The deal Swift signed that gave Big Machine control of her masters is "nothing out of the ordinary" in the music industry, and its terms were the kind that "you would expect for somebody who was an unknown artist when she signed," music attorney Susan H. Do musicians typically own their masters? And because she owns the publishing rights, if someone wanted to license Swift's music for a movie or a commercial, she could "deny the request unless they used her re-recorded version," according to The Wall Street Journal. This allows her to "essentially give herself permission" to cover the songs "without having to touch the masters," The New York Times explains. But another key factor is that Swift writes her own songs and owns the publishing rights to them, meaning the rights to actual compositions as opposed to just the recordings. Swift's contract with Big Machine gave her the right to re-record her older songs beginning in November 2020. Why is Swift legally allowed to re-record these songs? The idea is also that re-recording the songs will make the original masters less valuable. Swift has tried to make the release of these re-recorded albums into events on par with the debut of an entirely new album, such as by including previously unreleased or extended songs. That's why it's the new versions of her songs that have appeared in commercials and trailers over the past year or so, including for an Amazon show. This means that while Swift still doesn't own the masters of the original Fearless or Red recordings, she owns the new remade ones. These albums are effectively covers of the originals, and they fall under her Republic Records deal. In April 2021, Swift released her first re-recorded album, Fearless (Taylor's Version), and the second, Red (Taylor's Version), debuted in November 2021. She owns the masters for her four albums released since the Republic Records deal: Lover, Folklore, Evermore, and Midnights. Swift's Big Machine deal covers her first six albums released from 2006 through 2017: Taylor Swift, Fearless, Speak Now, Red, 1989, and Reputation. How many albums does Swift not own the masters for? She also said she hoped to work with Shamrock Holdings, but the fact that Braun would still profit off her catalog under the new deal was "a non-starter."Īt this point, Swift announced she had started re-recording her older music. Swift said she tried to negotiate for the rights to the masters but was asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement "stating I would never say another word about Scooter Braun unless it was positive," which she declined to do. Not as of 2020, when Braun sold Swift's masters to a private equity firm, Shamrock Holdings. "Essentially, my musical legacy is about to lie in the hands of someone who tried to dismantle it," Swift said.īraun has criticized Swift for "weaponizing a fanbase" against him. Swift expressed dismay over Braun owning her masters, accusing him of "incessant, manipulative bullying." Kanye West was a former client of Braun's, and in 2016, the rapper released a controversial song in which he calls Swift a "b-h" and a music video depicting her naked body. Music manager Scooter Braun purchased Big Machine in 2019, gaining ownership of Swift's master recordings. Who is Scooter Braun, and how is he involved? Big Machine CEO Scott Borchetta said Swift was given "every chance in the world" to own her masters. This, however, wouldn't apply to her past work. The majority of Swift's work was released under a deal she signed with Big Machine Records when she was 15, which gave the record label ownership of her masters.īy 2019, Swift said she "pleaded" with the label to let her buy her masters and was offered a deal where, if she re-signed with Big Machine, she could "'earn' one album back at a time, one for every new one I turned in." Swift turned this down, signing a new deal with Republic Records that would allow her to own her masters going forward.
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