“You Belong With Me”: Taylor Swift Gets Her Masters Back In Storybook Ending

Taylor Swift purchased the master recordings of her catalog, which were originally owned by Nashville record company Big Machine and sold to Ithaca Holdings (owned by Scooter Braun) in 2019. The masters then changed hands again later that year when Shamrock Capital acquired them for an undisclosed sum.

“All I’ve ever wanted was the opportunity to work hard enough to be able to one day purchase my music outright, with no strings attached, no partnership, with full autonomy. I will be forever grateful to the team at Shamrock Capital for being the first people to ever offer this to me,” Swift announced on her website. 

She continued, “The way we negotiated every interaction we’ve had has been honest, fair, and respectful. This was a business deal to them, but to me, it was the actualization of a dream.” 

Many musicians do not own their master recordings, limiting their ability to fully profit from their work—whether through album sales, streaming revenue, or licensing deals for films, TV shows, and video games.

Ithaca’s deal with Big Machine to acquire “Taylor Swift” (2006), “Fearless” (2008), “Speak Now” (2010), “Red” (2012), “1989” (2014)” and “Reputation” (2017) was estimated at $300 million, according to The New York Times, adding, “Shamrock paid more than $300 million for Swift’s catalog.” 

Swift previously stated that the Braun deal “stripped me of my life’s work” and left her catalog “in the hands of someone who tried to dismantle it.”

“For years, I asked, pleaded for a chance to own my work,” Swift added then. 

Swift posted on X:

You belong with me.
💚💛💜❤️🩵🖤

Letter on my site 🙂 pic.twitter.com/pdb6kGDcVO

— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) May 30, 2025

Neither Shamrock nor Swift disclosed the price tag of the deal for the six albums.

Swift’s songs don’t usually end with happy endings—often closing on emotional scars, regrets, or unresolved feelings. But her story with Shamrock is different: this time… 

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