Taylor Swift masters dispute

In June 2019, a controversial dispute emerged between the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift and her former record label, Big Machine Records, its founder Scott Borchetta, and its new owner Scooter Braun over the ownership of the masters of her first six studio albums.^{[note 1]} The private equity firm Shamrock Holdings acquired the masters in 2020, whereupon Swift re-recorded and released four of the albums from 2021 to 2023 to exert control over her music catalog. The dispute drew widespread media coverage and provoked discourse in the entertainment industry. Ultimately, Swift acquired the masters from Shamrock in 2025.

In November 2018, Swift signed a record deal with Republic Records after her Big Machine contract expired.^{[note 2]} Mainstream media reported in June 2019 that Braun purchased Big Machine from Borchetta for $330 million, funded by various private equity firms. Braun had become the owner of all of the masters, music videos, and artworks copyrighted by Big Machine, including those of Swift's first six studio albums. In response, Swift stated she had tried to purchase the masters but Big Machine had offered unfavorable conditions, and she knew the label would sell them to someone else but did not expect Braun as the buyer, alleging him to be an "incessant, manipulative bully".^[3] Borchetta claimed that Swift declined an opportunity to purchase the masters.

Consequently, Big Machine and Swift were embroiled in a series of disagreements leading to further friction; Swift alleged that the label blocked her from performing her songs at the 2019 American Music Awards and using them in her documentary Miss Americana (2020), while Big Machine released Live from Clear Channel Stripped 2008 (2020), an unreleased work by Swift, without her approval. Swift announced she would re-record the six albums and own the new masters herself. In October 2020, Braun sold the old masters to Shamrock, Disney family's investment firm,^{[note 3]} for $405 million under the condition that he keep profiting from the masters. Swift expressed her disapproval again, rejected Shamrock's offer for an equity partnership, and released the re-recorded albums to commercial success and critical acclaim, supporting them with the Eras Tour, which became the highest-grossing concert tour of all time. The tracks "All Too Well (10 Minute Version)" (2021) and "Is It Over Now?" (2023) topped the Billboard Hot 100, breaking various records. In May 2025, Swift announced full ownership of her catalog after she purchased all the masters from Shamrock under terms she described as fair.

Various musicians, critics, politicians, and scholars supported Swift's stance in 2019, prompting a discourse on artists' rights, intellectual property, private equity, and industrial ethics. iHeartRadio, the largest radio network in the United States, replaced the older versions in its airplay with Swift's re-recorded tracks. Billboard named Swift the "Greatest Pop Star" of 2021 for the successful and unprecedented outcomes of her re-recording venture. A two-part documentary about the dispute, Taylor Swift vs Scooter Braun: Bad Blood, was released in 2024. When Swift reclaimed the masters in 2025, journalists considered it a watershed for musicians' rights and ownership of art.

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