Taylor Swift and Selena Gomez enjoyed a dinner in New York to celebrate Swift finally owning the rights to her first six albums. The singer recently bought back her master recordings after a six-year battle.
Taylor Swift and Selena Gomez were spotted having dinner together in New York. The close friends celebrated Swiftโs big winโshe now fully owns her early music. The singer recently bought back the rights to her first six albums from Shamrock Capital.
Gomez wore a brown coat with a mustard-colored crop top and pants. Swift chose a black outfit with a jeweled neckline. Fans loved seeing the two best friends together after Swiftโs emotional announcement about her music.
Swift shared the news in a heartfelt letter on her website. She wrote, โIโm trying to gather my thoughts into something coherent, but right now my mind is just a slideshow. A flashback sequence of all the time I daydreamed about, wished for, and pined away for a chance to get to tell this news.โ
The deal means Swift now controls her original recordings, music videos, and unreleased songs. She called it her โgreatest dream come true.โ The singer had been fighting for ownership since 2019 when her old label sold her music to Scooter Braun.
Braun later sold the rights to Shamrock Capital for $300 million. Swift tried to buy her masters before but was blocked by strict conditions. Now, she finally owns everything without any restrictions.
In her letter, Swift thanked Shamrock for handling the deal fairly. She said, โI will be forever grateful to everyone at Shamrock Capital for being the first people to ever offer this to me. The way theyโve handled every interaction has been honest, fair, and respectful.โ
The singer also gave an update on her re-recorded albums. She has already remade her debut album and loves how it sounds. But she admitted struggling with Reputation (Taylorโs Version).
โI havenโt even re-recorded a quarter of it,โ she wrote. โThe Reputation album was so specific to that time in my life. To be perfectly honest, itโs the one album in those first six that I thought couldnโt be improved upon by redoing it.โ
Fans can still expect unreleased Reputation tracks later. Swift said, โThere will be a time (if youโre into the idea) for the unreleased Vault tracks from that album to hatch.โ
The singerโs re-recording project began in 2021. She released Fearless (Taylorโs Version), Red (Taylorโs Version), Speak Now (Taylorโs Version), and 1989 (Taylorโs Version). These albums included new songs from her vault.
Swiftโs fight for her masters inspired other artists to demand ownership. She wrote, โEvery time a new artist tells me they negotiated to own their master recordings in their record contract because of this fight, Iโm reminded of how important it was for all of this to happen.โ
The success of her Eras Tour helped Swift buy back her music. The tour made over $2 billion, becoming the highest-grossing tour ever. She called the deal a celebration, not a victory over past struggles.
Fans reacted with joy online. One fan wrote, โThis is the best news ever! Taylor deserves to own her lifeโs work.โ Another added, โSo happy for her after everything sheโs been through.โ
Swiftโs journey started when she signed with Big Machine Records at 15. The label owned her masters, which is common in the music industry. She left in 2018 and signed with Universal Music Group, where she kept ownership of new music.
The battle over her old recordings became public in 2019. Swift accused Braun of bullying and blocking her from buying her masters. She then decided to re-record her albums to regain control.
Now, Swift owns all her music, videos, and artwork. She ended her letter by saying, โAll of the music Iโve ever madeโฆ now belongsโฆ to me.โ
Credits: News reports from BBC, Rolling Stone, Variety, and NBC.