"All the music I've ever made is mine now": Taylor Swift buys back the rights to her first six albums

"My biggest dream come true" : American pop star Taylor Swift announced Friday that she has purchased the rights to her first six albums, ending a long battle over ownership of her work.

"All the music I've ever made is mine now. All my music videos. All my concert films. The album art and photos. The unreleased songs. The memory, the magic, the madness. Every era. My entire life's work," the singer wrote on her website.

The pop princess was at odds with music industry mogul Scooter Braun, who acquired the Big Machine label in 2019 for $300 million, according to press reports, thus gaining control of the majority of Taylor Swift's hit recordings, which she said she felt had been " robbed " of her work.

The owner of the "masters," the original recordings used to make vinyl, CDs, and other digital copies, decides how the songs are reproduced or sold. These coveted recordings are a primary source of income for the artists who own the rights to them.

Scooter Braun then sold the rights to Taylor Swift's first six albums to the investment firm Shamrock. In an attempt to regain control of her work, the American singer even re-recorded four of her early albums, adding "Taylor's Version" to these tracks.

"In complete autonomy"

"All I ever wanted was the opportunity to work hard enough to one day be able to buy back the rights to my music, without constraints, without partnerships, with complete autonomy," the singer added. She thanked Shamrock Capital for giving her the opportunity to buy back the rights to her early albums, including "Fearless" and "1989."

The amount of the settlement was not specified. Taylor Swift wrote or co-wrote most of her music catalog, which allowed her to re-record songs without owning the recordings . As a teenager, she signed with Big Machine in 2005 before leaving the label 13 years later.

With record revenues of $29.6 billion, the global recorded music market experienced a tenth consecutive year of growth in 2024, driven by subscriptions to streaming platforms and the success of stars like Taylor Swift, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) highlighted last March.

Thanks to an increased number of paid subscriptions, streaming represents more than two-thirds (69%) of the sector's global revenue, according to this federation, which still placed Taylor Swift at the top of its list of the most listened to artists in 2024.

"The Eras Tour," the American singer's latest world tour, which spanned 2023 and 2024, grossed approximately $2 billion according to the music magazine Pollstar. This makes it the highest-grossing tour in music history.