Yahoo Finance Rights of Taylor Swift's first six albums sold to private equity firm for $300m
WATCH: Scooter Braun sells Taylor Swift’s master tracks
US singer Taylor Swift confirmed that music manager Scooter Braun sold the rights to her first six albums, stating this was the second time her masters (master recordings) were sold without her knowledge.
According to Variety, the deal is thought to be worth more than $300m (£227m).
In a note on Twitter, she explained that her team received a letter from private equity company Shamrock Holdings, letting them know that they had bought her music, videos and album art from Scooter Braun.
“Under their terms Scooter Braun will continue to profit off my old musical catalogue for many years. I was open to the possibility of a partnership with Shamrock, but Scooter’s participation is a non-starter for me,” she said.
This is because of a long running battle between the two. Swift signed a deal with record label Big Machine in 2004, which gave them ownership of the master recordings to her first six albums in exchange for a cash advance. Her contract with the label expired in 2018, after which she signed a deal for future recordings with Universal Music Group.
READ MORE: Cinema chain Everyman brings in advisers to steer landlord talks
Braun’s Ithaca Holdings bought Big Machine in 2019 for just over $300m, which meant the rights to most of Swift's work belonged to him. Since then the two have been locked in a feud over control of the music.
In a letter to Shamrock, also shared on Twitter, Swift said: “It pains me very deeply to remain separated from the music I spent over a decade creating but this is a sacrifice I will have to make to keep Scooter Braun out of my life.”
Swift is free to re-record songs from her first five albums as of this month.
She also said she will be doing this so her fans could listen to her old albums “without feelings of guilt for benefiting Scooter,” and added that this would likely diminish the value of her old masters.
