Taylor Swift Gets Her Wish After 6-Year Fight

In a surprise development, Taylor Swift informed her fans on Friday that she just bought the masters for her first six albums—bringing to an end a tumultuous six-year fight. Just how surprising is it? Variety calls it "one of the more dramatic business developments in pop music history." Details:

• Swift struck a deal to buy the six albums from Shamrock Capital. "To say this is my greatest dream come true is actually being pretty reserved about it," she wrote in a lengthy public announcement. "All of the music I've ever made... now belongs... to me."

• How much she paid will not be announced, though it's a nine-figure sum. The New York Post first reported the sale, but its estimate of $600 million to $1 billion is thought to be too high. A Variety source pegs it closer to the $300 million figure Shamrock paid for the albums back in 2020 than the higher estimate in the newspaper's story.
• As the Washington Post explains, the drama over the albums began in 2019, when music exec Scooter Braun bought them from Swift's old recording label, Big Machine, much to Swift's displeasure. Braun then sold them to Shamrock.
• In recent years, Swift has been re-recording the music and releasing "Taylor's Version" of the albums, a project that led to her blockbuster Eras tour, notes the AP. She has completed four such albums, and it appears she will continue with the remaining two at some point, despite the new sale. Braun was reportedly not involved with the Swift-Shamrock pact.

(More Taylor Swift stories.)