Taylor Swift buys masters: What's next for 'Reputation TV'?

News that Taylor Swift officially owns the rights to all her music has left the future of 'Reputation (Taylor's Version)' up in the air. 

Fans have patiently waited for the 35-year-old to announce a release date for the re-recorded version of her 2017 album. 

She has already released 'Fearless (Taylor's Version)', 'Red (Taylor's Version)', 'Speak Now (Taylor's Version)' and '1989 (Taylor's Version)'.

However, instead of announcing that 'Rep TV' was next, she shared even better news on Friday, May 30—she finally owns the master recordings for her first six albums. 

Swift spent the last few years re-recording the albums after being denied the opportunity to buy her music catalogue. That all changed last week. 

"I've been bursting into tears of joy at random intervals ever since I found that this is really happening. I really get to say those words. All of the music I’ve ever made … now belongs… to me," she wrote in a letter shared on her website. 

Swift's nemesis, record executive Scooter Braun, bought her former label, Big Machine Records, in 2019, meaning he owned her masters. 

"Scooter has stripped me of my life’s work, that I wasn’t given an opportunity to buy. Essentially, my musical legacy is about to lie in the hands of someone who tried to dismantle it," she said in her Tumblr post.

Braun sold the music rights to Shamrock Capital in 2020, meaning Swift could not buy her albums yet again. 

In a surprise twist, Shamrock Capital struck a deal with Swift, allowing her to finally get her hands on her albums. She now owns her entire music catalogue from her debut album up until her last release, 'The Tortured Poets Department'. 

"And all my music videos. All the concert films. The album art and photography. The unreleased songs. The memories. The magic. The madness. Every single era. My entire life's work."

ALSO READ: Taylor Swift debuts re-recorded version of 'Reputation' song

Did Taylor Swift pay $1 billion for her music masters?

According to some reports, Swift paid $1 billion to buy her masters. 

However, a source told People magazine, "The rumoured price range that was reported is highly inaccurate."

Regardless of how much she paid, Swift finally had what belonged to her. 

Her fans are thrilled, but are also wondering where it leaves the last two albums she was meant to re-record? Only 'Reputation (Taylor's Version)' and her debut album, 'Taylor Swift (Taylor's Version)', were left. 

The 'You Belong With Me' hitmaker says she might not release 'Reputation (Taylor's Version)'.

"I know, I know. What about Rep TV? Full transparency: I haven’t even rerecorded a quarter of it. The 'Reputation' album was so specific to that time in my life, and I kept hitting a stopping point when I tried to remake it," she wrote. 

“All that defiance, that longing to be understood while feeling purposely misunderstood, that desperate hope, that shame-born snarl and mischief. To be perfectly honest, it’s the one album in those first six that I thought couldn’t be improved upon by redoing it. Not the music, or photos, or videos. So I kept putting it off.”

However, she hasn't ruled out sharing unreleased songs from the album's vault. 

"I’ve already re-recorded my entire debut album, and I really love how it sounds now. Those two albums can still have their moments to re-emerge when the time is right," she said. 

Swift might want to rethink putting 'Reputation TV' on the back burner. Since her announcement on Friday, songs from the album have seen an increase in streams on Spotify. 

'Don’t Blame Me', 'Ready For It?', 'Delicate', 'Getaway Car' and 'Look What You Made Me Do' are climbing the music platform's U.S. charts. 

Her albums also gained momentum on iTunes. 

What's next for Swift? According to her eagle-eyed fans, her 12th studio album is on the way. 

They noted that Swift left a subtle Easter egg in her open letter. In the first paragraph, she included the letter 'i' 12 times in the word 'this.'

"A flashback sequence of all the times I daydreamed about, wished for, and pined away for the chance to get to tell you this news. All the times I was thiiiiiiiiiiiis close, reaching out for it, only for it to fall through."

As crazy as it sounds, if 'Rep TV' is not next, it seems logical that her next project will be a new album.

Let the countdown begin! 

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Main image credit: Taylor Swift/Instagram