You Belong to Me: Taylor Swift’s Journey to Her Master Recordings

Taylor Swift is one of the best-selling recording artists in modern history.¹[1]Keith Caulfield, Taylor Swift Has the Top-Selling Album of the Year in U.S. for the Historic Fifth Time, BILLBOARD (Jan. 8, 2021), https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/chart-beat/9509005/taylor-swift-top-selling-album-year-fifth-time-folklore/. She is known and praised for her songs that often portray relatable narratives to their listeners.²[2]Allison Stewart, Taylor Swift’s new take on ‘Fearless’ piles on the nostalgia, along with some revenge, THE WASHINGTON POST (April 12, 2021, 3:00 AM PT), https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/taylor-swift-fearless-review-taylors-version/2021/04/11/c1bdef72-996a-11eb-a6d0-13d207aadb78_story.html. So why exactly is she rerecording and rereleasing her tremendously successful past albums? The answer is simple. Swift wants master recordings to all of her albums.³[3]Anastasia Tsioulcas, Look What They Made Her Do: Taylor Swift To Re-Record Her Catalog, NPR (Aug. 22, 2019, 11:14 AM ET), https://www.npr.org/2019/08/22/753393630/look-what-they-made-her-do-taylor-swift-to-re-record-her-catalog.

The Copyright Act protects music through master rights and publishing rights.⁴[4]17 U.S.C. § 101, et seq. Master rights refer to the copyright in the specific master recordings (“masters”) or phonorecords, and are separate from the copyright in the musical composition.⁵[5]BTE v. Bonnecaze, 43 F. Supp. 2d 619, 627 (E.D. La. 1999). Masters are original, complete recordings from which all other copies are made.⁶[6]17 U.S.C. § 109, 114 To own the master, is to own all subsequent copies of that particular recording. In the overwhelming majority of cases, the masters are owned by the record company that produces the recording.

Publishing rights refer to the composition’s copyright. To own this copyright, is to own the actual words and notes of a particular song.⁷[7]Id. Publishing rights typically remain with the songwriter.⁸[8]Id. This has been an industry standard for years. Swift’s first record company, Big Machine Records, owns the masters for her first six albums: Taylor Swift, Fearless, Speak Now, Red, 1989, and Reputation.⁹[9]Stewart, supra note 1.

In 2005, 15 year-old Swift was the first person ever signed to infantile Big Machine Records.¹⁰[10]Scott Borchetta, His Music Never Stops, THE NEW YORK TIMES (March 12, 2011), https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/2011/03/13/jobs/13bosses.html. Her albums were extremely successful upon release. The notoriety launched Swift to stardom effectively making her a household name. In 2018, with the end of her first record deal nearing, Swift tried to negotiate a new contract with Big Machine Records, however they were unsuccessful at coming to an agreement.¹¹[11]Steven J. Horowitz, Taylor Swift vs. Scooter Braun and Scott Borchetta, Explained, VULTURE (Nov. 15, 2019), https://www.vulture.com/2019/11/taylor-swift-scooter-braun-and-borchetta-feud-explained.html. There are conflicting reports as to what happened during negotiations and the subsequent sale of Big Machine Records to Ithaca Holdings.

The point of conflict in the Big Machine Records negotiation is rumored to be the ownership of the masters for Swift’s first six albums. Swift has stated that she was never given the opportunity to buy her masters and that she could only “earn one album back at a time, one for every new one [she] turned in.”¹²[12]Taylor Swift, TUMBLR (June 30, 2019), https://taylorswift.tumblr.com/post/185958366550/for-years-i-asked-pleaded-for-a-chance-to-own-my. Big Machine Records sings a different tune. Scott Borchetta, then-owner of Big Machine Records and the person who signed Swift, has stated, “Taylor had every chance in the world to own not just her master recordings, but every video, photograph, everything associated to her career. She chose to leave.”¹³[13]Scott Borchetta, So It’s Time For Some Truth…, BIG MACHINE LABEL GROUP (June 30, 2019), https://www.bigmachinelabelgroup.com/news/so-its-time-some-truth. Ultimately, Swift signed a deal with Republic Records in late 2018.¹⁴[14]Id. This contract would allow her to retain control of the masters for all future albums she made with Republic.¹⁵[15]Tsioulcas, supra note 3.

Later in 2019, it was announced that Big Machine Records had been acquired by Scooter Braun and Ithaca Holdings for an estimated $300 million.¹⁶[16]Horowitz, supra note 10. Swift and Braun have had a contentious relationship throughout the years and she was outspoken in her displeasure that he had acquired her entire catalog of masters.¹⁷[17]Swift, supra note 11. In addition to speaking out against the acquisition, Swift began to block permissions to use her songs in television, film, and commercials.¹⁸[18]Abigail Freeman, Taylor Swift Is ‘Free’ Again, But Just How Much Is Her ‘Fearless’ Strategy Worth?, FORBES (April 9, 2021, 12:05pm ET), https://www.forbes.com/sites/abigailfreeman/2021/04/09/taylor-swift-is-free-again-but-just-how-much-is-her-fearless-strategy-worth/?sh=6c6b3eac7f05. Under U.S. copyright law, this was entirely legal because Swift retained the publishing rights for all of her songs and she was not blocking the sale, streaming, or radio play of the music.¹⁹[19]17 U.S.C. §§ 109, 114. Included within publishing rights are mechanical and synchronization (sync) rights.²⁰[20]Id. at §§ 106. In order to completely and legally license a song for use in television, film, or commercials, the person seeking to use the song must obtain both a sync/mechanical license and a master license.²¹[21]Id. at §§ 109, 114. So Ithaca Holdings alone without Swift’s agreement could not authorize the use of Swift’s songs.

After Kelly Clarkson tweeted that Swift should just rerecord albums where she didn’t own the masters, Swift announced that she would do exactly that.²²[22]Joe Coscarelli, Taylor Swift Says She Will Rerecord Her Old Music. Here’s How., THE NEW YORK TIMES (Aug. 22, 2021), https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/22/arts/music/taylor-swift-rerecord-albums.html. By rerecording all her albums from her time at Big Machine Records, Swift will have master rights in the new renditions of her music. This will allow Swift to use and license her “old” music to others without having to go through Big Machine Records.²³[23]Freeman, supra note 17.

Swift is not the first artist to rerecord their albums; even Prince famously threatened to do the same thing two decades ago. As artists continuously search for ways to gain more leverage and bargaining power against major labels, owning the masters could become a contentious point of negotiation for future deals. It will be interesting to see if this will become a more common route in an artist’s quest for their masters.

Written by: Bryttni Yi
Bryttni is a 2021 J.D. Candidate at Brooklyn Law School