Today on NepoGirl — we’re witnessing a full-circle flex. Taylor Swift now officially owns the masters to her first six albums. Yes — the same six albums caught in a years-long industry tug-of-war between labels, managers, and private equity deals.
Let’s rewind. It all started in June 2019, when Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings bought Big Machine Label Group for $300 million, snagging the master recordings of Taylor Swift, Fearless, Speak Now, Red, 1989, and Reputation in the deal. Taylor was furious. She says she wasn’t even offered the chance to buy them herself.
A year later, in 2020, Braun flipped those same masters to Shamrock Capital, a private equity firm. Braun did offer Taylor the opportunity to buy them back but she declined as the deal meant she’d have to sign an NDA and stay silent about Braun. So, she passed.
Instead, she launched the now-iconic Taylor’s Version era — re-recording and releasing Fearless (Taylor’s Version) and Red (Taylor’s Version) in 2021, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) and 1989 (Taylor’s Version) in 2023. The new versions crushed charts and pulled fan support away from the original masters. Meanwhile, her Eras Tour became the highest-grossing tour of all time, earning over $2 billion globally.
And then, the full-circle moment; Taylor quietly bought back the masters for her original recordings from Shamrock Capital in 2024. Yes, bought them back. She negotiated directly and took full ownership of her catalog — on her own terms.
So now, Taylor owns the masters. She owns the re-recordings. She owns the story.
It’s not just a win for her. It’s a win for every woman in the industry watching what it looks like to reclaim power, unapologetically, and we are so proud of her.
What do you think about Taylor Swift finally owning her masters? Drop a comment down below.
Muah, nepo girl.
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