Taylor Swift buys back Taylor Swift, Reputation and 4 other albums

Taylor Swift

On Friday, pop star Taylor Swift announced that she has bought back the rights to her first six albums after a long battle with record producer Scooter Braun. With this purchase, Swift now has complete control over her music catalog.

Taylor Swift buys back her albums

Making the announcement, Swift took to her Instagram feed and shared pictures of herself posing with the album covers she now owns. Sharing the post, Taylor wrote, "You belong with me."

She also revealed that she has posted a letter for her legion of fans on her website.

She began her letter with, "I'm trying to gather my thoughts into something coherent, but right now my mind is just a slideshow."

She continued, "I flashback to all the times I dreamed about, wished for, and pined away for a chance to tell you this news. All the times I was thiiiiiiiiiiiis close, reaching out for it, only for it to fall through. I almost stopped believing it could happen after 20 years of having the carrot dangled and then yanked away."

"But that's all in the past now. I've been bursting into tears of joy at random intervals ever since I found out this is really happening. I really get to say these words:

"All the music I have ever made ... now belongs... to me."

"And all of my music videos. All the concert films. The album art and photography. The unreleased songs. The memories. The magic. The madness. Every single era. The life's work."

Albums Taylor Swift bought back

After years of legal and emotional battles, Swift now owns the rights to her first six albums:

Taylor Swift (2006)

Fearless (2008)

Speak Now (2010)

Red (2012)

1989 (2014)

Reputation (2017)

About Scooter Braun and his ownership of Taylor's allbums

Taylor Swift's first six studio albums were originally owned by Big Machine Records, the label she signed with at age 14. In June 2019, music executive Scooter Braun acquired Big Machine Records through his company, Ithaca Holdings, for approximately $300 million - gaining control of the master recordings of these albums.

Swift publicly expressed her dismay over this acquisition, citing a history of alleged manipulative behavior by Braun and stating that she was not given a fair opportunity to purchase her masters. In 2020, Braun sold the rights to Shamrock Capital but retained financial interests, which led Swift to reject any partnership with them.

In response, Swift began re-recording her first six albums, releasing them as "Taylor's Version" to regain artistic and financial control over her work.