Throughout the years, there has been an ongoing feud between Taylor Swift and Scooter Braun, stemming from a history of deceit and a lack of trust. In June 2019, Scooter Braun’s company acquired Big Machine Label Group, which had been Taylor Swift’s label and owned her first six albums. Swift publicly spoke out against this and claimed she had not been given ample opportunity to purchase her albums, and was ultimately forced to settle with a rival owning her albums, who continued to make money off of Swift, leaving her with no pay for her work. Additionally, in November 2020, Braun sold her six albums once more to Shamrock Capital for over $300 million. Taylor Swift did not know about this until the transaction was completed, and later turned down a partnership with Shamrock Capital after learning that Braun would continue to make money off the streams of her old albums.
In response and retaliation, in 2021, Swift started re-recording her older albums to regain control of her music and to provide guilt-free listening. Swift named these “new” albums “Taylor’s Version,” and with these, she also released never-before-heard tracks, hoping to steer listeners away from the stolen copies of her albums. Many of her diehard fans, Swifties, condemned others for not streaming Taylor’s Version, with her fans creating signs that read, “We only listen to Taylor’s Version.”
During this time, Taylor Swift also announced that she would do an Eras Tour, honoring each of her albums. Unbeknownst to her fans, this was a way for her to earn money to buy back her stolen albums. For nearly two years, Swift traveled around delivering concert after concert, setting aside the money to one day gain ownership of her albums.
Finally, on May 30th, 2025, Swift announced on her website that she had successfully been able to purchase back her stolen albums from Shamrock Capital for roughly $360 million. Many Swifites in HHS celebrated this moment, like Sophomore Eileen Lowther, who says, “It’s such a great achievement to win her albums back. I think it’s good for her that she was willing to spend so much money, even after re-recording her stolen albums. It’s also another step for feminism.” Additionally, Sophomore Annie Sargent stated, “I believe it was good of her to reclaim what was originally hers.” Taylor Swift has a large fan base in Massachusetts, and that was seen during her three-night performance at Gillette Stadium.
For many, including Taylor, this was such a pivotal moment in music history to be exploited and then able to regain ownership of her hard work. Taylor Swift has also proved to be resilient during the whole process, even recording three new albums, showing her dedication and determination to the music industry and her fans.