Taylor Swift masters dispute

Taylor Swift (pictured in 2006) signed her record deal with Big Machine Records in 2005 at age 15, giving the ownership of the masters of her first six studio albums to the label.

American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift signed a record deal with Universal Music Group label Republic Records in November 2018 after the expiration of her six-album recording contract with Big Machine Records, a Nashville-based independent record label, following the release of her sixth studio album, Reputation (2017). In June 2019, mainstream media reported that American media proprietor Scooter Braun purchased Big Machine from its founder Scott Borchetta for an estimated US$330,000,000, funded by the Carlyle Group, 23 Capital, Soros Fund Management, and various other private equity firms in a leveraged buyout. As part of the sale, Braun became the owner of all of the master recordings, music videos and promotional artworks copyrighted by Big Machine, including those of Swift's first six studio albums. In a Tumblr post, Swift said she had been trying to buy the masters for years, but that Big Machine had offered unfavorable conditions. She condemned Braun's purchase, recalling him being an "incessant, manipulative bully". Borchetta said that Swift had declined an opportunity to buy the masters and challenged Swift's claims.

Big Machine and Swift had a series of further disputes, including her allegations of the label blocking her from using her older material for the 2019 American Music Awards and the documentary Miss Americana (2020), as well as an unauthorized release of Live from Clear Channel Stripped 2008, an unreleased work by Swift, in 2020. Swift announced she would re-record the first six studio albums to create new masters, giving her complete ownership of her back catalog. In October 2020, Braun sold Swift's works to the Disney family's investment firm, Shamrock Holdings, for US$300,000,000, on the condition that he would continue to earn from the masters. Swift expressed her disapproval again and turned down Shamrock's offer for an equity partnership, reiterating she will re-record the albums.

Swift began releasing the re-recorded music in 2021, via Republic Records. She has released two re-recorded albums so far—Fearless (Taylor's Version), the re-recording of her 2008 album Fearless, on April 9, 2021, followed by Red (Taylor's Version), the re-recording of her 2012 album Red, on November 12, 2021; they were met with critical acclaim and commercial success, setting multiple sales, streaming and chart records. One of their tracks—"All Too Well (10 Minute Version)"—became the longest song in history to top the Billboard Hot 100, giving Swift the eighth number-one song of her career. The annual Rolling Stone report listed Swift as the highest paid female musician of 2021.

The controversy was highly publicized, drawing widespread attention and media coverage, with various musicians, publications, politicians and scholars supporting Swift's stance. It prompted a discourse on artists' rights, intellectual property, private equity, and ethics in the music industry, and has encouraged new artists to negotiate for greater ownership and revenue shares in their contracts with record labels. IHeartRadio, the largest radio network in the United States, stated it will replace the older versions with Swift's re-recorded tracks. Billboard named Swift the Greatest Pop Star of 2021, citing the successful and unprecedented outcomes of her re-recording venture.

Background

Copyright law

According to U.S. copyright law, any music recording is subject to two distinct types of ownership: one that protects the specific sound recording, and the other protecting the musical work. The ownership of the sound recording is referred to as owning a master, which is the first recording of the music, from which copies are made for sales and distribution. The owner of the master, therefore, owns all formats of the recording, such as digital versions for download or on streaming platforms, or physical versions available as CDs and vinyl records. Anyone who wishes to use or reproduce a recording must obtain a copyright license authorized by the master-owner. Before the emergence of digital music platforms, musicians relied on record labels to promote their music through means such as airplay or physical distributions to retailers. These labels would typically require artists to sign record deals which would give them the rights to their masters "in perpetuity". On the other hand, owning the musical work is referred to as owning the publishing rights, which covers the lyrics of the musical work before it became a sound recording, its melodies, sheet music, composition, and instrumental arrangements. Songwriters generally own the publishing rights, and are referred to as "publishers" of the music.

Context

In 2005, American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift participated in an industry showcase at Bluebird Cafe in Nashville, Tennessee, where she caught the attention of Scott Borchetta, a DreamWorks Records executive who had an idea of establishing his own independent record label. Borchetta approached Swift and discussed terms. Eventually, Swift signed a 13-year recording deal with Borchetta's new Nashville-based label, Big Machine Records, as their first recording artist. The contract gave Big Machine the ownership of the masters to Swift's first six albums in exchange for a cash advance.

From 2006 to 2017, Swift released six studio albums with Big Machine: Taylor Swift (2006), Fearless (2008), Speak Now (2010), Red (2012), 1989 (2014), and Reputation (2017), all of which were commercially lucrative. Although Big Machine owned the masters, Swift retained the publishing rights to the six albums due to her role as the main songwriter of all of the songs she had released under Big Machine, which would allow her to re-record the songs in the future if she wanted to, as per the artist-label agreement that stipulates the artist cannot re-record a song for a fixed period of time; Swift would not have been able to re-record her musical work had she not been a songwriter.

After her contract with Big Machine Records expired in November 2018, Swift signed a new contract with Universal Music Group record label Republic Records. Variety reported that to that point Swift's catalog constituted around 80% of Big Machine's revenue. Swift revealed a negotiation as part of her Republic Records contract which affected all artists signed to Universal: any sale of the company's shares in Spotify, which is the largest on-demand music streaming platform in the world, resulted in equity shares for all Universal artists on a non-recoupable basis. The contract with Republic Records also allowed Swift to fully own the albums the label will distribute, both the masters and the publishing rights, starting with her seventh studio album, Lover (2019).

Dispute

Scooter Braun (pictured in 2019) purchased Big Machine Records, and became the owner of the masters of Swift's first six albums which he later sold to Shamrock Holdings.

Braun's acquisition

Scooter Braun is an American media proprietor, talent manager and businessman known for managing the careers of music artists such as Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, Demi Lovato and Kanye West, all of whom are signed to his media company, SB Projects. In 2019, Braun acquired Big Machine Records by purchasing it for an estimated $330 million, via his holding company—Ithaca Holdings. The acquisition was financed by American private equity companies such as the Carlyle Group, 23 Capital, and Soros Fund Management, all of whom own a stake in Ithaca Holdings. As part of the acquisition, the ownership of all of the masters owned by Big Machine, including those of Swift's first six studio albums, were transferred to Braun.

Swift's response

"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 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."

Taylor Swift, Tumblr, June 30, 2019

On June 30, the day of Big Machine's announcement, Swift denounced the acquisition on Tumblr. She stated that she had tried to buy her masters for years, but was not given a chance unless she signed another contract that would require her to create six more albums under the label in exchange of the masters of the first six, which she felt was "unacceptable". While she knew that Big Machine was for sale, she said she was unaware that Braun—whom she described as an "incessant, manipulative bully"—would be the buyer: "Essentially, my musical legacy is about to lie in the hands of someone who tried to dismantle it", referring to Braun's involvement in the creation of Kanye West's music video for his 2016 single "Famous". Swift described the video as "a revenge porn music video which strips [her] body naked" in the post. She also claimed that Braun influenced Kim Kardashian to orchestrate an "illegally recorded" snippet of her phone call with West, and had "two of his clients" get together and bully her online, referring to a FaceTime screenshot of Justin Bieber, West and Braun, posted to Bieber's Instagram after Kardashian released the snippet. She accused Borchetta of betraying her loyalty for selling the masters of her catalog to Braun, whom Borchetta had known for "bullying" Swift.

Borchetta's reply

In response, Borchetta published a blog post titled "It's Time For Some Truth" on the Big Machine website. On June 25, 2019, Big Machine shareholders and Braun's Ithaca Holdings held a phone call regarding the transaction. While Swift's father, Scott Swift, was one of Big Machine's minority shareholders (holding 4% of stakes), he did not join the phone call due to a "very strict" non-disclosure agreement. A final call was held on June 28, when Scott Swift was represented by a lawyer from Swift's management company, 13 Management.

Borchetta said he had texted Swift on June 29, thus challenging her claim that she had not been aware of Braun's transaction beforehand. He denied that Swift had been hostile toward Braun, whom he described as a "good source of information". He also posted a text message he alleged Swift had sent before signing to Republic Records; in the message, Swift said she would accept another seven-year contract with Big Machine on the condition that she took ownership of her audiovisual works. Borchetta agreed, but asked for a ten-year contract. The authenticity of the text message has not been verified.

Further discord

On November 14, 2019, Swift accused Braun and Borchetta of blocking her from performing her older songs at the American Music Awards of 2019 and from using older material for her 2020 documentary Miss Americana. Swift said Braun and Borchetta were "exercising tyrannical control" over her music, and claimed Borchetta told her team that she would be allowed to use the music only if she agreed to not re-record "copycat versions" of her songs; Swift commented, "the message being sent to me is very clear. Basically, be a good little girl and shut up. Or you'll be punished."

In response, Big Machine Records rejected Swift's claim and stated "we have worked diligently to have a conversation about these matters with Taylor and her team to productively move forward. However, despite our persistent efforts to find a private and mutually satisfactory solution, Taylor made a unilateral decision last night to enlist her fanbase." Nevertheless, Big Machine later issued a statement saying they had "agreed to grant all licenses of their artists' performances to stream post show and for re-broadcast on mutually approved platforms" for the American Music Awards; the statement did not mention Swift. The statement also said that Big Machine had negotiated with the producer of the award show, Dick Clark Productions; to the contrary, Dick Clark Productions stated that they never agreed to issue any statement with Big Machine.

Tree Paine, Swift's publicist since 2014, released a statement the next day. Paine said Swift avoided performing her older songs at the Tmall Double Eleven Gala 2020, a Singles Day event in China, and sang only three songs from Lover, because "it was clear that Big Machine Label Group felt any televised performance of catalog songs violated her agreement." Paine also denied Big Machine's statement that said Swift "has admitted to contractually owing millions of dollars and multiple assets" to the label, and claimed Big Machine is attempting to deflect from the $7.9 million of unpaid royalties that the label owes to Swift "over several years", as assessed by "an independent, professional auditor".

Braun claimed he received death threats from Swift's fans, and wanted to have a conversation with Swift on the controversy. Big Machine Label Group's headquarters in Nashville was reportedly shut down early on November 14, 2019, due to "direct and hostile death threats" made to company's employees. In April 2020, Big Machine released Live from Clear Channel Stripped 2008, a live album of Swift's performances at a 2008 radio show for Clear Channel. Swift said she did not authorize the release, and dismissed it as "just another case of shameless greed in the time of Coronavirus." Live from Clear Channel Stripped 2008 earned only 33 units in the US and failed to chart anywhere.

Aftermath

Swift's solution to the masters dilemma was to make new recordings of her musical work in the six albums, which she already owns in her right as the publisher, sound like the original recordings as much as possible. Hence, she announced in August 2019 that she would "re-record" the six albums and release them so as to own the complete rights to her music herself. By re-recording, Swift is technically covering her own songs into new sound recordings, resulting in new masters that she fully owns, which would enable her to control the licensing of her songs for commercial use, bypassing the owners of the older masters and subsequently devaluing them.

The New York Times reported that the Carlyle Group contacted Braun and encouraged him to reach a ceasefire with Swift, such as a joint-venture partnership, to prevent her from re-recording, according to an undisclosed group of "four people close to the situation", three of whom said the firm was "unhappy to be dragged into the dispute in such a public way."

Re-sale to Shamrock

In October 2020, Braun sold the masters, videos and artworks to Shamrock Holdings, an American private equity firm owned by the Disney estate, for reportedly $300 million. Swift claimed that Braun offered her a chance at bidding on her masters on the condition of signing a non-disclosure agreement regarding her public statements on Braun, which she refused. She also claimed that Braun mandated Shamrock not to notify the singer regarding the sale until after it was complete, and that she further declined an offer by Shamrock to become an equity partner, on the grounds that Braun and Ithaca Holdings would continue to financially benefit from her work. Swift upheld her original decision and began the re-recording process in November 2020.

According to a November 2021 report by Financial Times, Braun believed that Swift was "just bluffing" about re-recording. The newspaper stated that, after purchasing Big Machine, Braun began searching for buyers for the masters of Swift's back catalog, and that himself and co-investors told potential buyers that Swift would not actually re-record the albums, calling her announcement an "empty threat"; Braun also told the buyers that Swift's social media posts about the dispute would only generate more publicity, boosting streams and downloads of the albums. Financial Times further alleged that the deal between Braun and Shamrock included "a post-purchase earnout to Braun and Carlyle Group, if sales and streams hit specific targets".

Swift's re-recordings

Swift began releasing her re-recorded music in 2021. The re-recorded albums and songs are identified by the note "(Taylor's Version)" added to all of their titles, to tell them apart from the older recordings.

In February 2021, Swift announced that she had finished re-recording her 2008 studio album Fearless and released "Love Story (Taylor's Version)", a re-recording of the album's lead single "Love Story" on February 12. She then released two other tracks of the album before the release of Fearless (Taylor's Version) on April 9. Fearless (Taylor's Version) received rave reviews from music critics, who also praised Swift's move to re-record her music, viewing it as an act of preservation of artists' rights. The original Fearless was charting at number 157 on the US Billboard 200 chart before the impact of Fearless (Taylor's Version), after which the original recording dropped 19% in sales and fell off the chart completely, while the re-recording debuted at number one. Ben Sisario of The New York Times opined that Fearless (Taylor's Version) "accomplished what appeared to be one of Swift's goals: burying the original Fearless."

On September 15, 2021, following a viral TikTok trend involving "Wildest Dreams" (2015) that was gaining traction, the older recording of the song accumulated 735,000 plays on Spotify, marking the highest single-day streams ever for the song on the streaming platform. The next day, it reached a new peak at 750,000 plays. On September 17, Swift posted a snippet on her TikTok account, teasing the re-recorded song's bridge as part of the said trend, captioning it "if you guys want to use my version of wildest dreams for the slow zoom trend, here she is!". She also said "felt cute might drop the whole song later", hinting at the suspected release of the song's re-recording. "Wildest Dreams (Taylor's Version)" was subsequently released to streaming platforms an hour after the TikTok post. Swift stated via her social media accounts that she saw "Wildest Dreams" trending on TikTok and thought fans should have "[her] version" of the song. In its first four hours of availability itself, "Wildest Dreams (Taylor's Version)" amassed 2,003,391 Spotify streams, easily breaking the record the older version of "Wildest Dreams" had set a few days prior.

On November 12, 2021, Swift released Red (Taylor's Version), the re-recorded issue of her 2012 album Red, consisting of all 30 songs that were originally meant for the 2012 version. The album broke several sales, streaming, and chart records, and was met with widespread acclaim, becoming her highest rated album by critics on Metacritic. Its closing track, "All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor's Version) [From The Vault]", scored Swift the eighth Billboard Hot 100 number-one song of her career and garnered the Guinness World Record for the longest song of all time to top the chart. The song's producer Jack Antonoff stated to Rolling Stone that a 10-minute-long song topping the Hot 100 teaches artists to "not listen" to what the industry has to say.

Impact

Peer reactions

Entertainment industry

Swift's response and social media posts sparked support from many of her contemporaries. Musicians who supported her include Dionne Warwick, Anne Murray, Cher, Selena Gomez, Halsey, Sky Ferreira, Iggy Azalea, Sara Bareilles, Lily Allen, Tinashe, Ella Eyre, Hayley Kiyoko, Camila Cabello, Jordan Pruitt, Brendon Urie, Kelly Clarkson, Kelsea Ballerini, Jojo, Azealia Banks, The Regrettes, Echosmith, Haim, Jack Antonoff, Alessia Cara, Allie X, Hrvy, Gretchen Peters, Iza and Katy Perry, who agreed with Swift's reason that artists should rightfully own their music. When questioned about his stance, Ed Sheeran said "I have been speaking directly to [Swift], like I always do." Others who supported Swift via social media include Cara Delevingne, Heidi Montag, Sara Sampaio, Martha Hunt, Gigi Hadid, Antoni Porowski, Bobby Berk, Ruby Rose, Jameela Jamil, Joseph Khan, Mike Birbiglia, and Mamrie Hart. Beyoncé, Rihanna, Miley Cyrus, Nicki Minaj, Gwen Stefani, and Adele reportedly unfollowed Braun on their social media accounts, following Swift's post.

A few musicians supported Braun, including Sia, Ty Dolla Sign, and Braun's clients Justin Bieber and Demi Lovato. Lovato and Sia said they believe Braun is a man of good character and that his actions were not personal. Todrick Hall, who supported Swift, engaged in a back-and-forth argument with Lovato on Twitter. Bieber apologized to Swift in an Instagram post for his 2016 FaceTime selfie with a caption targeting Swift, but defended his manager, saying: "Scooter has had your back since the days you graciously let me open up for you [...] years have passed we haven't crossed paths and gotten to communicate our differences, hurts or frustrations. So for you to take it to social media and get people to hate on Scooter isn't fair." His wife, Hailey Bieber, called him a "gentleman" under the post, which prompted Cara Delevingne to criticize her. Ariana Grande, also a client of Braun, posted an Instagram story congratulating Braun on purchasing Big Machine but deleted it after Swift posted her statement. David Geffen, a music executive whom Braun has often described as a mentor, supported Braun but said "only time will tell who made the wise decision."

In May 2021, Olivia Rodrigo stated that she negotiated with her record label to own her music's masters herself, after observing Swift's battle. Joe Jonas said that he wishes to re-record Jonas Brothers' back catalog just like Swift.

Politicians

US Democrat politicians Elizabeth Warren (pictured left) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (right) criticized the "predatory" purchases of creative businesses by private equity groups for harming the US economy.

On November 19, 2019, US senator Elizabeth Warren, who was one of the Democratic candidates in the 2020 United States presidential election, stated on Twitter that Swift is "one of many" whose work has been threatened by private equity firms, who keep "gobbling up more and more of our economy, costing jobs and crushing entire industries." US representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez also sided with Swift. She tweeted: "Private equity groups' predatory practices actively hurt millions of Americans. Their leveraged buyouts have destroyed the lives of retail workers across the country, scrapping 1+ million jobs. Now they're holding [Swift's] own music hostage. They need to be reigned in." On October 6, 2021, ahead of the 2021 Virginia gubernatorial election, Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe launched a series of negative advertisements on Facebook, Instagram, and Google Search, tying the Republican candidate Glenn Youngkin to Braun's purchase of Swift's masters. The ad included the slogan "#WeStandWithTaylor", a hashtag used by Swift's fans during the fallout of the dispute, and asked her supporters to vote for McAuliffe. Youngkin was co-CEO of the Carlyle Group, the major sponsor in Braun's acquisition of Big Machine and Swift's masters while Swift has communicated her #1 priority is to “Unanimously impeach Youngkin the Thief!” and firing staff members for failing to hit their daily email quota to Virginia State Delegates calling for Youngkin’s impeachment. Jared Polis, the Governor of Colorado, mentioned Swift's re-recording venture as a highlight of 2021 in his annual gubernatorial address to the state on January 14, 2022, and sang the chorus of "22 (Taylor's Version)" in reference to the new year of 2022.

Swift is also reportedly lobbying all fifty state legislatures to make the “performance or possession of non-Taylor versions” a felony with a mandatory jail sentence of life with no chance of parole.

Press reception

Swift's re-recording venture was one of the most widely discussed and covered news topics of 2021, and has been described by media outlets as one of the year's prominent pop-culture moments. Publications highlighted her public opposition to the acquisition of her masters as trailblazing: while the issue of master ownership and the conflicts between record labels and artists such as Prince, The Beatles, Janet Jackson, and Def Leppard have been prevalent, Swift was one of the few to make it public.

Rolling Stone described the masters dispute as one of the 50 "most important moments" of the music industry in the 2010s decade: "While Braun and Borchetta vehemently contest [Swift's claims], the actual facts of the situation may not matter — as Swift is using every tool she's got, including pleading directly to a zealous fanbase for help, to establish herself as a self-made artist who calls her own shots." The Guardian said Swift's masters dispute hinted at a change in the digital music era, where artists are more informed of their ownership and would not rely on record labels for marketing as heavily as in the past. Variety wrote that Swift's highly publicized move to re-record her back catalog would inspire other artists to "further deputize or weaponize fans in their own business disputes", unlike the comparatively less successful attempts by contemporary artists to own their music. The Atlantic wrote that the re-recordings have been "a dazzling victory lap" that seems to be inspiring other artists, disproving industry observers who had doubted Swift's move to re-record.

Elle and The New Yorker hailed the "(Taylor's Version)" tag attached to the re-recorded music as genius re-branding of Swift's back catalog. Money Marketing said the situation helps understand "dangerous investing", such as Braun's. The New Zealand Herald dubbed Swift's move to re-record an "ultimate middle finger to the bureaucracy of the music industry", while revealing how "even someone of Swift's star power cannot hold on to the rights to her recorded work." Recognizing the visibility she brings to "one of the music industry's longest standing issues", Pitchfork said Swift "is also so huge—not just an artist but a brand—that she can enact change by wielding the leverage of the reliability of her success", and that when she makes a statement, it is "financially lucrative for the industry to listen". With the success of Red (Taylor's Version), Business Insider said "the Taylor's Version era is already sending shockwaves throughout the industry."

As per The Wall Street Journal, in case of usage of her back catalog in mass media, such as for commercials and movies, Swift can shut out Shamrock and Braun by directly lending the concerned song to the third party, authorizing the copyright license herself. Marie Claire said the re-recorded albums free Swift from the sexist tabloid scrutiny of her private life that overshadowed her past works, by re-introducing listeners and critics to the same songs but without "as much gender bias", and that the audiences who "didn't believe she was a feminist before (for whatever, sexist reason) can't deny the feminist undertones of becoming the industry spokesperson for artists' rights."

The New York Times, The A.V. Club and MarketWatch felt Swift's criticisms were targeting private equity firms, highlighting her mention of the Carlyle Group in her social media posts. The New York Times said, "at a time of public outrage over corporate greed and a heightened awareness of gender-based power dynamics, the 29-year-old Ms. Swift was able to turn a commercial dispute into a cause célèbre." MarketWatch described the Carlyle Group as a "powerful and politically connected" firm based in Washington, D.C., whose investments constitute a global portfolio of 272 companies, including Supreme, Dunkin' Brands, and many aerospace and defense companies.

Scholarly study

Various lawyers, authors, and law firms published their analyses and comments on the controversy. Susan H. Hilderley, music attorney at University of California's Los Angeles School of Law, told The Washington Post that Swift not owning her masters is "nothing out of the ordinary". Hilderley noted Swift was an unknown artist when she signed her record deal and that signing off the masters to the record label is the "kind of terms" usually followed in artist-label agreements. Meredith Rose, senior policy counsel at Public Knowledge, wrote in her American Bar Association post that "if Swift—who is, without exaggeration, one of the biggest powerhouse pop stars of an entire generation—can't get her own masters back, who could? Turns out, almost nobody."

According to Tonya Butler, professor and chair of the Music Business Management Department at Berklee College of Music, also a former entertainment attorney and record company executive, "regardless of the reasons why [Swift is] re-recording, whether it's spite or good business, the fact she is bringing to attention the re-recording restriction agreement alone makes the whole controversy valuable." James Jeffries-Chung of Norton Rose Fulbright asserted Shamrock cannot prevent Swift from re-recording her music by any legal measure since she is the publisher of her songs and that all they can hope is "listeners may be less interested in hearing modern takes of songs they enjoyed a decade ago and stick with the originals." McBrayer's Peter J. Rosene stated that each "Taylor's Version" album lowers the value of the master of its respective original held by Shamrock and predicted that the sales of the re-recordings "might, in fact, outperform the original albums."

American author Steve Stoute said "you build it; we make you think that you own it; you act like you own it; but at the end of the day, we own it." He opined that Swift's dilemma is a painful illustration of the fundamental issue with the music business that has been following a "sharecropping" model. Sonal Lalwani of National Law University felt that John Locke's labor theory of property applies to Swift, who sells her songs and albums using her name as a brand—"a truly scarce product that nobody can reproduce." According to professor R. Polk Wagner of the University of Pennsylvania Law School, Swift associating her lyrics with a range of goods and services through trademark applications represents her understanding that "she is bigger than the music". He added "it's more of a branding right, thinking of Taylor Swift as a conglomerate." Doug McMahon of Irish firm McCann Fitzgerald LLP opined that Swift's situation demonstrates how "the bundle of related copyrights that exist in a piece of music can give rise to complex disputes" and upheld her move to re-record as a "relatively novel solution", in regards to the copyright legislations in Ireland.

On October 4, 2021, Rafael Landívar University in Guatemala hosted a conference on the topic "International Copyright Protection: Analyzing Taylor Swift's Case". In January 2022, an academic course focusing on Swift's career and its cultural impact was launched at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts for spring semesters, with "copyright and ownership" as one of the topics covered by the syllabus.

Legacy

Hashtags "#IStandWithTaylor" and "#WeStandWithTaylor" trended worldwide on Twitter following Swift's post.

Swift's fans mined information about the Carlyle Group and its connection to the civil war in Yemen; the Carlyle Group owns the aerospace manufacturer Wesco Aircraft Holdings, which supplies parts for building Saudi Arabian combat aircraft that are used to bomb people in Yemen. Following the release of Fearless (Taylor's Version), Swift's fans blocked the tracks of Fearless on their digital music platforms, such as Spotify, to prevent accidentally streaming it, in order to make the older recordings "disappear".

Songs from each of Swift's 2020 albums, "My Tears Ricochet" and "Mad Woman" from Folklore, and "It's Time to Go" from Evermore, were underscored by critics for their references to the dispute, Borchetta, and Braun.

The Recording Academy said the "Taylor's Versions" are a music trend that defined 2021. Weverse said "the recording industry had been watching [Swift's] rerecording project closely to see where it might go and has recently begun to react" and pointed out that musicians have started to demand the rights to their masters "more and more often" following the controversy. In November 2021, The Wall Street Journal reported that Universal Music Group, the parent company of Swift's current label, has doubled the amount of time that restricts artists from re-recording their works in their recording deals hereafter. The very same day, Red (Taylor's Version) broke a chain of streaming records. The newspaper said this represents "shifting power dynamics in the music business", as artists have started to demand better revenue shares and ownership of the masters to their music, incentivized by Swift's situation.

On November 17, 2021, iHeartRadio announced that its radio stations will only play the "Taylor's Version" songs from now on, and has replaced the older recordings with the re-recorded tracks, with plans to replace the rest of the older recordings with the re-recorded tracks as they are officially released. American philanthropist Melinda French Gates, former manager of Microsoft, said Swift "taking back her own music" was her favorite music of 2021.

In December 2021, Billboard conferred Swift "The Greatest Pop Star of 2021" title, saying she "rewrote industry rules and had one of the most impactful years of her storied pop career without even releasing an entirely new album." The magazine stated that the "unequivocal success" of Fearless (Taylor's Version) and Red (Taylor's Version) prove the widespread acceptance of the recordings, which replaced the older versions as "the ones listeners will be digesting and caring about moving forward." Swift and her comment on her re-recording venture were featured in "2021, in 6 minutes", a video montage by Vox summarizing the major world events of the year. Fearless (Taylor's Version) and Red (Taylor's Version) made Swift the highest paid female musician of 2021, ahead of artists who released brand new albums that year. Forbes estimated her earnings in the year to be US$52,000,000.