Although she has regained ownership of the entire original recording, Taylor Swift may still have to share the rights to exploit some songs, after Max Martin and his associates transferred the music publishing rights portfolio.
According to Page Six, producer Max Martin, Shellback and the Wolf Cousins team sold their publishing rights portfolio to investment fund HarbourView Equity Partners in a deal believed to be worth hundreds of millions of USD.
Entertainment lawyer Bradfield Biggers said that this transaction does not affect Taylor Swift's ownership of the original recording. However, if HarbourView receives publishing rights for songs that Taylor Swift co-wrote with Max Martin and associates, this investment fund may participate in deciding on the licensing of exploiting those works.
According to Mr. Biggers, this mainly involves activities using music in films, television programs, advertisements or media campaigns. In these cases, licensing usually requires the consent of both the original recording owner and the publishing rights owner.
Some of Taylor Swift's songs are said to be in the transfer portfolio including "Style" (album 1989) and "... Ready for It?" (album Reputation). However, not all the songs that the Pop superstar has collaborated with Max Martin are in the deal.
Mr. Bradfield Biggers said HarbourView did not become Taylor Swift's partner. However, holding economic benefits for Taylor Swift's hits will help investment funds benefit from the commercial value of these works in the future.
HarbourView CEO, Ms. Sherrese Clarke, said that the company focuses on investing in long-term intellectual property assets. According to her, Max Martin and Shellback are two of the most successful producers of contemporary Pop music, owning a portfolio of many globally influential songs.
In addition to Taylor Swift's compositions, the transferred catalog also includes hits from Ariana Grande, The Weeknd, Imagine Dragons, Ellie Goulding, Tove Lo and DNCE.
This information was released shortly after Taylor Swift ended her years-long journey to regain ownership of original recordings in her career. In 2019, Taylor Swift's first 6 albums were transferred when Big Machine Records was sold to Scooter Braun. A year later, Scooter Braun continued to sell this portfolio to Shamrock Capital.
To regain control of her works, Taylor Swift re-recorded old albums under the label "Taylor's Version". By May 2025, the singer born in 1989 announced that she had completed the purchase of all original recordings.
I burst into tears of happiness many times. Finally, I can say that all the music I once created now really belongs to me," Taylor Swift shared.
According to experts, ownership of the original recording and song publishing rights are two types of independent rights in the music industry. Therefore, Taylor Swift owning the original recording does not mean that she has full authority to decide on all commercial exploitation activities for songs if the publishing rights belong to another entity.
