All I've Ever Wanted: Swift Buys Back Masters of First Albums at Last

Taylor Swift has bought back the master recordings to her first six albums, giving her control over her entire catalogue for the first time after a deal which the singer feared might never happen.

- Laura Snapes

In a letter to fans last night, Swift wrote: "I almost stopped thinking it could ever happen, after 20 years of having the carrot dangled and then yanked away. But that's all in the past now. All of the music I've ever made now belongs...to me."

Swift originally lost the rights in 2019 when her first record label, Big Machine, sold them to the music executive Scooter Braun.

She described the sale to Braun as her "worst case scenario", and said she had not been given the opportunity to buy her work outright, but to "earn" one album back for each new album she recorded for the label. Her subsequent albums, from 2019's Lover onwards, were released on Republic, with Swift retaining the rights to the master recordings.

In November 2020, Braun sold the masters to private equity firm, Shamrock Capital, for a reported $300m.

In a letter to fans posted yesterday, Swift said that she bought her masters—as well as her videos, concert films, album art and photography and unreleased songs—back from Shamrock. The Guardian understands that previous rumours that it cost Swift between $600m and $1bn are inaccurately high.