Taylor Swift has spoken candidly about her long-standing struggle to regain ownership of her music masters. During her recent appearance on her boyfriend Travis Kelce and his brother Jason’s podcast, New Heights, the Lover singer not only announced her upcoming album, The Life of a Showgirl, but also shared the emotional story of getting her music back.
“I thought about not owning my music every day. It was like an intrusive thought I had every day,” Taylor said. “I want it because this is my hand-written diary entries from my whole life.” She added, “These are the songs I wrote about every phase of my life. This is my photography, my music videos, most of which I funded, my artwork. Everything that I’ve ever done is in this catalogue.”
With tears in her eyes, Taylor recalled the moment her mother, Andrea Swift, and brother, Austin, went to meet with Shamrock Capital, the company that owned her masters. Apologizing for getting emotional, Taylor explained, “Sorry—this happens, because, I don’t ever really talk about it because…”
She continued, “They sat down with Shamrock Capital and told them what this meant to me.” She then shared the moment she found out the deal was done. “We were in Kansas City, and I get a call from my mom and she’s like, ‘We got your music,'” referring to the time she was staying with Travis after the Super Bowl. “So sorry, it’s literally been so long since this happened. It’s every time I talk about it. I just very dramatically hit the floor, for real.”
Describing Travis’s reaction, Taylor said, “He puts his headset down. He’s like, ‘Guys, I gotta go.’ I think you thought something was wrong. I was like, ‘I got my music back,’ and then just start absolutely heaving.”
“Yeah, this changed my life. I can’t believe it still,” Taylor added. “Every time I think about it, I have to tell the short version to everyone. This will affect the rest of my life. I think about this every day now but instead of it being an intrusive thought that hurts me, I’m like, ‘I can’t believe this happened. How lucky am I?'” She also revealed that she wasn’t the only one crying.
Travis told his brother, “I started crying too, you know I’m a crier.” Taylor confirmed, “You were weeping.”
The singer’s album, The Life of a Showgirl, is set to be released on October 3.
