Taylor Swift not legally allowed to re-record her albums, says expert

Taylor Swift attends the 2019 Billboard Music Awards at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Photo / Supplied

Taylor Swift says she wants to re-record her albums to gain control of her masters, but an expert says her contract means she legally can't.

Swift told journalist Tracy Smith that she "absolutely" plans to re-record her earlier songs in a soon-to-air interview with CBS Sunday Morning.

But a music industry export told Page Six Swift's contract means she is not legally allowed to re-record her work, and only has the right to re-write the lyrics.

The 29-year-old singer wants to prevent Scooter Braun, who recently purchased her former record label Big Machine, from owning the rights to her master recordings of her first six albums.

She called Scooter Braun's purchase of the label a "worst case scenario" in a fiery letter posted to her Tumblr account.

It is common practice for artists to not own their masters, but Swift was in a financial position to purchase them from Big Machine.

However, she claims she was never offered the opportunity to bid on her masters prior to the sale to Scooter Braun, best known for managing artists like Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande.

Former Big Machine Records owner Scott Borchetta disputed her claim and published communications between himself and Swift in an attempt to prove she was aware of the deal.

In November last year Swift signed a new record deal with Republic Records, part of the Universal Music Group.

Taylor Swift's seventh studio album, Lover, comes out on Friday, and according to Variety it has already sold nearly 1 million copies prior to its release.