Taylor Swift, after years of public battles, heartbreak, and determination, now finally owns her first six albums.
This move is a masterclass in standing up for your rights, regardless of how powerful your opponents are.
TAYLOR SWIFT’S MASTERS STRUGGLE
“All of the music I’ve ever made now belongs to me,” Taylor announced. “I’ve been bursting into tears of joy… ever since I found out this is happening.”
The saga began in 2019. Scooter Braun, a music mogul, bought Taylor’s former record label, Big Machine, according to the BBC.
With it, he got the rights to her first six albums. Imagine working for years, only to see someone else reap the rewards of your creations.
Taylor called out Braun for “incessant, manipulative bullying.”
GETTING HER POWER BACK
She felt betrayed. “After 20 years of people dangling the carrot in front of me and then yanking it away, I almost gave up hope that it could ever happen,” she wrote.
But she never gave up.
In music, whoever owns the master recording controls how the songs are used. Want your hit in a movie, advert, or video game? The master owner decides.
Taylor always kept her publishing rights, but without the masters, she couldn’t call the shots. “I do want my music to live on… but I only want that if I own it,” she told Billboard.
TAYLOR SWIFT’S BIG DEAL
The price for freedom wasn’t small. When Big Machine first sold, the catalogue fetched $300 million (about R5.6 billion).
Rumours swirled that Taylor paid up to $1 billion (over R18.7 billion), but insiders say that’s too high. Still, it’s a staggering sum—proof that music is big business.
Taylor Swift didn’t just sit back. She fought back. She started re-recording her old albums, releasing ‘Taylor’s Versions’ packed with bonus tracks.
THE ERAS TOUR
Fans loved them. “The success of the Eras tour is why I was able to buy back my music,” she said. That tour raked in over $2 billion (about R37.5 billion) in ticket sales.
This victory is a beacon for artists everywhere, including in South Africa. “Every time a new artist tells me they negotiated to own their master recordings.
I’m reminded of how important it was for all of this to happen,” Taylor said.
HOW IMPORTANT IS IT FOR MUSICIANS TO CONTROL HOW THEIR MUSIC IS USED?
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