Taylor Swift has revealed how her mum Andrea and brother Austin helped her get back her master recordings.
Earlier this year, the pop superstar, 35, managed to repurchase her catalogue of recordings originally released through Big Machine Records – a deal that took six years to finalise.
She acquired six albums and associated visuals from their most recent owner, Shamrock Capital, for an undisclosed nine-figure sum.
Appearing on The Graham Norton Show on Friday, Taylor joined guests Cillian Murphy, Greta Lee, Jodie Turner-Smith, and Domhnall Gleeson on the sofa.
While discussing her new album The Life of a Showgirl, Taylor and Graham talked about how she managed to regain ownership of her masters.
Graham said: ‘You bought it all back from a corporate entity, you imagine there’d be an army of lawyers talking to another army of lawyers, but that is not how it went down.
Taylor Swift has revealed how her mum Andrea and brother Austin helped her get back her master recordings
Earlier this year, the pop superstar, 35, managed to repurchase her catalogue of recordings originally released through Big Machine Records – a deal that took six years to finalise (pictured with mum Andrea in 2008)
She acquired six albums and associated visuals from their most recent owner, Shamrock Capital, for an undisclosed nine-figure sum (pictured with her brother Austin in 2014)
Taylor responded: ‘No, I sent in my mum and my brother.’
She explained: ‘So basically my music was owned by a company called Shamrock capital.
‘We had to try figure out how to convince them to sell a very lucrative entity to us, even though it was still making them loads of money.
‘So I was like the only people for the job are the people who have known me my entire life, know this entire journey I’ve been on, who’ve been supporting me, and who I work with everyday.
‘They both work with me and they are the smartest people I know.
‘And also the most compassionate, the kindest, the people who could tell the story of what we’ve been through as a family.
‘So they went in and got my music back for me.’
It comes after Taylor revealed that she struck a settlement with Shamrock Capital, which purchased the rights to the records from music mogul Scooter Braun in November 2020.
Appearing on The Graham Norton Show on Friday, Taylor joined guests Cillian Murphy , Greta Lee, Jodie Turner-Smith , and Domhnall Gleeson on the sofa
She saidL ‘So I was like the only people for the job are the people who have known me my entire life, know this entire journey I’ve been on, who’ve been supporting me, and who I work with everyday’
In a hand-written letter posted on her website, Taylor, who is worth over $1 billion, claims the money she made from her lucrative Eras tour last year has helped bankroll the purchase of her old material and ‘her entire life’s work’.
She said: ‘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. ‘
Taylor then thanked Shamrock Capital for their ‘honest, fair and respectful’ way they handled the deal, adding: ‘I really felt like they saw it for what it was to me: My memories and my sweat and my handwriting and my decades of dreams.’
She then joked: ‘My first tattoo might just be a huge shamrock in the middle of my forehead.’
Justin Bieber’s old manager Scooter controversially acquired the rights to Taylor’s material for S300million after buying her old record label, Big Machine Media, in 2019 before selling them on to Shamrock Capital for profit.
The Love Story singer, who branded Scooter a ‘bully’ for tactics, was unaware of his plan and also claimed when she previously approached Big Machine label head Scott Borchetta about buying her masters beforehand, he allegedly would only sell her them one at a time, starting from her earliest, least-profitable recordings.
In exchange for the option to buy the masters back, Taylor claimed she would have to record a new album for the label in exchange for each old recording she bought, shackling her to Big Machine for years to come just when she was eager to leave the label.
The singer posted an emotional Tumblr telling fans she made the ‘excruciating choice to leave behind my past. ‘Music I wrote on my bedroom floor and videos I dreamed up and paid for from the money I earned playing in bars, then clubs, then arenas, then stadiums.’
Sources close to the contract negotiations claim the recent figure touted for the buy-back deal ‘between $600million-$1billion’ is ‘highly inaccurate’.
She added: ‘Never in my worst nightmares did I imagine the buyer would be Scooter.
‘Any time Scott Borchetta has heard the words ‘Scooter Braun’ escape my lips, it was when I was either crying or trying not to.
‘He knew what he was doing; they both did. Controlling a woman who didn’t want to be associated with them. In perpetuity. That means forever.’
She added that when she heard the news: ‘All I could think about was the incessant, manipulative bullying I’ve received at his hands for years.’
Taylor then listed a string of examples accusing Kim Kardashian and Kanye West – then Braun’s client – of bullying.
Read More
Billionaire Taylor Swift pays eye-watering sum to snatch back her music empire
Shamrock acquired the master recordings to Taylor Swift, Fearless, Speak Now, Red, 1989 and Reputation – which Taylor has now regained ownership of, having previously led a campaign to re-record her first six albums, four of which she’s successfully completed.
Music sources had previously claimed Scooter played a role in helping Taylor and Shamrock Capital agree a deal for the buy-back, in a bid to claim much-needed positive PR in wake of her career imploding following his feud with the singer.
But according to sources close to the contract negotiations, he played zero part.
An insider told Daily Mail: ‘Contrary to a previous false report, there was no outside party who ‘encouraged’ this sale.
‘All rightful credit for this opportunity should go to the partners at Shamrock Capital and Taylor’s Nashville-based management team only.
Taylor now owns all of her music, and this moment finally happened in spite of Scooter Braun, not because of him.’
Meanwhile, after news broke of Swift’s business move, Braun said, ‘I’m happy for her.’