Pitched Unfairly

Taylor's Version

Six albums. Two ways to own them.

Make-vs-buy business casePrepared November 2020

Masters, six albums

make or buy?

The decision

Buy back the old masters, or make new ones.

Studio work orderNo. 2020-11

Asset
Master recordings, six albums, 2006 to 2017
Current owner
Shamrock Capital (since November 2020)
Decide by
November 2020

A Buy the originals back

B Re-record them, own the new ones

see p. 11

Why now

The masters have sold twice since 2019. Now the window opens.

Session logMasters, six albums

  1. Nov 2018Big Machine contract ends. New deal with Republic Records.
  2. Jun 2019Ithaca Holdings acquires Big Machine Label Group, reported at about $300M.
  3. Aug 2019On Good Morning America, she says she will re-record.
  4. Nov 2020The masters sell to Shamrock Capital, reported at over $300M.
  5. Nov 2020Albums one to five are cleared to re-record. The window opens.

Option A: buy

Buy the originals. They last sold for over $300M.

$300 M+

Reported, Nov 2020 sale

You get
The original recordings of all six albums
Terms on offer
A partnership, not a sale (her statement, Nov 2020)
Earnings
The prior owner keeps a share, under the 2020 sale terms
Timeline
Whenever a seller says yes

Option B: build

Record all six again. Own every new master.

Trk 01 Taylor Swift 2006 Nov 2020
Trk 02 Fearless 2008 Nov 2020
Trk 03 Speak Now 2010 Nov 2020
Trk 04 Red 2012 Nov 2020
Trk 05 1989 2014 Nov 2020
Trk 06 Reputation 2017 Later
Cost
Studio, band, producers. Our assumption on p. 7
Ownership
100% of every new master
Bonus
Songs from the vault that never came out

How we compare

Five criteria, ownership counted twice.

Buy wins on reach. Build wins everything else.

CriterionA: BuyB: Build
Ownershipx2 Shared with a partner 100% of the new masters
Cost Over $300M Studio time
Time to value Up to the seller First album in months
Fan reach Everyone already streams them Fans have to switch
Upside The same recordings Unreleased vault songs
Weighted score 13/ 30 24/ 30

Make vs buy

Building wins unless almost nobody switches.

came in at 62% by 2025. See p. 10

Cost per point of listening you own

A: Buy $3.00M $300M+ reported, for 100%
B: Build $0.15M $6.00M for 40%

Build is 20x cheaper

Risks

Both options carry risk. Only B's are ours to fix.

OptionRiskMitigationOwner
A The catalog keeps changing hands, and the price moves with it. Set a ceiling before any talks. Walk away above it. Deal team
A Shared ownership: someone else keeps earning from the old masters. Buy only on sole-ownership terms, or not at all. Deal team
B Fans keep streaming the originals out of habit. Put "(Taylor's Version)" on every title, and ask them to switch. Taylor
B Six albums is years of studio time on top of new records. One album at a time, each with unreleased vault songs. Studio

Early proof

The pilot debuted at No. 1. So did the next three.

  1. Fearless (Taylor's Version)Apr 2021 291K No. 1
  2. Red (Taylor's Version)Nov 2021 605K No. 1
  3. Speak Now (Taylor's Version)Jul 2023 716K No. 1

US first-week units, Billboard 200

1989 (Taylor's Version) · Oct 2023

1.653 M

Taylor's Version Original, 2014: 1.287M

beat the original by ~400K

Early proof: listening

Given the choice, the US streamed Taylor's Version.

Which version do you stream?

62%

20.5B streams went to Taylor's Version

Fearless

2.7B 4.0B

Speak Now

2.1B 2.0B

Red

7.5B 3.7B

1989

8.2B 3.0B

Taylor's VersionOriginalUS streams since each re-release, to May 2025. Luminate

Recommendation

Build now. Buy only on our terms.

DecisionNov 2020

  1. ApproveRe-record albums one to five, starting November 2020
  2. PilotFearless first. Review after its first week
  3. HoldBuy the originals only with sole ownership

Approved

Timeline

Four albums made, then all six bought. Both done by May 2025.

B: Build
Fearless Apr 2021 Red Nov 2021 Speak Now Jul 2023 1989 Oct 2023
4 of 6 re-recorded
  • Fearless Apr 2021
  • Red Nov 2021
  • Speak Now Jul 2023
  • 1989 Oct 2023
A: Buy
On hold Nov 2020
all 6 bought back, May 2025