What Taylor Swift buying her masters means for her and the music industry

By now, we know all too well about the power of Taylor Swift.With her epic Eras Tour alone, the pop superstar went from crashing Ticketmaster to boosting the economy in every city she visited to going around the movie studio system for its theatrical concert film.But Swift’s latest power move may be her biggest one yet: The “Anti-Hero” singer finally bought back the master recordings of her first six studio albums — from her 2006 self-titled debut to 2017’s “Reputation.”In 2019, Scooter Braun gained control of Swift’s masters after he acquired her former label, Big Machine Records, which owned the rights.After attempts to buy back her catalog from Braun failed, Swift began re-recording her albums and releasing “Taylor’s Versions” of them, beginning with “Fearless” and “Red” in 2021 and then “Speak Now” and “1989” in 2023.Then, in 2020, Braun turned around and sold Swift’s Big Machine catalog to Shamrock Capital for reportedly over $300 million.Five years later, though, Swift’s music is now back where it belongs.“All the music I’ve ever made … now belongs … to me,” she wrote in a letter to fans on her website.

“Every single era.My entire life’s work.”Now, Swift’s first six studio LPs have joined her last five recorded for Republic Records under her ownership.“To say this is my greatest dream come true is actually being pretty reserved about it,” she continued.

“All I’ve ever wanted was the opportunity to work hard enough to be able to one day purchase my music outright with no strings attached, no partnership, with full autonomy.”In an Instagram post proudly displaying her albums, Swift simply wrote, “You belong with me.”It’s a boss move that few in the music business — or any other entertainment field — could pull off, but Swift has the big bucks to do it, reportedly paying around $360 million, according to Billboard.But it’s the principle that probably mattered more to Swift than th...