NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – International superstar Taylor Swift announced on Friday that she now owns every piece of music and imagery she ever created.
“All the music I’ve ever made … now belongs … to me,” Swift, 35, announced in a lengthy message posted to her website.
“All my music videos. All the concert films. The album art and photography. The unreleased songs. The memories. The magic. The madness. Every single era. My entire life’s work.”
Swift indicated that she purchased her early catalog from buyer Shamrock Capital, but did not disclose the amount. It had previously been owned by music manager Scooter Braun, who bought the masters and other properties from Swift’s former record label, Big Machine.
Swift, in an attempt to regain control of her music, has been re-recording and releasing versions of her earlier albums. Four of these albums — each dubbed “Taylor’s Version” of the original — have been released.
“To say this is my greatest dream come true is actually being pretty reserved about it. To my fans, you know how important this has been to me — so much so that I meticulously re-recorded and released 4 of my albums, calling them Taylor’s Version,” Swift explained in her message. “The passionate support you showed those albums and the success story you turned The Eras Tour into is why I was able to buy back my music. I can’t thank you enough for helping to reunite me with this art that I have dedicated my life to, but have never owned until now.”
Swift also thanked Shamrock Capital for being “honest, fair, and respectful.”
“This was a business deal to them, but I really felt like they saw it for what it was to me: My memories and my sweat and my handwriting and my decades of dreams. I am endlessly thankful. My first tattoo might just be a huge shamrock in the middle of my forehead,” she wrote.
In addition to the four “Taylor’s Version” albums that Swift has already released, she had intended to issue new versions of her self-titled debut and 2017’s “Reputation.” But even though the original masters are now hers, she said the re-recorded versions — and new tracks from her “vault” — might still be released in the coming years.
“But if it happens, it won’t be from a place of sadness and longing for what I wish I could have. It will just be a celebration now,” she said.
Swift ended the message by thanking fans for their “goodwill, teamwork and encouragement.”
“The best things that have ever been mine … finally actually are,” she wrote.