Taylor Swift could soon be in a position to buy back her early master recordings, as the current owner is reportedly prepared to sell them off.
According to Page Six, the current owner of the masters, Shamrock Capital, is interested in selling them back to Swift for a deal expected to reach a number between $600 million to $1 billion.
Shamrock Capital, owned by the estate of Roy E. Disney, purchased the recordings in 2020 from music mogul Scooter Braun, then the manager of Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande and Kanye West.
Braun originally acquired Swift's masters in June 2019 when his Ithaca Holdings LLC purchased Big Machine Label Group (BMLG) and its music assets, which included her first six albums: Taylor Swift, Fearless, Speak Now, Red, 1989 and Reputation.
At the time of the sale, Swift accused her ex-label of "betrayal," saying, “I thought I knew what betrayal felt like, but this stuff that happened with him was a redefinition of betrayal for me, just because it felt like it was family."
The following year when Braun sold to Shamrock, she commented on the sale on Twitter, writing, “I was hopeful and open to the possibility of a partnership with Shamrock, but Scooter’s participation is a non-started for me.”
Swift explained that she had tried to make a deal with Braun to regain ownership of her masters but he allegedly demanded that she agree to only say positive things about him in public. “I would have to sign a document that would silence me forever before I could even have a chance to bid on my own work,” Swift said.
The high profile beef between Swift and Braun even became the subject of a two-part documentary that aired on HBO Max called Taylor Swift vs. Scooter Braun: Bad Blood.
But Braun may just be the one angling for Shamrock to sell the catalogue back to the artist. Page Six adds that “interestingly enough, one of the individuals who is encouraging this deal to take place is Scooter, who was at the center of the deal the first time around alongside Big Machine."
Of course, news of this potential sale arrives just as a new recording of her 2017 single "Look What You Made Me Do" appeared in a recent episode of The Handmaid's Tale. This has gotten the rumour mill going that the release of the highly anticipated Reputation (Taylor's Version) is imminent.
Swift may just want to hold on to her fortune and complete her series of (Taylor's Version) re-recordings, which have worked out well for her so far.