Taylor Swift says back catalog sold without her knowledge
LOS ANGELES – Taylor Swift said on Monday that her master recordings had been sold off to a private equity company, denying her the chance to buy back the tapes herself and resume control over the rights to her first six albums.
“This was the second time my music had been sold without my knowledge,” the 30-year-old US singer wrote in a Twitter posting.
Swift also said she had begun re-recording her early songs and that it had “proven to be exciting and fulfilling”.
Her comments followed a long-running feud with her former record company, Big Machine Group, and with music executive Scooter Braun over the rights to some of her biggest hits, including Shake It Off and You Belong To Me.
Braun bought the Big Machine record label in 2019 after Swift left the label in 2018 for a new deal with Universal Music Group. Braun and the pop star have been involved in a bitter public dispute ever since.
Swift wrote on Monday that she received a letter a few weeks ago from private equity company Shamrock Holdings “letting us know that they had brought 100% of my music, videos and album art from Scooter Braun”.
She added that under the terms of the sale, Braun “will continue to profit off my old music catalog for many years”.
Hollywood trade outlet Variety reported on Monday that he had sold the master rights to Swift’s first six albums to an investment fund in a deal believed to be worth more than US$300 million (S$403 million). - REUTERS
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