MW Taylor Swift has bought back her own music - making her catalog among the most valuable of all time

By Lukas I. Alpert

Swift's catalog purchase likely puts the value of her music on par with that of megastars like Bob Dylan, Michael Jackson and Bruce Springsteen

Look what they made her do.

Taylor Swift announced Friday that after years of fighting, she had finally bought back the master recordings to her first six albums.

The value of the deal was undisclosed, but the master tapes had initially been sold to music manager Scooter Braun's Ithaca Holdings in 2019 for an estimated $300 million. The catalog was later resold to investment firm Shamrock Capital in 2020, for a figure believed to be higher than Braun's original purchase price.

The acquisition of the original recordings of Swift's six albums for Big Machine Label Group - "Taylor Swift" (2006), "Fearless" (2008), "Speak Now" (2010), "Red" (2012), "1989" (2014)" and "Reputation" (2017) - had caused the singer great anger and dismay

Swift subseqeuntly rerecorded several of the albums, which she marketed as "Taylor's Version," in an effort to retain some control over her own music. She has also released five albums since 2018 in a deal with Universal Music Group in which she retained ownership of her masters.

"To say this is my greatest dream come true is actually being pretty reserved about it," Swift wrote in a message to fans on her website.

While the exact sale price isn't known, it is likely among the highest ever for a music catalog, putting Swift on par with some of the biggest music megastars of all time.

Among the most valuable aspects of a musician's catalog is the money it can bring in from streaming rights through platforms like Spotify Technology $(SPOT)$ and Pandora $(SIRI)$, which make up roughly 70% of all revenue brought in by the industry these days. Much of that goes to the back catalogs produced by legendary artists.

Here are some of the biggest music-catalog sales ever:

Queen - $1.27 billion

The "We Will Rock You" rockers sold their catalog last year to Sony Music $(SONY)$ (JP:6758) for a reported GBP1 billion (around $1.27 billion at the time).

The deal granted all future earnings from the British glam-rock band's catalog, including megahits like "Bohemian Rhapsody," "Another One Bits the Dust" and "We Are the Champions" - aside from those paid to the band for live performances - to Sony.

Michael Jackson - $1.2 billion

Early last year, Sony Music agreed to pay $600 million for a 50% stake in Michael Jackson's publishing rights and master recordings, valuing the late singer's music at $1.2 billion.

That deal reportedly included the rights to other musicians' music that Jackson had acquired, including Sly & the Family Stone, Curtis Mayfield and Jerry Lee Lewis.

Bruce Springsteen - $550 million

In what was considered at the time one of the richest deals ever reached by an individual artist, the Boss sold the rights to his entire catalog to Sony Music for a reported $550 million.

"I'm thrilled that my legacy will continue to be cared for by the company and people I know and trust," Springsteen said when the deal was announced.

Pink Floyd - $400 million

Despite years of squabbling among the psychedelic-rock band's members, the group reached a deal last year to sell the rights to its music, name and likeness to Sony Music for $400 million.

The deal included the rights to iconic albums such as "Dark Side of the Moon," "The Wall," "Wish You Were Here" and "Piper at the Gates of Dawn."

Bob Dylan - $300 million

In 2020, Dylan sold the publishing rights to his entire catalog to Universal Music Publishing Group (NL:UMG) $(UNVGY)$ for $300 million.

At the time, the deal - which included classic songs like "Blowin' in the Wind," "The Times They Are A-Changin'" and "Like a Rolling Stone" - was considered the highest figure ever spent on a music catalog.

Phil Collins and Genesis - $300 million

In 2022, English musician Phil Collins and the members of the prog-rock outfit he fronted, Genesis, sold the rights to their catalog to Concord Music Group Inc. for $300 million.

The deal included publishing rights, streaming revenue and the master recordings for Collins's solo work - including songs like "Sussudio," "In the Air Tonight" and "Take Me Home" - as well as his work with Genesis.

-Lukas I. Alpert

This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 30, 2025 13:48 ET (17:48 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.