An Eras Tour performance from Taylor Swift, whose original catalog might be changing hands once again. Photo Credit: Paolo V
Shamrock Capital is actively looking to offload Taylor Swift’s original masters – at least according to one new report, which is attaching an astonishing price tag to the possible deal.
Page Six’s Jeanette Settembre provided an overview of the rumored catalog divestment, though at the time of this writing, Shamrock didn’t seem to have commented publicly on the matter. Nor had the billionaire Swift, to whom the investment firm is reportedly being encouraged to sell the IP, weighed in.
However, judging by the mentioned piece’s framing and pricing details, it isn’t too difficult to guess which parties are forwarding related information to the media. As laid out by the report, none other than Scooter Braun is encouraging Shamrock (in which RidgeLake and Bonaccord took a stake in 2022) to sell the masters to Swift.
That refers to the recordings behind Swift’s first six albums, which, as described by the report, would carry a “price tag…in the ballpark of $600 million to $1 billion.”
Even the low end here, many will recognize at once, is substantially more than the $300 million or so that Shamrock reportedly paid Braun and Carlyle Group for the recordings back in November 2020.
Runaway inflation and sustained career success or not, it’s unclear whether the massive return is a realistic objective or a means of setting the negotiating tone, particularly given Swift’s “Taylor’s Version” re-recordings of the same works.
Not only are those re-recordings doing huge numbers on streaming, but thanks to Swift’s reach and professional connections, they’re the renditions making their way into programs like The Handmaid’s Tale, trailers, high-profile ad campaigns, and more.
(Per reports, Universal Music didn’t hesitate to modify its artist agreements to avoid re-recording fiascos down the line.)
On the ownership front, the competing catalogs tie back to a collection of complications that don’t exactly scream “billion-dollar deal” – especially since Swift herself is presumably far from eager to cough up the high-end sum for the recordings.
(Shifting the focus to the opposite side of the potential transaction once more, the commercial possibilities associated with authorizing AI training on the original masters is worth considering as well.)
Price-tag questions aside, it seems plausible that Shamrock, mainly for the above-outlined reasons but also in light of its increasingly varied song-rights holdings, may be receptive to selling. And as Swift certainly isn’t hard up for cash, it’ll be interesting to see whether she’s open to a deal and, assuming so, whether the parties can hammer out mutually satisfactory terms.
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