‘I Hit the Floor’: Taylor Swift Breaks Down in Tears Retelling the Moment She Won 2-Decade Battle for Her Masters

Taylor Swift broke down in tears during her debut podcast appearance as she described the moment she regained ownership of her music as a life-changing victory after a 20-year fight that began when she was still just a teenager.

Appearing on New Heights — the podcast hosted by her boyfriend, Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce, and his brother Jason — Swift spoke publicly for the first time about the private deal she struck in May to reclaim the master recordings of her first six albums.

“I signed a record deal when I was 15… I never owned my music at all,” she said. “Owning your master recordings means that you have complete control and power over distribution, licensing, and essentially the way your legacy is shaped.”

The battle became a high-profile clash over artist rights in 2019 when music executive Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings acquired Big Machine Records, gaining control of Swift’s early work.

Swift claimed she was denied the chance to buy the recordings outright and instead offered a “one album at a time” arrangement that she called unacceptable.

She embarked on an unprecedented re-recording campaign, releasing “Taylor’s Version” editions of her albums, before Braun finally sold the masters to private equity firm Shamrock Capital for over $300 million.

After the success of her Eras tour, Swift sent her mother and brother, not lawyers, to negotiate with Shamrock Capital directly.

When her mother told her, “You got your music,” Swift said she collapsed to the floor.

As she recounted the moment she grew emotional, tearing up and apologizing: “So sorry that… this is… it’s literally been so long since this happened. It’s every time I talk about it. [My mom] was like, “You got your music.” And I just like very dramatically hit the floor for real. Like honestly, just started a long time balling my eyes out.”

“This will affect the rest of my life,” she continued. “Instead of being an intrusive thought that hurts me, it’s… I can’t believe this happened. How lucky am I? How grateful am I?”

Swift also revealed her 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl, during the show, inspired by the Eras tour, which is due out later this year, features a collaboration with fellow pop sensation Sabrina Carpenter.

Swift’s appearance also caused a rare technical meltdown for YouTube. One hour and 44 minutes into her conversation with the Kelces, the feed abruptly cut to black, leaving Swifties staring at blank screens.

Live viewership spiked to a reported 1.3 million concurrent viewers, the highest in the YouTube’s history for a podcast stream, according to Variety.

The New Heights team swiftly acknowledged the crash on social media, blaming “technical difficulties” and assuring viewers the episode would be back “shortly.”

The feed returned at about 12:37 a.m.

Watch above via YouTube.

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