Taylor Swift Finally Owns Her Masters! ...So, Now What?

It brings me so much joy to say that, announced today by Taylor Swift herself, the masters of her first six albums are finally in her possession after an excruciating seven-year tug-of-war.

Taylor with her babies. 🥹

(Can we legally declare May 30th Taylor Swift's Independence Day?)

Taylor posted the announcement across her social platforms, alongside a photoshoot of her with her first six albums looking happier than ever. A link to her website takes you to a long letter explaining how she obtained her masters, the rerecording process, and how thankful she is to her fans for their support throughout the journey.

ICYMI: In 2018, Taylor left her long-time record label Big Machine. It was later announced that the master recordings for the albums she had made under that label, along with the label itself, had been sold to businessman Scooter Braun and his company Ithaca Holdings for $300 million. When Taylor attempted to buy her masters back, she was told that the only way she could get them back was to resign with Big Machine, and they would give her the master for one album for each new one she would release under them. Taylor refused, and Braun resold the masters to Shamrock Holdings. Thus began the journey of Taylor re-recording her albums and releasing them as Taylor's Versions.

Up until this point, four of the first six albums had been rerecorded and released (Fearless, Red, Speak Now, and 1989) leaving only two unreleased (Taylor Swift and Reputation). The question that hangs in the air is... what now?

I've had thoughts brewing in my head all day at work, as Taylor had the kindness to announce this life-shattering news while I was on my lunch break. Here, I've collected my thoughts on the future of Taylor Swift.

TS12 Incoming...?

One thing stuck out to me when reading the letter posted on Taylor's website: the twelve "i"s in "this."

This isn't the first "twelve" Taylor has teased us with recently. In February, at the 2025 Grammy Awards, Taylor wore earrings decorated with twelve jewels on each. In March, Taylor posted her support for Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco's new album with the caption "I LOVE THIS SO MUCH OH MY GODDDDDDDDDDDD." with twelve "D"s finishing the post off. In April, Swedish DJ Jacob Criborn spilled that collaborator Erik Arvinder had done some arrangements for "the new Taylor Swift album." Not to mention, Taylor has also provided similar easter eggs in the past.

Edit: Just a couple days after her announcement, Taylor was seen out and about with Selena Gomez, wearing another set of earrings that held twelve diamonds on each. Coincidence? I think not!

And in the end, now that Taylor owns her work, we don't have to worry about her rushing to get the other two re-recordings released before working on a twelfth album, and I think that's all the evidence I need to be convinced. She's got a lot to work with, with the memories of The Eras Tour, her relationship with Travis Kelce, and now finally owning her masters, TS12 is surely to be her happiest yet.

But What About Reputation???

The most anticipated album of the year... doesn't exist. As confirmed in Taylor's letter, she hadn't even recorded a quarter of the album- likely only the songs she sang live at The Eras Tour- mainly only having recorded the vault tracks, and honestly? I don't blame her (pun unintentional). In fact, I'm overjoyed that she no longer has to revisit some of the tragic memories in the worst times of her life.

I think some Swifties forget that the re-recordings weren't all about ownership. Taylor was revisiting the memories she had when she originally wrote and recorded these songs. The Kim and Kanye drama was one of, if not the darkest time of Taylor's life. Combined with the love songs about her now-ex long-term boyfriend Joe Alwyn, re-recording would've been an extremely tough and emotional endeavor. It would not surprise me if it turned out that Taylor bought her masters purely to not have to re-record Reputation.

However, as Swifties do, we recall that Time Magazine 2023 Person of the Year interview in which Taylor said her vault tracks for Reputation (Taylor's Version) were "fire." And in the letter, Taylor says that "there will be a time [...] for the unreleased Vault tracks from that album to hatch." And if using the word "hatch" isn't the biggest easter egg ever, I don't know what is. I think that the best chance of getting the vault tracks is on a rerelease of Reputation as a deluxe album for the tenth anniversary in 2027.

And Then There's Debut...

Taylor Swift (Taylor's Version) was one of my most anticipated re-recordings (and still is!) due to Taylor's untrained vocals on the original. Fortunately, Taylor notes in her letter that her debut album has been completely re-recorded and she "really likes how it sounds now." In Taylor words, that's a confirmation that the Taylor's Version will still be released! And I can one-hundred percent see it dropping next year for the twentieth anniversary of the original album, as a celebration (which, according to the letter, is exactly how Taylor wants it to be). (Oh, and if it was up to me, Just South of Knowing Why would be included as a vault track... please, Taylor.)

And One Last Word:

I first noticed something was going on when a lot of my favorite unreleased Taylor Swift songs had been taken down from YouTube. It's not uncommon for an unreleased song to be taken down, but about a month ago my entire unreleased Taylor Swift playlist had disappeared overnight. And then, it was announced that Shamrock Holdings was offering Taylor's masters for sale for the very first time, for $600 million. And then followed the radio silence, not just from Taylor but from her team. Despite the fan protests of "she wouldn't do it!", in my gut, I had a feeling something was brewing.

Personally, I believe that the Taylor's Versions started as a movement. A cry for justice. With the release of Fearless (Taylor's Version) and Red (Taylor's Version), you could hear the love and anger in Taylor's voice. Then Midnights was released, and something changed. Some of the spark was gone, and Taylor sounded more obligated than emotional on Speak Now (Taylor's Version) and 1989 (Taylor's Version). And with the turmoil surrounding re-recording Reputation, buying back her masters (and negotiating down to $360 million) might've been the best career move she could've done for herself.

Anyways. I've been listening to the original version of 1989 and trying not to cry over how much better many of the songs compared to the Taylor's Version (sorry not sorry lol). Speaking of... I have another Taylor-themed post planned, so stay tuned and I'll see you then!