Shock twist in Taylor Swift’s war over$1.5bn catalogue

Taylor Swift could soon be celebrating a huge win in the long-running feud over the lucrative master recordings of her first six albums.

It may not be such a “Cruel Summer” this year.

Taylor Swift will finally have the chance to buy back the original recordings of her first six albums, sources tell Page Six, after their original sale prompted one of the bitterest fallouts of her career.

Swift had “Bad Blood” with music impresario Scooter Braun in 2019 after he bought the master recordings of her first albums for US$300 million ($466 million) prompting her to re-record them all as “Taylor’s versions.”

Taylor Swift may have the chance to buy back her original recordings. Picture: Getty Images

At the time Swift accused Braun — who managed Justin Bieber and, at one time, Kanye West but not Swift — of being a “bully” and “the definition of toxic male privilege in our industry.”

Braun sold the recordings one year later to investment firm Shamrock Capital for a profit, but the company is now interested in selling them back to Swift.

And, we’re told, the person encouraging Shamrock to do so is Braun.

“Interestingly enough, one of the individuals who is encouraging this deal to take place is Scooter, who was at the centre of the deal the first time around alongside Big Machine,” said a source, referencing Swift’s original record label.

When Taylor Swift’s masters were sold, she went on record claiming she was never offered the chance to buy them. Picture: Getty Images

The albums back under negotiation are: “Taylor Swift,” “Fearless,” “Speak Now,” “Red,” “1989” and “Reputation.”

Page Six has reached out to representatives for Swift and Shamrock Capital for comment.

The news comes a day after Swift debuted the first re-recording off “Reputation (Taylor’s Version)” on TV show “The Handmaid’s Tale”.

Swift’s mega hit, “Look What You Made Me Do (Taylor’s Version)” featured in a climactic moment on an episode of the program.

If Swift decides to buy back her masters, the price tag would be in the ballpark of US$600 million ($933 million) to US$1 billion ($1.5 billion) — but it would be worth it, according to Clayton Durant, founder of the music consulting firm CAD Management.

He explained that if she owns both the old and new recordings of her songs, she stands to make the lion’s share of publishing royalties from both. She will also have full control over her own catalogue and be able to control whether they are licensed for use in commercials, film and TV shows, at political rallies and more.

Entrepreneur/manager Scooter Braun was previously labelled a bully by Taylor Swift. Picture: AFP

“If she could claw back and create a deal structure where she could get the rights to her original recordings, she exponentially increases the amount of money she makes,” Durant told Page Six.

“She’s making money off the publishing still from the [original] songs,” but not as much as from the Taylor’s Versions, which she owns, he said.

He also noted, “When she puts out a re-recording version, consumption also spikes on the original.”

When Swift’s masters were sold, she went on record claiming she was never offered the chance to buy them and was unaware of the deal, a stance she has maintained ever since.

However a source told website The Blast the sale “was being discussed with music insiders for almost a year,” and was widely known across the industry.

Taylor Swift with boyfriend Travis Kelce. Picture: Getty Images

Meanwhile, sources told Page Six: “Her father, who was a shareholder [in Big Machine], made $16 million,” from the sale and must have known about it. That notion is supported by emails sent at the time showing Scott Swift had contributed to a “data room” for the company which purchased the masters, according to TMZ.

“The team at Shamrock want to make sure that Taylor has knowledge that they are trying to put this deal to her, as they are not sure that she was ever offered them the first time around,” we’re told.

This was echoed in the Max documentary, “Bad Blood,” which suggested that Swift was offered the chance to buy her master tapes in 2019 by BMGL boss Scott Borchetta – and again by Braun when he sold them to equity firm Shamrock in October 2020.

It also called into doubt the existence of an NDA Swift said she was made to sign and notes that her father Scott netted a $15.1 million payday due to the deal after his minority stake in BMLG was sold to Braun.

In 2005, when Swift was 15, she inked her first record deal with Big Machine, co-founded by country star Toby Keith, in Nashville, signing on for six studio albums.

When the sale happened in 2019, Swift voiced her upset at Braun as well as Big Machine CEO, Scott Borchetta. “Scooter has stripped me of my life’s work, that I wasn’t given an opportunity to buy,” Swift wrote in the Tumblr post at the time.

“Essentially, my musical legacy is about to lie in the hands of someone who tried to dismantle it,” she alleged.

Swift’s decision to re-record her first six albums ignited an industry-wide conversation about artists’ ownership of their own work, how labels work and the monetisation of songs.

“She’s so rich. She’s already a billionaire. How much further does she want to go? Maybe it’s a principle thing for her,” Durant said.

This article was originally published in the New York Post

Originally published as Shock twist in Taylor Swift’s war over$1.5bn catalogue