NEED TO KNOW
Taylor Swift announced on May 30 that she bought back her own catalog
A source tells PEOPLE that reports of her purchasing her masters for $1 billion are “highly inaccurate.”
The 14-time Grammy winner wrote that she was “elated and amazed” that her entire life’s work belonged to ehr
Did Taylor Swift really pay a cool $1 billion to buy back her music catalog?
A source tells PEOPLE, “the rumored price range that was reported is highly inaccurate.” It’s unclear exactly how much Swift, 35, spent on the purchase of her music catalog.
The 14-time Grammy winner revealed on Friday, May 30, that she regained control of her masters six years after the drama involving Scooter Braun in 2019 when he purchased Big Machine Records from Scott Borchetta.
The 2019 purchase meant that Braun had control over all the music Swift made prior to her joining Universal Music Group in 2018. When Swift signed with UMG, she received ownership of her future masters as part of the deal.
Braun’s purchase of Big Machine Records ultimately led to Swift re-recording her albums released from 2006 to 2017 as Taylor’s Versions to regain control of her music. Now, she owns all of her original work.
TAS Rights Management
Taylor Swift with her newly acquired catalog
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Swift shared her thoughts on the purchase in an emotional announcement on May 30.
“Hi. I’m trying to gather my thoughts into something coherent, but right now my mind is just a slideshow. A flashback sequence of all the times I daydreamed about, wished for, and pined away for a chance to get to tell you this news,” she began the statement shared on her website.
“All the times I was thiiiiiiiiiiiiis 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 then yanked away. But that’s all in the past now.”
“I’ve been bursting into tears of joy at random intervals ever since I found out that this is really happening. I really get to say these words: All of the music I’ve ever made… now belongs… to me,” she continued.
“And 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.”
TAS Rights Management
Taylor Swift with her newly acquired catalog
She also expressed her gratitude for the conversations her saga had launched within the music industry between artists and fans. “Every time a new artist tells me they negotiated to own their master recordings in their record contract because of this fight, I’m reminded of how important it was for all of this to happen.”
“Thank you for being curious about something that used to be thought of as too industry-centric for broad discussion. You’ll never know how much it means to me that you cared. Every single bit of it counted, and ended us up here,” she continued.
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She signed her note off as “elated and amazed,” thanking her fans for their “goodwill, teamwork, and encouragement.” “The best things that have ever been mine… finally actually are.”
Read the original article on People
