Hey there, it's Shemita here. It's been a long time coming, but Taylor Swift finally owns all her masters.

She announced last week on her website that she had bought back the master recordings of her first six albums,

ending an ownership battle that began in 2019 when record executive Scooter Braun acquired her back catalog.

Since then, Swift has re-recorded several of those old albums and released them as Taylor's version.

In light of this latest news, I wanted to bring you my episode from last year with Rolling Stone

journalist Rob Sheffield.

He wrote a book about Swift's songwriting, her fandom, and her enormous impact on the music industry.

I hope you enjoy it.

This is In Conversation from Apple News.

I'm Shemita Basu.

Today, how Taylor Swift changed the music industry forever.

In 2007, music journalist Rob Sheffield was in his kitchen, making himself a grilled grilled cheese when all of a sudden.

This country song comes on and it catches my ear right away.

Then when she jumps into the chorus,

Our song is a slamming screen door.

I thought, what a hook, what a chorus, what a lyric.

And I loved how it was constructed so that she's a teenager and she's saying, yes, I've listened

to every single song ever recorded.

I'm an expert in music.

But I've never heard a song that does justice to meet, my hopes, my dreams, my feelings.

I heard every album listen to the radio, waited for something to my feelings.

And so it ends with her saying, so I grabbed a pen and napkin, and I wrote down this song. I grabbed a pen and an old napkin and I wrote down our song.

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