‘All of the music I’ve ever made belongs to me’ : Taylor Swift wins long battle to own masters

Singer-songwriter Taylor Swift has repurchased the masters of all six albums she released under the record label, Big Machine Records.

“To say this is my greatest dream come true is actually being pretty reserved about it,” wrote the singer in a letter shared on her website.

The multi-award-winning singer-songwriter has been in a longstanding battle with Big Machine Records since 2019 after she decided to leave the label.

A master recording is the original version of a song from which all copies are made. The owner holds the exclusive rights to use, license, and profit from the recording.

That includes distributing it to streaming services, pressing new physical CDs and vinyl, creating box sets, or licensing songs to movies or video games.

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Taylor’s fight for her masters

After Taylor decided to leave Big Machine Records, artist manager Scooter Braun acquired the masters to Taylor’s first six albums, which essentially meant that he was now in control of all her early work; this never sat well with Taylor, as she had tried to buy the Masters from the record company.

Taylor expressed her frustration with Braun and Big Machine Records CEO Scott Borchetta through Tumblr posts in 2019.

Fellow singer and now TV host Kelly Clarkson advised Taylor to re-record her first album so she can own the new material.

@taylorswift13 just a thought, U should go in & re-record all the songs that U don’t own the masters on exactly how U did them but put brand new art & some kind of incentive so fans will no longer buy the old versions. I’d buy all of the new versions just to prove a point 💁🏼‍♀️

— Kelly Clarkson (@kellyclarkson) July 13, 2019

“It’s something that I’m very excited about doing because my current contract says that starting November 2020—so next year—I can record albums one through five all over again. I’m very excited about it because I think that artists deserve to own their work. I just feel very passionately about that,” she said in a 2019 interview, confirming the re-recording of the work.

Later on that year, the American Music Awards (AMA) awarded Taylor the Artist of the Decade award, which meant she’d have to perform some of her old material.

“I’ve been planning to perform a medley of my hits throughout the decade on the show. Scott Borchetta and Scooter Braun have now said that I’m not allowed to perform my old songs on television because they claim that would be rerecording my music before I’m allowed to next year.”

However, the record company denied this, saying, “At no point did we say Taylor could not perform on the AMAs or block her Netflix special. In fact, we do not have the right to keep her from performing live anywhere.”

Taylor has released four re-recorded albums, known as Taylor’s Versions, featuring dozens of bonus tracks and supplementary material.

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Victory, finally

In her letter, Taylor expressed joy in the ownership of her music after years of fighting.

“All the times I was thiiiiiiiis close, reaching out for it, only for it to fall through. I almost stopped thinking it could ever happen, after 20 years of having the carrot dangled and then yanked away. But that’s all in the past now,” she wrote.

“I’ve been bursting into tears of joy at random intervals ever since I found out that this is really happening.”

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Industry modus operandi

Around 2020, when Taylor was pursuing her master’s, South Africa’s Black Coffee acquired a significant stake in Mzansi’s oldest independent record company, Gallo Music Investments (GMI).

The purchase was made through his investment company, FlightMode Digital, for an undisclosed amount.

Earlier that year, Gallo was acquired by Lebashe Investment Group from Tiso Blackstar for R75 million, incorporating it into the news and entertainment business Arena Holdings.

The Grammy Award-winning producer described this as a shift in the landscape of both the South African and African music industries.

“The partnership with Lebashe to invest in the catalogue and masters is more than just a business transaction – it’s about creating an environment in which artists and creatives have a truly equitable stake. It is also the beginning of an industry revolution where African artists are part of structures that are fair and encourage new ways to monetise content,” said Black Coffee in a statement.

Gallo owns the catalogues of renowned South African musicians, including Lucky Dube, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, and Mango Groove, among its long list of stalwarts.

In 2020, contrary to Taylor’s ongoing fight, rap artist Lil Wayne sold his masters to Universal Music for $100 million (approximately R1.7 billion).

Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and David Bowie are other notable artists who have sold their entire catalogue to giant record companies.

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