Taylor Swift Breaks Down in Tears Sharing Heartfelt Story Behind Winning Back Her Music Masters

Taylor Swift emotionally reflected on a monumental moment in her career — reclaiming the rights to all her music.

The 14-time Grammy winner first announced the successful acquisition of the full rights and masters to her first six albums in a letter on her official website in May. This victory marked the end of a long battle over her music catalog, which prompted Swift to re-record albums she didn't own.

During her appearance on the "New Heights" podcast hosted by boyfriend Travis Kelce and his brother Jason Kelce on August 13, Taylor broke down while recounting the journey to her big purchase. "It's a huge thing," she said. "It's always been a huge thing for me. Like, since I was a teenager, I've been actively saving up money to buy my music back to ever own it in the first place, because it's usually the label that owns it. But I've always wanted this to happen."

Taylor recalled, "My music has been sold a few times. The first time that it was sold, it really ripped my heart out of my chest," referring to the original purchase of her masters by former manager Scooter Braun in 2019.

"And I told everybody exactly how that felt for me and what I was going through, and I started basically defiantly re-recording my music because I wanted to own it, and this was the only way I thought it was ever gonna happen," she continued.

After a year and a half, Braun sold Taylor’s masters to Shamrock Capital. Following the conclusion of her record-breaking The Eras Tour, Swift and her team decided to approach Shamrock, but she wasn't interested in a partnership. "I don't wanna own 30 percent of it. I want to own all of it."

Instead of sending a "big crew" for the meeting, Taylor opted to have her mother and brother represent her in Los Angeles. Tears filled her eyes as she recounted this decision. "Sorry," she said, her voice quivering. "They sat down … like this happens, I don't ever really talk about it because it's — shoot. They sat down with Shamrock Capital, and they told them what this meant for me."

She continued, "They told them the whole story of all the times we've tried to buy it, all the times it's fallen through, all the times we had gotten plans together and figured out something we thought was gonna work, and it didn't at the last minute."

Taylor shared that her mother, Andrea Swift later informed her that Shamrock listened to their story and were "wonderful," but cautioned her not to get her hopes up. Later, while in Kansas City with Travis after the Super Bowl, Taylor received an update from her mom.

With tears in her eyes again, Taylor recalled, "I get a call from my mom, and she's like... she's like, 'They, they, we, we... you got your music.' And, so sorry, this is— it's literally been so long since this happened, every time I talk about it [I get like this] — she was like, 'You got your music.' And I just, like, very dramatically hit the floor for real. Like, honestly, just started bawling my eyes out, and I'm just, like, just weeping and kind of, like, unable [to talk]. I was just like, 'Really? Are really? Really? What do you mean? What do you mean?'"

In a humorous twist, Taylor recounted how she rushed to tell Travis, who was playing video games, but her overwhelming emotions led him to think something was wrong.

Taylor emphasized how much this meant to her.

"Yeah, this changed my life," she concluded. "I can't believe it still. Every time I think about it, it's like, I have to tell the short version to everyone because it is still like, this will affect the rest of my life. I think about this every day now, but instead of it being like an intrusive thought that hurts me, it's, I can't believe this happened. Like, how lucky am I? How grateful am I?"

On the podcast, Taylor also shared her activities following The Eras Tour, her experience as part of the Kansas City Chiefs family and details about her upcoming album, The Life of a Showgirl.