'You belong with me': Taylor Swift regains ownership of her entire music catalogue, who is Scooter Braun

The pop superstar confirmed the news in an emotional statement shared on Instagram and her website on Friday (May 30).

“I really get to say these words: All of the music I've ever made... now belongs... to me,” Swift wrote. “And all my music videos. All the concert films. The album art and photography. The unreleased songs. The memories. The magic. The madness. Every single era. My entire life's work.”

The move gives Swift, 35, full control over her first six studio albums - spanning from her 2006 self-titled debut to 2017’s Reputation. The announcement follows her years-long battle to reclaim the rights to her music, a fight that began in 2019 when Braun’s company, Ithaca Holdings, acquired Big Machine Records, the label that had originally signed Swift.

At the time, Swift said she had “pleaded” with Big Machine founder Scott Borchetta for years to buy her own masters, but was only offered a deal that would let her earn them back one album at a time. In a Tumblr post from June 2019, she accused Braun of “incessant, manipulative bullying” and said: “Scooter has stripped me of my life’s work… Essentially, my musical legacy is about to lie in the hands of someone who tried to dismantle it.”

In November 2020, Braun sold Swift’s masters to Shamrock Capital, a private equity firm. Though she declined to partner with them at the time due to Braun's continued financial involvement, Swift noted in her new statement that she was later given the opportunity to buy her catalogue back in full.

“All I've ever wanted was the opportunity to work hard enough to be able to purchase my music outright with no strings attached, no partnership, with full autonomy,” she wrote. “I will be forever grateful to everyone at Shamrock Capital for being the first people to ever offer this to me… I’m endlessly thankful. My first tattoo might just be a huge shamrock in the middle of my forehead.”

Swift also thanked her fans, saying: “To my fans, you know how important this has been to me — so much so that I meticulously re-recorded and released 4 of my albums, calling them Taylor’s Version. The passionate support you showed those albums and the success story you turned The Eras Tour into is why I was able to buy back my music.”

Swift launched her re-recording project in 2021, beginning with Fearless (Taylor’s Version) and followed by Red, Speak Now, and 1989. All four reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200.

She also addressed the two albums she has not yet re-recorded: her debut Taylor Swift and Reputation. On the latter, Swift said: “To be perfectly honest, it’s the one album in those first 6 that I thought couldn’t be improved upon by redoing it… I kept putting it off. There will be a time (if you're into the idea) for the unreleased vault tracks from that album to hatch.”

Swift added: “I’m extremely hearted by the conversations this saga has reignited within my industry among artists and fans. Every time a new artist tells me they negotiated to own their master recordings in their record contract because of this fight, I’m reminded of how important it was for all of this to happen.”

The Grammy winner concluded her statement: “Thanks to you and your goodwill, teamwork, and encouragement, the best things that have ever been mine... finally actually are.”

Who is Scooter Braun?

Scooter Braun rose to fame in the late 2000s after discovering Justin Bieber on Youtube, and signed him to his management company. Through his company, SB Projects, Braun has managed a roster of high-profile clients, including Ariana Grande Demi Lovato. In 2010, he founded Ithaca Holdings, a media company that went on to acquire several entertainment businesses, including music labels and publishing rights.

In 2019, he acquired Big Machine Label Group, the record label that owned the master recordings of Swift’s first six albums. However, Swift said he was not informed in advance of the sale and accused Braun of “incessant, manipulative bullying,” referencing his ties to Kanye West and Justin Bieber.

Swift was denied the opportunity to buy her masters, prompting her to re-record her early albums under the label “Taylor’s Version”. Braun later sold the catalogue to Shamrock Capital in 2020 for a reported $300 million, but Swift declined to partner with the firm because Braun would still profit from the deal.

In 2021, Braun’s company Ithaca Holdings merged with South Korean entertainment giant HYBE (formerly Big Hit Entertainment, home of BTS), in a deal reportedly worth over $1 billion. Braun became CEO of HYBE America but announced in 2023 that he would be stepping away from artist management to focus on broader business interests.

Braun was married to health and wellness entrepreneur Yael Cohen but the couple divorced in 2021.