Artists Who Have Fought for Ownership of Their Music

Taylor Swift

Swift was 15 when she signed with Scott Borchetta’s record label Big Machine Label Group. She left for Universal Music Group in late 2018, securing the rights to any of her future master recordings with UMG in the process.

However, the songs on her first six albums remained the property of BMLG until reports broke on June 30, 2019, that Braun’s Ithaca Holdings had acquired the label, essentially giving him ownership.

The Grammy-winning singer-songwriter detailed her frustration with the situation in a scathing post on Tumblr, describing Braun’s ownership of her catalogue as her “worst case scenario” and accusing the manager of “incessant, manipulative bullying” over the years.

In late 2020, Braun sold Swift’s masters to Shamrock Capital for more than $300 million.

To regain control amid the legal battle, Swift announced plans to re-record her first six albums. Four were eventually released: Fearless (Taylor’s Version) in April 2021, Red (Taylor’s Version) in November 2021, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) in July 2023 and 1989 (Taylor’s Version) in October 2023.

In May 2025, the “Fortnight” singer announced she had reacquired the master recordings and rights for approximately $360 million, according to Billboard.

“I’ve been bursting into tears of joy at random intervals ever since I found out that this is really happening. I really get to say these words: All of the music I’ve ever made… now belongs… to me,” Swift wrote in a letter on her official website.

Swift added that her remaining two early albums could “still have their moments to re-emerge when the time is right,” and they “will just be a celebration now.”

Prince

Prince dedicated much of his career to fighting for artists’ rights to their music.

The late musician — who died of an accidental drug overdose in April 2016 — famously protested his contract with Warner Bros. (now Warner Records) by appearing onstage with the word “slave” on his cheek. He also changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol in an attempt to gain ownership over his music catalog.

In 1996, the singer secured ownership of any future recordings following his mutual release from the label. Per Billboard, he secured his early masters from Warner Bros. in 2014 in exchange for releasing two new albums through the label.

“Record contracts are just like — I’m gonna say the word — slavery,” Prince told Rolling Stone in 2015. “I would tell any young artist … don’t sign.”

Kesha

Kesha was embroiled in a legal back-and-forth with producer Dr. Luke (né Lukasz Gottwald) for nearly a decade.

The “Woman” singer sued Dr. Luke in 2014 for allegedly drugging and raping her in 2005, as well as for verbal, physical and emotional abuse. Luke denied all claims and filed a countersuit that same year.

All but one of Kesha’s abuse claims were dismissed by a judge in 2016 because the alleged events fell outside the statute of limitations. The lawsuit was settled out of court in 2023.

In between, she released three albums: 2017’s Rainbow — its lead single was the power ballad “Praying,” which featured lyrics about overcoming hardships — 2020’s High Road and 2023’s Gag Order (since renamed Eat the Acid), her last contractually obligated record under Dr. Luke’s Kemosabe Records label.

On July 4, 2025, Kesha released her sixth studio album, . (PERIOD), through her independent label, Kesha Records. She told Forbes in 2024 that she started her own record company “to change the world” for artists enduring similar situations.

. (PERIOD) marked Kesha’s first full-length project since both her legal battle and her long-held contract with Sony Music ended in 2023.

“I feel very whole,” the pop star told PEOPLE in 2025. “Now all of my energy gets to focus back on my true purpose — helping people feel seen, loved, safe and f—ing entertained as hell. My power is all back in my hands, and I’m excited.”

The Beatles

The fight for ownership over The Beatles’ music catalog was a “long and winding road.”

After the band’s debut 1963 album Please Please Me found a home with publisher Dick James and his company Northern Songs, James sold his stake in the company to ATV Music in 1969. John Lennon and Paul McCartney offered a counterbid but lost to ATV.

In 1985, Michael Jackson — who’d been informed about the lucrative aspects of publishing by McCartney himself when they collaborated on 1982’s “Say, Say, Say” — bought ATV’s catalog for $47.5 million. Billboard reported the 400-song purchase included nearly 250 by the rock band.

Due to reported financial issues, Jackson sold half of his ATV share to Sony in 1995, forming Sony/ATV Music Publishing. Following the pop icon’s death in 2009, Jackson’s shares went to his estate, which Sony bought out in 2016.

After decades of drama surrounding the rights to their masters, McCartney filed a federal lawsuit against the music publisher in January 2017, according to The New York Times. He aimed to regain some of the band’s earliest works under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, which allows artists to reclaim copyright from publishers after 35 years, as well as several songs from his early solo work.

Per Reuters, McCartney reached a confidential settlement with Sony/ATV in June 2017.

Iggy Azalea

On Nov. 3, 2018, Iggy Azalea (born Amethyst Amelia Kelly) shared that she was “officially unsigned” from Island Records.

“Wild you spend so long trying to get IN a record deal… never thought I’d be so elated to be OUT of one,” Azalea — who was originally signed to Island Def Jam Music Group in 2013 — wrote in a now-deleted post on X (formerly Twitter), per Variety. “Now I’m free to release whatever kinda music I like, whenever I’d like woooo!”

Two weeks later, the “Fancy” rapper announced on the social media platform that she had signed a new record deal worth $2.7 million. In the since-deleted post, Azalea stated that she would own her masters moving forward and could sign other artists as she was “100% independent.”

It was later revealed that the distribution deal was with EMPIRE.

“The ability to have control of my own artistic future is a long-awaited and monumental change in my life,” she said in a press release, per Paper magazine. “I genuinely feel I am in the best position to achieve my creative ambitions.”

Under her label, Bad Dreams Records, the Australian artist released the albums In My Defense (2019) and The End of an Era (2021). Following the latter’s release, she announced her plan to take a few years off from music but came out of retirement in 2022.

That year, she also sold her music catalog to Domain Capital in an eight-figure deal, as reported by Billboard. In 2024, Azalea retired from music (again), telling fans she wasn’t going to finish her fourth album and would instead focus on non-music creative ventures.

JoJo

JoJo — whose real name is Joanna Noëlle Levesque — signed a seven-album deal with Blackground Records at age 12, but the deal didn’t pan out as she had anticipated.

“It was a dream come true,” she told Vulture in 2015. “We were assured that the deal was very normal, and the lawyer that I was with at the time said, ‘This is a great deal, you shouldn’t look into it any deeper than what it is. You’re gonna be protected.’ We didn’t know anything.”

She rose to stardom with her 2004 debut eponymous album and 2006’s The High Road. However, the singer encountered roadblocks as the label delayed the release of her third album indefinitely while refusing to let her out of her contract. Over the years, she filed multiple lawsuits against the label.

JoJo released two free mixtapes in 2010 and 2012 in the midst of her legal battle. After finally breaking free from her contract with Blackground in 2014, she quickly signed with Atlantic Records. She dropped Mad Love, her first album with her new label, in 2016.

In 2017, JoJo left Atlantic to start Clover Music, a joint venture with Warner Records that helped her achieve her “ultimate goal” of ownership over her music. She began re-recording versions of her first two albums in 2018, telling Billboard she’d done so because her fans were “being very vocal on social media.”

The “Gold” singer dropped her fourth studio album, Good to Know, in 2020. A holiday album, December Baby, came out that same year, followed by her sixth studio album, Trying Not to Think About It, in 2021. She became a fully independent artist in 2023 and moved to New York City to star in Moulin Rouge! The Musical on Broadway.

“It’s still a journey because I have a lot of unlearning to do,” JoJo told PEOPLE in 2024.

Frank Ocean

There was a noticeable gap between Ocean dropping his studio debut Channel Orange in 2012 and his 2016 album releases Endless and Blonde — and fans noticed.

The Grammy Award-winning artist told The New York Times in 2016 that between albums, he lived in London, where he experienced personal setbacks and a “feeling of isolation.”

“Within my circle, there was a lot of places I thought I could turn that I felt like I couldn’t turn to anymore,” he said.

In 2016, Ocean bought himself out of his Def Jam contract and purchased his master recordings with his own money. He described the process to the publication as “a seven-year chess game.”

Def Jam distributed Endless under the conditions of Ocean’s contractual arrangement. Two days after that digital drop, the “Thinkin Bout You” singer released Blonde independently.

“With this record in particular, I wanted to feel like I won before the record came out, and I did, and so it took a lot pressure off of me about how the record even would perform after the fact,” Ocean told the Times, adding, “It’s not essential for me to have a big debut week, it’s not essential for me to have big radio records.”

He has since released several singles, including “Chanel” in 2017, a “Moon River” cover in 2018 and “In My Room” in 2019. Ocean also collaborated with artists like A$AP Rocky and Travis Scott; however, he hasn’t dropped any additional full-length albums.

Anita Baker

It was a long time coming when Baker gained control of her master recordings.

The “Sweet Love” singer first documented her process for fans in March 2021, posting on X that she was attempting to take back control of her music and asked them not to purchase or stream her songs until she did so.

“Miraculously… i have out-lived *ALL, of my Artists Contracts They no longer ‘Own,’ My Name & Likeness. And, by Law…30 yr old, Mstrs are 2B Returned, 2 Me Unfortunately, They’re gonna make me Fight 4 it. I’m Prepared, 2 do that. Please Dont advertise/buy them,” she wrote.

On Sept. 3, 2021, Baker revealed that she was officially the proud owner of her masters.

“All My Children Are Coming Home,” Baker shared on X, alongside a photograph of some of her various albums released over the years. “Impossible Things Happen … Every. Single. Day. Gratefully.”

The next day, Swift responded to the news by quoting Baker’s post with her own.

“What a beautiful moment, CONGRATULATIONS ANITA!!,” Swift wrote on X.

During a 2022 show in Las Vegas, Baker thanked rapper Chance the Rapper onstage for helping her to “get a hold and ownership of my master records,” Billboard reported. In 2023, the R&B legend hit the road to celebrate the 40th anniversary of her debut album The Songstress, marking her first tour since 1995.

John Fogerty

It took Fogerty over five decades to gain control of his Creedence Clearwater Revival songs.

Fogerty signed a deal with Fantasy Records in 1968 but relinquished his artist royalties to owner Saul Zaentz in 1980 to get out of the contract, according to Billboard.

Zaentz sued Fogerty five years later for $144 million, claiming that the singer’s solo hit “The Old Man Down the Road” was a rip-off of CCR’s “Run Through the Jungle.” Though Fogerty wrote both, Zaentz claimed plagiarism because he owned the latter. Fogerty won the lawsuit, and his efforts to win back his $1.3 million in legal fees reached the Supreme Court in 1993.

Fogerty spent years avoiding playing any CCR songs he’d written live so Zaentz, who died in 2014, couldn’t profit off the performances. Conflicts over royalties also contributed to the breakdown of Fogerty’s relationship with his bandmate and late brother Tom.

Billboard noted the CCR frontman attempted to buy back the rights to his music in 1989, but negotiations fell through when Zaentz doubled the price. In 2004, Concord purchased CCR’s catalog from Fantasy, and they reportedly reinstated and increased Fogarty’s artist royalties.

When Fogerty and his wife and manager, Julie, realized his songs had turned 56 and would thus revert to him under U.S. copyright law, they made an initial request to buy back the songs. Concord declined, but Fogerty’s former manager, Irving Azoff, helped them work out a deal, per Billboard.

PEOPLE confirmed Fogerty bought a majority interest in the global publishing rights to his CCR song catalog for an undisclosed sum, and post-sale, Concord kept the masters.

The “Fortunate Son” singer told Billboard in 2023 that he was “still in shock” over his purchase.

“I’m the dad [of these songs]. I created them. They never should have been taken away in the first place. And that hijacking left such a massive hole in me,” he said. “The happiest way to look at it is, yeah, it isn’t everything. It’s not a 100% win for me, but it’s sure better than it was.”

With the 2025 project Legacy revisiting his Creedence-era catalog, Fogerty was able to share the recording experience with his adult sons, Shane and Tyler.

Despite the joy I felt being with Julie and my family, there was always that shadow of the past,” he told PEOPLE in 2025. “There were so many unpleasant memories connected to those songs, but doing this project and having my family involved was such a nice alternative to the way I had remembered it. It was almost like an antidote! Reinflating the memories with so much love soothed my soul.”