Taylor Swift May Buy Back Original Masters For Up To $1 Billion

Digital Music News is reporting that investment firm Shamrock Capital is intending to sell the original masters of Taylor Swift's first six albums – potentially to Swift.

Why it matters:

According to a Page Six report, the masters would have a price tag "in the ballpark of $600 million to $1 billion."

Background:

Swift lost the rights to the masters of her original recordings when artist manager Scooter Braun and investment firm Carlyle Group acquired them in 2019 as part of their purchase of Big Machine Label Group.

Swift's answer was to re-record the albums as a 'Taylor's Version' series.

The next step:

Braun and Carlyle Group sold Swift's original masters to Shamrock Capital for $300+ million in November 2020.

Interestingly, Page Six reports it is Braun who is encouraging Shamrock to now sell the masters to Swift.

This would give her ownership of her original recordings and the Taylor's Versions, entitling her to the majority of publishing royalties from both.

What's next?

There has been no comment from Swift or Shamrock.

Swift is rumored to be releasing the next installment of her 'Taylor's Version' re-recordings, Reputation, imminently.