'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Singer Taylor Swift recently reclaimed the master recordings of her first six albums. In an open letter shared on her website on May 30, 2025, the songstress announced that "all of the music (she'd) ever made... now belong(s) to (her)."
Swift purchased the albums from Shamrock Capital, a private equity firm that had acquired them from Scooter Braun's Ithaca Holdings in 2020. For context, Braun had bought the rights to projects from her former label, Big Machine Records, without her approval. This prompted Swift to harshly criticize the businessman.
In a statement made to Page Six on Friday, Braun noted:
"I am happy for her."
Trending
As Braun's remarks went viral, internet users were quick to react. Some compared the moment to the Hunger Games, where President Snow (a dictator) gave flowers to the protagonist, Katniss Everdeen. One X user wrote:
"president snow sent katniss everdeen flowers too."
Many criticized Scooter Braun's remarks, stating he shouldn't have taken Taylor Swift's work in the first place.
"this is like the devil congratulating god on creating earth," one noted.
"he literally underestimated just who he was stealing from," another added.
"just paid an etsy witch to perform a hex on him," a user joked.
Others came to his defense, with some even suggesting it was time to move on.
"and swifties will still find a way to be mad at this guy," one commented.
"taylor should still apologize to him btw," another stated.
"Now y’all need to forgive, leave him alone and start a day with a clean slate. It’s the end of the road. And for Tay, we’ll be waiting for TS12 or T.V. releases," a person wrote.
"Right now my mind is just a slideshow" — Taylor Swift about purchasing back the masters
In the letter on her website, Taylor Swift shared that she now owns all of her music. This includes music videos, album art and photography, and even unreleased songs. She wrote:
"I’m trying to gather my thoughts into something coherent, but right now my mind is just a slideshow. As a flashback sequence of all the times I daydreamed about, wished for, and pined away for a chance to get to tell you this news."
Swift also shared images posing with the records in an Instagram post, with the caption:
"You belong with me. Letter on my site :)"
The songstress purchased the albums in question—Taylor Swift, Fearless, Speak Now, Red, 1989, and Reputation—from Shamrock Capital. The move comes six years after Scooter Braun acquired her catalog from Scott Borchetta (founder of Big Machine Label Group), who sold his record company to Braun.
In a June 2019 Tumblr post (@taylorswift), Taylor Swift called out Braun and explained her side of the story. She wrote that when she tried to buy her masters from Borchetta, Big Machine presented her with a convoluted contract, leaving her no choice but to "walk away." She also accused the HYBE America CEO of "incessant, manipulative bullying."
"When I left my masters in Scott’s hands, I made peace with the fact that eventually he would sell them. Never in my worst nightmares did I imagine the buyer would be Scooter," she said.
Within the next year, Scooter sold the masters to Shamrock Capital. According to NBC News, in a statement made on Friday, the investment company noted that it was "thrilled with this outcome" and was happy for Taylor Swift.
It is worth noting that in a June 2021 interview with Variety, Braun denied bullying Swift. He claimed that he had offered to sell her the catalog back, but the singer's team refused. According to Page Six, a source alleged it was Braun who encouraged Shamrock to sell the masters back to Swift.
To gain control of her music, Taylor Swift re-released four of her albums, calling them "Taylor's Version." She dropped Fearless and Red in 2021, followed by Speak Now and 1989 in 2023. In her letter, she explained that she had not even recorded a quarter of Reputation (Taylor's Version) but had finished re-recording her eponymous debut studio album.
Taylor Swift has not publicly commented on Scooter Braun's remark.
