# Taylor Swift masters dispute
The Taylor Swift masters dispute is the public conflict, beginning in June 2019, over ownership of the master recordings of American singer-songwriter [Taylor Swift](https://www.edgepedia.org/taylor-swift)'s first six albums, which were sold twice without her involvement and which she ultimately reacquired in May 2025 after re-recording the albums as "Taylor's Version" releases.
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Subject of the dispute | The masters (original recordings from which copies are made) of Swift's first six albums, from her 2006 self-titled debut through *Reputation* (2017)[1](https://time.com/5618336/taylor-swift-scooter-braun-masters/) |
| Original contract | Swift signed with Big Machine Label Group at age fifteen under a thirteen-year contract; the label owned the masters[2](https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/bitstreams/f39daac3-a518-46b6-9c42-13dbb09ad3e5/download) • [1](https://time.com/5618336/taylor-swift-scooter-braun-masters/) |
| First sale | June 2019: Scooter Braun's Ithaca Holdings acquired Big Machine for $300 million (an estimated $300–350 million per the New York Times)[1](https://time.com/5618336/taylor-swift-scooter-braun-masters/) • [3](https://apnews.com/article/57df80487ecd6cc6b2229560cd6c2469) |
| Second sale | 2020: Braun sold the catalog to the private equity firm Shamrock Capital for more than $300 million[3](https://apnews.com/article/57df80487ecd6cc6b2229560cd6c2469) |
| Re-recordings | Four "Taylor's Version" albums released by 2023 (*Fearless*, *Red*, *Speak Now*, *1989*), all topping the Billboard 200[4](https://www.kqed.org/arts/13981995/taylor-swift-masters-fight-changing-music-industry-streaming) |
| Resolution | May 30, 2025: Swift bought the masters, videos, concert films, album art, photography, and unreleased songs back from Shamrock for a reported $360 million[5](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/may/30/taylor-swift-buys-back-master-recordings-taylors-versions) • [6](https://www.americanbar.org/groups/entertainment_sports/resources/entertainment-sports-lawyer/2025-fall/litigation-industry-updates/) |
| Legal basis for re-recording | 17 U.S.C. § 114(b) excludes from a sound-recording owner's rights another recording that is an independent fixation of other sounds, even one that imitates the original[7](https://www.csulb.edu/college-of-business/legal-resource-center/article/taylors-version-the-legal-side-of-taylor-swift) |
## Masters and the two copyrights
Every commercially released song carries two separate copyrights: one in the musical composition (the song itself, its lyrics and score) and one in the sound recording, called the master[8](https://legalclarity.org/taylor-swift-music-ownership-her-masters-dispute-explained/). The master is the original recording from which subsequent copies are made[1](https://time.com/5618336/taylor-swift-scooter-braun-masters/). Whoever owns or controls the master can commercially exploit the recording through streaming, downloads, physical sales, sync licensing for film and television, compilations, and reissues[9](https://www.musicadmin.com/guides/how-record-deals-work-in-the-music-industry/).
Under standard recording contracts, the label, not the performing artist, typically owns the sound-recording copyright outright; exceptions include some major artists who retain ownership and artists on small labels that permit it[10](https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/publications/entertainment_sports_lawyer/Winter2019/es_19.pdf). Master ownership determines who controls licensing, who collects the largest share of revenue, and where the music appears[11](https://legalclarity.org/who-owns-the-master-recording-of-a-song/).
## The Big Machine contract
Swift signed with the Nashville-based Big Machine Label Group, founded by [Scott Borchetta](https://www.edgepedia.org/scott-borchetta), at age fifteen under a thirteen-year contract[2](https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/bitstreams/f39daac3-a518-46b6-9c42-13dbb09ad3e5/download). She recorded six albums for the label between her 2006 self-titled debut and *[Reputation](https://www.edgepedia.org/reputation-album)* in 2017, and the label owned their masters[1](https://time.com/5618336/taylor-swift-scooter-braun-masters/). When the deal ended, she left for [Universal Music Group](https://www.edgepedia.org/universal-music-group)'s Republic Records and contracted for ownership of the masters of her future works[1](https://time.com/5618336/taylor-swift-scooter-braun-masters/) • [12](https://scholarship.law.ufl.edu/jlpp/vol33/iss3/3/).
The original contract contained a re-recording restriction clause, a standard provision barring an artist from making new versions of delivered tracks for a fixed period after the deal ends. Under Swift's clause, she could not re-record her songs until 2020, two years after the contract's expiration[13](https://www.wakeforestlawreview.com/2024/02/stolen-lullabies-how-copyright-law-allowed-taylor-swift-to-reclaim-her-masters/).
## The 2019 sale and public dispute
In June 2019, Braun's Ithaca Holdings acquired Big Machine Label Group for $300 million, gaining control of Swift's back catalog[1](https://time.com/5618336/taylor-swift-scooter-braun-masters/). Swift responded in a Tumblr post, writing that for years she had asked for a chance to own her work and was instead offered a chance to "earn" one album back at a time by signing new albums to Big Machine; she also said she had been bullied by Braun, who managed [Kanye West](https://www.edgepedia.org/kanye-west) and [Justin Bieber](https://www.edgepedia.org/justin-bieber)[1](https://time.com/5618336/taylor-swift-scooter-braun-masters/).
Borchetta publicly disputed her account. He said he texted Swift about the sale before the announcement and noted that her father, Scott Swift, was a Big Machine shareholder who was alerted to the deal on June 25. He also disputed Swift's assertion that the label had told her she could repurchase her albums, posting a draft contract in which Swift requested a seven-year term granting her ownership of her recordings; Big Machine accepted those conditions but wanted the term extended to ten years.[1](https://time.com/5618336/taylor-swift-scooter-braun-masters/) Music Business Worldwide later reported that Scott Swift received a $15.1 million payout from the sale[14](https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/scooter-braun-wanted-sell-taylor-swift-masters/).
In 2020, Braun sold Swift's catalog to Shamrock Capital, a Los Angeles private equity firm, for more than $300 million[3](https://apnews.com/article/57df80487ecd6cc6b2229560cd6c2469). Swift said she had been actively trying to regain ownership but declined to partner with Shamrock while Braun retained a financial tie to the deal[6](https://www.americanbar.org/groups/entertainment_sports/resources/entertainment-sports-lawyer/2025-fall/litigation-industry-updates/). Braun merged Ithaca Holdings with the BTS label owner HYBE for $1 billion in 2021[15](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2022-09-30/scooter-braun-regret-taylor-swift-feud).
## The re-recordings
Once the re-recording restriction expired, Swift began re-recording her first six albums, branding each "(Taylor's Version)" and adding "From the Vault" tracks from the original songwriting sessions that had not appeared on the original albums[5](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/may/30/taylor-swift-buys-back-master-recordings-taylors-versions). The project was legally available because Section 114(b) of the Copyright Act states that a sound-recording owner's exclusive rights do not extend to another recording consisting entirely of an independent fixation of other sounds, even one that imitates or simulates the copyrighted recording[7](https://www.csulb.edu/college-of-business/legal-resource-center/article/taylors-version-the-legal-side-of-taylor-swift). Because Swift also owned her compositions, she could require anyone licensing a song for film, television, or video games to use her version rather than the Big Machine-owned original[16](https://www.theguardian.com/music/article/2024/jun/01/its-the-age-of-swiftonomics-but-will-taylor-swifts-phenomenal-success-trickle-down).
The re-recordings performed commercially. *Fearless (Taylor's Version)* arrived in April 2021 and *Red (Taylor's Version)* in November 2021, followed by *Speak Now (Taylor's Version)* in July 2023 and *1989 (Taylor's Version)* in October 2023; all four topped Billboard's Top 200 albums chart[4](https://www.kqed.org/arts/13981995/taylor-swift-masters-fight-changing-music-industry-streaming). In the United Kingdom, *1989 (Taylor's Version)* recorded 184,000 first-week combined sales and streams, against 90,000 for the original album a decade earlier[5](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/may/30/taylor-swift-buys-back-master-recordings-taylors-versions). The re-releases also drew criticism from listeners who called the project a "scam" after Swift bought the originals back anyway[17](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/2025/06/01/taylor-swift-rerecords/).
## The 2025 buyback
On May 30, 2025, Swift announced in a letter to fans that she had bought her masters from Shamrock Capital, along with her music videos, concert films, album art, photography, and unreleased songs[5](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/may/30/taylor-swift-buys-back-master-recordings-taylors-versions). The reported price was $360 million[6](https://www.americanbar.org/groups/entertainment_sports/resources/entertainment-sports-lawyer/2025-fall/litigation-industry-updates/), roughly what Shamrock had paid, meaning the investment firm broke close to even on the sale[8](https://legalclarity.org/taylor-swift-music-ownership-her-masters-dispute-explained/). The purchase gave Swift control of every master recording in her catalog: the original versions of the first six albums, the four Taylor's Version re-recordings, and every album recorded under the [Republic Records](https://www.edgepedia.org/republic-records) deal[8](https://legalclarity.org/taylor-swift-music-ownership-her-masters-dispute-explained/). The re-recordings of her debut album and *Reputation* had not been released by the time she bought the originals back[18](https://legalclarity.org/taylor-swift-masters-how-she-reclaimed-her-recordings/).
## Industry impact
The dispute moved master ownership from a behind-the-scenes contract matter into mainstream debate[4](https://www.kqed.org/arts/13981995/taylor-swift-masters-fight-changing-music-industry-streaming). It continues a longer history of artists fighting for their recordings: Prince fought Warner Bros. over his masters in the 1990s and told Rolling Stone in 1996, "If you don't own your masters, your master owns you," and [Paul McCartney](https://www.edgepedia.org/paul-mccartney) settled a 2017 lawsuit with Sony/ATV after a decades-long battle over the Beatles catalog[1](https://time.com/5618336/taylor-swift-scooter-braun-masters/).
**Contract changes followed.** After the publicity of the dispute, many record labels used their bargaining power to lengthen re-recording provisions, some extending from thirty years to perpetuity[19](https://publications.lawschool.cornell.edu/jlpp/2024/10/25/better-than-revenge-the-rise-of-re-recording-provisions-in-artists-contracts/), and reports suggested Universal Music Group altered the wording of artist contracts after the first two re-recordings[20](https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/taylor-swifts-taylors-version-re-records-may-be-exceeding-even-her/). Buyers of catalogs, especially private equity buyers, now insist on re-record restrictions in their deals as well[21](https://www.wgbh.org/news/national/2025-10-01/taylor-swift-popularized-fighting-for-masters-are-more-artists-getting-ownership). On the artist side, emerging musicians have negotiated to retain ownership of their work; [Olivia Rodrigo](https://www.edgepedia.org/olivia-rodrigo), who rose to fame in 2021, owns her masters after releasing her debut album, a move seen as influenced by Swift[6](https://www.americanbar.org/groups/entertainment_sports/resources/entertainment-sports-lawyer/2025-fall/litigation-industry-updates/).
## References
1. [Mahita Gajanan, "Taylor Swift's Fight Over Her Catalog Is Just the Latest Example of Artists Struggling to Own Their Work," TIME, July 1, 2019](https://time.com/5618336/taylor-swift-scooter-braun-masters/)
2. [Georgia State University student note on the Swift master rights dispute](https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/bitstreams/f39daac3-a518-46b6-9c42-13dbb09ad3e5/download)
3. ["Hits for sale: Notable artists who have had their music catalogs sell for big money," AP News](https://apnews.com/article/57df80487ecd6cc6b2229560cd6c2469)
4. ["What's Changed Since Taylor Swift's Fight for Her Masters?" KQED](https://www.kqed.org/arts/13981995/taylor-swift-masters-fight-changing-music-industry-streaming)
5. ["Taylor Swift buys back the rights to the master recordings of her first six albums," The Guardian, May 30, 2025](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/may/30/taylor-swift-buys-back-master-recordings-taylors-versions)
6. ["Litigation & Industry Updates," Entertainment & Sports Lawyer, American Bar Association, Fall 2025](https://www.americanbar.org/groups/entertainment_sports/resources/entertainment-sports-lawyer/2025-fall/litigation-industry-updates/)
7. ["Taylor's Version: The Legal Side of Taylor Swift Reclaiming Her Masters," CSULB Legal Resource Center](https://www.csulb.edu/college-of-business/legal-resource-center/article/taylors-version-the-legal-side-of-taylor-swift)
8. ["Taylor Swift Music Ownership: Her Masters Dispute Explained," LegalClarity](https://legalclarity.org/taylor-swift-music-ownership-her-masters-dispute-explained/)
9. ["How Record Deals Work in the Music Industry," Music Admin](https://www.musicadmin.com/guides/how-record-deals-work-in-the-music-industry/)
10. [American Bar Association, Entertainment and Sports Lawyer, Winter 2019](https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/publications/entertainment_sports_lawyer/Winter2019/es_19.pdf)
11. ["Who Owns the Master Recording of a Song?" LegalClarity](https://legalclarity.org/who-owns-the-master-recording-of-a-song/)
12. [Kylee Neeranjan, "You Belong with Me: The Battle for Taylor Swift's Masters and Artist Autonomy in the Age of Streaming Services," 33 U. Fla. J.L. & Pub. Pol'y (2023)](https://scholarship.law.ufl.edu/jlpp/vol33/iss3/3/)
13. ["Stolen Lullabies: How Copyright Law Allowed Taylor Swift to Reclaim Her Masters," Wake Forest Law Review](https://www.wakeforestlawreview.com/2024/02/stolen-lullabies-how-copyright-law-allowed-taylor-swift-to-reclaim-her-masters/)
14. ["Scooter Braun wanted to sell Taylor Swift her masters. What happened?" Music Business Worldwide](https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/scooter-braun-wanted-sell-taylor-swift-masters/)
15. ["What Scooter Braun learned from his feud with Taylor Swift," Los Angeles Times, September 30, 2022](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2022-09-30/scooter-braun-regret-taylor-swift-feud)
16. ["It's the age of Swiftonomics," The Guardian, June 1, 2024](https://www.theguardian.com/music/article/2024/jun/01/its-the-age-of-swiftonomics-but-will-taylor-swifts-phenomenal-success-trickle-down)
17. ["Taylor Swift got what she wanted. What do 'Taylor's Versions' mean now?" The Washington Post, June 1, 2025](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/2025/06/01/taylor-swift-rerecords/)
18. ["Taylor Swift Masters: How She Reclaimed Her Recordings," LegalClarity](https://legalclarity.org/taylor-swift-masters-how-she-reclaimed-her-recordings/)
19. ["Better Than Revenge: The Rise of Re-Recording Provisions in Artists' Contracts," Cornell Journal of Law and Public Policy](https://publications.lawschool.cornell.edu/jlpp/2024/10/25/better-than-revenge-the-rise-of-re-recording-provisions-in-artists-contracts/)
20. ["Taylor Swift's 'Taylor's Version' re-records may be exceeding even her high expectations," Music Business Worldwide](https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/taylor-swifts-taylors-version-re-records-may-be-exceeding-even-her/)
21. ["Taylor Swift popularized fighting for masters. Are more artists getting ownership?" GBH News, October 1, 2025](https://www.wgbh.org/news/national/2025-10-01/taylor-swift-popularized-fighting-for-masters-are-more-artists-getting-ownership)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Music institutions and events › Record labels and the music industry*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license