Taylor Swift buys back musical rights – what that means

After years of dispute, the US singer Taylor Swift, 35, bought the rights to her first six albums. “All the music I’ve ever made … belongs now …”, wrote the singer. “To say that my biggest dream has come true, it only expresses it cautiously.” What is behind the deal – and what could mean all of the fans? An overview.

The rights to the first six albums that the musician has ever released: “Taylor Swift” (2006), “Fearless” (2008), “Speak Now” (2010), “Red” (2012), “1989” (2014) and “Reputation” (2017). According to Swift, this also includes music videos, concert films, unpublished songs and the illustrations and photos belonging to the albums.

Swift was under contract with the music label Big Machine at the beginning of her career and recorded her first six albums there. As usual, the rights belonged to the label, which she sold in 2019 for more than $ 300 million to hold the former music manager Scooter Braun – according to Swift without consulting or approval from her.

This was followed by a long public dispute, which Swift often addressed in their songs. In 2020, Braun continued the rights, this time to the investment company Shamrock Capital in Los Angeles, from which Swift now acquired.

The musician has not revealed anything about that. Just so much: While it was a matter close to her heart, be it a business deal for Shamrock Capital-but it was always “honest, fair and respectful”.

In 2018, Swift moved to the music label Universal-and acted a contract, according to which the master’s rights have belonged to all the albums that she has published there, including “Lover” (2019), “Folklore” (2020), “Evermore” (Evermore “(2022) and” The Tortured Poets Department “(2024).

In addition, Swift found a very special and previously never -for -existent trick: she simply recorded some of her first albums again – and the rights to this albums with the addition “Taylor’s version” belong to her. So far there are these versions of “Fearless”, “Red”, “1989” and “Speak Now”.

Around the singer, it had become a little calmer after completing her gigantic “Eras” world tour. New music or appearances are currently not announced. In the letter with which she announced the Alben deal on her website, Swift thanked her fans for their support.

One question, however, is likely to continue to deal with fans: What does the two not yet published as “Taylor’s version” album, “Taylor Swift” and “Reputation”? Will Swift still publish them, as originally announced?

The album “Taylor Swift” is already completely new – “and I really love how it sounds now,” writes Swift. On the other hand, she always pushed the work on the new admission of “Reputation” in front of her, she was not even finished at a quarter.

The album is so much connected to a special time in her life and it is one of these six albums that she does not believe that it could be done better. Whether and if so, when something could be published by these new admissions, Swift left open. The singer has been with the football star Travis Kelce for some time.