Taylor Swift has just made a huge announcement to her fans about her music, but those who've read between the lines of her lengthy statement have spotted a detail they're not too happy with.
Swifties across the globe will no doubt know all about Scooter Braun's company, Ithaca Holdings LLC, which purchased the Big Machine Label Group and all of its recorded music assets, which included the 35-year-old 'Cruel Summer' singer's first six albums.
Braun went on to sell the master rights to those albums, meaning that Taylor sadly did not own the rights to her own music.
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However, after years of fighting, the beloved pop star now officially owns all of her music as she shared a heartfelt message to fans expressing her jubilation over the news.
The letter, posted to her official Taylor Swift website on Friday (30 May), begins: "Hi.
"I’m trying to gather my thoughts into something coherent, but right now my mind is just a slideshow. A flashback sequence of all the times I daydreamed about, wished for, and pined away for a chance to get to tell you this news.
"All the times I was thiiiiiis close, reaching out for it, only for it to fall through. I almost stopped thinking it could ever happen, after 20 years of having the carrot dangled and then yanked away."
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She continued to add that that was all 'in the past now', saying: "I’ve been bursting into tears of joy at random intervals ever since I found out that this is really happening. I really get to say these words: All of the music I’ve ever made… now belongs… to me."
Clearly elated, Taylor outlined that this included all of her music videos, concert films, album art and photography and unreleased songs.
"Every single era," she gushed. "My entire life’s work."
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The award-winning star went on: "To say this is my greatest dream come true is actually being pretty reserved about it. To my fans, you know how important this has been to me – so much so that I meticulously re-recorded and released 4 of my albums, calling them Taylor’s Version.
"The passionate support you showed those albums and the success story you turned The Eras Tour into is why I was able to buy back my music. I can’t thank you enough for helping to reunite me with this art that I have dedicated my life to, but have never owned until now."
Sharing her excitement further, Taylor shared: "All I’ve ever wanted was the opportunity to work hard enough to be able to one day purchase my music outright with no strings attached, no partnership, with full autonomy. I will be forever grateful to everyone at Shamrock Capital for being the first people to ever offer this to me.
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"The way they’ve handled every interaction we’ve had has been honest, fair, and respectful. This was a business deal to them, but I really felt like they saw it for what it was to me: My memories and sweat and my handwriting and my decades of dreams.
"I am endlessly thankful. My first tattoo might just be a huge shamrock in the middle of my forehead."
Addressing her album Reputation (TV), which fans have been waiting for a new version of for quite some time now, Taylor explained: "I know, I know. What about Rep TV? Full transparency: I haven’t even re-recorded 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.
"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 6 that I thought couldn’t be improved upon by redoing it. Not the music, or photos, or videos. So I kept putting it off.
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"There will be a time (if you’re into the idea) for the unreleased Vault tracks from that album to hatch. I’ve already completely re-recorded my entire debut album, and I really love how it sounds now.
"Those 2 albums can still have their moments to re-emerge when the time is right, if that would be something you guys would be excited about. But if it happens, it won’t be from a place of sadness and longing for what I wish I could have. It will just be a celebration now."
Fans, while happy about the update, were seemingly not so stoked about not getting a new version of Reputation with many rushing to social media to share their gripes.
One Twitter user penned: "The way we were all looking forward to this album."
"Oh so we were clowning for an album not competed," hit out a second, while a third echoed: "THE WAY WE CLOWNED FOR REPUTATION TV 13000 TIMES AND SHE HASN'T EVEN RECORDED IT IM ON MY KNEES."
A fourth lamented: "Reputation TV getting a cancellation announcement instead of a release date..."
And a final user slammed: "OH SO WE’RE JUST NOT GETTING ITNOW??? F*CKK!"
Taylor also took time in her statement to reflect on the conversations the whole saga has sparked within the music industry for artists around owning the rights to their master recordings.
"Every time a new artist tells me they negotiated to own their master recordings in their record contract because of this fight, I’m reminded of how important it was for all of this to happen," she beamed.
"Thank you for being curious about something that used to be thought of as too industry-centric for broad discussion. You’ll never know how much it means to me that you cared. Every single bit of it counted, and ended us up here."
Signing off, she concluded: "Thanks to you and your goodwill, teamwork, and encouragement, the best things that have ever been mine… finally actually are.
"Elated and amazed, Taylor."
Topics: Taylor Swift, Celebrity, Music
Rhiannon Ingle