Taylor Swift Reclaims Rights to Her First Six Albums: “You Belong With Me” Takes on New Meaning

Taylor Swift Reclaims Her First Six Albums in Game-Changing Deal: “All the Music I’ve Ever Made… Now Belongs to Me”

Taylor Swift has officially taken back what was once hers.

In a landmark moment for artists' rights and personal legacy, Swift has regained ownership of her first six albums through a new deal with Shamrock Capital—six years after her original masters were controversially sold without her consent to Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings in 2019.

The pop superstar broke the news through a heartfelt handwritten letter shared on her website. "Hi. I'm trying to gather my thoughts into something coherent, but right now my mind is just a slideshow-... All of the music I’ve ever made... now belongs... to me," she wrote, reflecting on the emotional weight of the victory. “After 20 years of having the carrot dangled then yanked away... that's all in the past now.”

A Full-Circle Moment

The original sale of Swift’s masters to Braun rocked the music world, igniting debates on artist control and ownership. Despite her efforts to buy her work back, Swift said she was only offered a restrictive deal that forced her to “earn” each album one by one.

“I learned about Scooter Braun’s purchase of my masters as it was announced to the world,” she said in 2019. “All I could think about was the incessant, manipulative bullying I've received at his hands for years.”

Braun later sold the catalogue to Shamrock Capital in 2020 for a reported -$300 million. Now, in 2025, Swift and Shamrock have struck a new agreement—one she describes as respectful and deeply personal. “This was a business deal to them,” she said, “but I really felt like they saw it for what it was to me: my memories, my sweat, my handwriting, and my decades of dreams.”

The Bigger Picture

Since the fallout, Swift has been on a mission to reclaim her legacy, re-recording and re-releasing Fearless (Taylor’s Version), Red (Taylor’s Version), Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), and 1989 (Taylor’s Version). Only Taylor Swift (2006) and Reputation (2017) remain.

She has held full ownership of her work, starting with her 2019 album Lover, released under Republic Records and Universal Music Group.

Braun, who has since sold Ithaca to Hybe (home of BTS) and stepped back from artist management, told The Hollywood Reporter he’s “happy for her.”

The End of a Long Road

This moment not only marks the end of a years-long battle over her masters—it also stands as a powerful chapter in Taylor Swift’s ongoing journey as a creator, businesswoman, and advocate for artist rights.

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