Taylor’s Version),” Swift revealed in her letter that she has not yet re-recorded most of the album.
“Full transparency I haven’t even re-recorded a quarter of it,” she wrote. "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."
She also said was grateful to Shamrock Capital for their handling of the transaction.
“I will be forever grateful to everyone at Shamrock Capital for being the first people to ever offer this to me,” she wrote. "The way they’ve handled every interaction we’ve had has been honest, fair, and respectful. 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 my decades of dreams."
Shamrock Capital responded to the deal in a statement, saying, “We are thrilled with this outcome and are so happy for Taylor.”
Swift reflected on the broader impact of her fight for ownership, noting how it has inspired other artists.
“This saga has reignited within my industry among artist and fans. 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 wrote.
She concluded her letter by thanking her fans for their unwavering support.
“Thank you for being curious about something that used to be thought of as too industry-centric for broad discussion,” she wrote. "You’ll never know how much it means to me that you cared. Every single bit of it counted and ended us up here."
Representatives for Swift and HYBE did not immediately respond to requests for comment from NTD News.