How Much Did Scooter Braun Buy Taylor Swift's Albums?

(Photo : Kevin Winter/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management)

Perhaps the most controversial sale that ever happened in the music industry in recent memory was Scooter Braun's purchase of Big Machine Label Group, launching an all-out war between him and Taylor Swift.

Since then, many people have been curious, how much did Scooter Braun buy Taylor Swift's albums?

Taylor Swift Masters Recording Issue Explained

In a new in-depth report from Music Business Worldwide, the outlet broke down what transpired during the now-infamous sale of the indie label Big Machine Label Group (BMLG).

At the time BMLG went on sale, it had a price tag of $300 million. Back then it was reported that Universal Music Group went close to purchasing BMLG, which owned the master rights of the six albums of Taylor Swift - debut, Fearless, Speak Now, Red, 1989, and Reputation.

However, it was revealed by the outlet's sources that only Scooter Braun's Ithaca Holdings was willing to buy it for the said price. However, it was also revealed only recently that it was purchased for $330 million.

Eventually, the sale was publicized, which prompted Taylor Swift to verbalize her frustrations and anger in a now-iconic Tumblr post.

"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," she wrote at the time. "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."

The $330 million deal of Braun's Ithaca Holdings was composed of the $300 million label group, and the additional $30 million was for the publishing operation.