Taylor Swift reportedly has earned an estimated £6,738,785 a month in royalties solely from her three re-recorded albums.
Following the singer's 2019 dispute over her master recordings, to reclaim ownership of her music, she began re-recording and releasing her earlier catalogue.
Swift re-recorded her back catalogue in order to regain control of her previous recorded work.
This follows Swift’s former label, Big Machine Label Group selling her entire back catalogue (comprising her 2006 debut album through to 2017’s Reputation) to Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings as part of a reported $300 million deal.
When the news first broke, Swift posted a statement to Tumblr, part of which read:
“For years I asked, pleaded for a chance to own my work. Instead I was given an opportunity to sign back up to Big Machine Records and ‘earn’ one album back at a time, one for every new one I turned in. I walked away because I knew once I signed that contract, Scott Borchetta would sell the label, thereby selling me and my future. I had to make the excruciating choice to leave behind my past. Music I wrote on my bedroom floor and videos I dreamed up and paid for from the money I earned playing in bars, then clubs, then arenas, then stadiums.
“I learned about Scooter Braun’s purchase of my masters as it was announced to the world. All I could think about was the incessant, manipulative bullying I’ve received at his hands for years. 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.
This is my worst case scenario. This is what happens when you sign a deal at fifteen to someone for whom the term ‘loyalty’ is clearly just a contractual concept. And when that man says ‘Music has value’, he means its value is beholden to men who had no part in creating it.
When I left my masters in Scott’s hands, I made peace with the fact that eventually he would sell them. Never in my worst nightmares did I imagine the buyer would be Scooter. Any time Scott Borchetta has heard the words ‘Scooter Braun’ escape my lips, it was when I was either crying or trying not to. He knew what he was doing; they both did. Controlling a woman who didn’t want to be associated with them. In perpetuity. That means forever.”
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KingCasinoBonus.uk analysed Spotify data to determine how much Swift potentially earns in royalties from her re-recorded albums.
Streaming services pay artists on a 'pay per stream' basis, meaning for every song stream, Swift will earn £0.0063 in royalties.
Fearless (Taylor’s Version) was the first album to be re-recorded and re-released and receives an estimated £597,263 in royalties a month. Initially released in 2008, the re-recorded version was released on April 9 2021 and has so far received 2,559,699,885 streams, meaning it has earned an estimated total of £16,126,109 in royalties.
Red (Taylor’s Version) was the second album to be re-recorded and receives an estimated £1,106,924 in royalties a month. Initially released in 2012, the re-recorded version was released on November 12 2021 and has received over 3,514,044,437 streams on Spotify, earning an estimated total of £22,138,480 in royalties.
Speak Now (Taylor's Version) is the most recent release, and despite only being out for just over one month, it has received an estimated £5,034,598 in royalties. Initially released in 2010, the album was released last month and has received 799,142,464 streams since its release.
All three re-recorded albums topped the Billboard 200 charts, debuting at the number one spot. Furthermore, all 22 tracks from Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) entered the Billboard Hot 100.
Photo Credit: Beth Garrabrant