Nicole Lappin
speaker
4,192 appearances
114 recordings
2 series
first heard Nov 2024
last heard 9 Dec
Nicole Lappin’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
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recordings per month · last 12 monthsRecordings per month over the last 12 months — 5 in all, peaking in Nov 2025 with 2.
Appearances
And let's be honest, we all do.
So email us your money questions, moneyrehab at moneynewsnetwork.com to potentially have your questions answered on the show or even have a one-on-one intervention with me.
And follow us on Instagram at Money News and TikTok at Money News Network for exclusive video content.
And lastly, thank you.
No, seriously, thank you.
Thank you for listening and for investing in yourself, which is the most important investment you can make.
Money Rehab with Nicole Lapin · Taylor’s Version: The Million-Dollar Plot Twist · 5 Jun 2025
podcast
Imagine if you had a co-host in your life, you know, someone who could help manage your every day and do the things that you don't have time for. Well, unfortunately, that's not something we can opt into in life, but it is something you can opt into as an Airbnb host.
If you find yourself away for a while, like I do, maybe for work, a long trip, or a big life adventure, a local co-host can help you manage everything. From guest communications to check-in to making sure your place stays in tip-top shape, they have got you covered.
These are trusted locals who know your area inside and out, giving your guests a warm welcome while you focus on your own starring role, whatever that might be. You know that I love how hosting on Airbnb helps you monetize your home, an asset that you already have. That is a holy grail. And as a longtime fan of Airbnb, I have been telling everyone I know that they should be hosting too.
But some of my busiest friends have been overwhelmed by this whole idea of hosting. But thanks to the new co-host offering, they have finally signed up. So if you've got a secondary property or an extended trip coming up and you need a little help hosting while you're away, you can hire a co-host to do the work for you. Find a co-host at Airbnb.com slash host.
I'm Nicole Lappin, the only financial expert you don't need a dictionary to understand. It's time for some money rehab. Taylor Swift just announced that she bought back the masters to her music catalog. And this is big news if you're Swifty, of course. But even if you're not, this is actually not just a story about Taylor.
It is one of the most dramatic and high stakes stories in the history of the entertainment business. And the money trail touches on private equity, copyright law, billion dollar tours and affects the future of music.
So I'm going to unpack the background of this deal, what it means not just for Taylor Swift, but for the entire music industry, and how you can actually invest in your favorite artists because we can't forget show business is big business that we can profit from too. This saga starts back in 2019.
Taylor had just wrapped up her stadium tour for Reputation, which at the time was the highest grossing North American concert tour in history and grossed over $345 million. She had already won Grammys, released six studio albums, and smashed charting and sales records. That year, she left Big Machine Records, the Nashville-based label that signed her as a teenager.
She had moved over to Universal Music Group and negotiated a deal that gave her ownership of her masters, starting with the Lover album in 2019. That was a power move and definitely the exception in the industry, not the rule. A master recording, by the way, is the original version of a song or an album, so it's the source from which all the copies are made.
What makes ownership of masters so valuable is that it means you control how and when the song is used, like in commercials, movies, video games, and even live performances. If you own the masters, you also earn significantly more money when it's streamed, bought, or licensed. Most artists don't actually own their masters. The record label usually owns the masters.
That means labels are the ones that call the shots and are the ones that profit the most from the masters. In a perfect world, this is a fair agreement because the label incurs a lot of costs in order to represent and market their artists, so this is how they make back their money. Now, Taylor owning the Masters under her agreement with UMG was a big deal.
But the Masters of her iconic first six studio albums, Taylor Swift, Fearless, Speak Now, Red, 1989, and Reputation, were all owned by her former label, Big Machine Records. And then Scooter Braun acquired Big Machine Records through his company, Ithaca Holdings.
Scooter Braun is the music manager who's often credited with discovering Justin Bieber and has also represented artists like Ariana Grande, Demi Lovato, and Kanye West, someone with whom Taylor had a very public and messy history with. You know the lore. The deal gave Scooter control over Taylor's first six studio albums.
Scooter paid a reported $300 million for the deal, and you can imagine how valuable Taylor's masters are. I mean, licensing alone here? Her songs have been in shows and movies like The Hunger Games, Grey's Anatomy, Ballers, Where the Crawdads Sing, Fifty Shades Darker, How to Be Single, Letters to Juliet, New Girl, The Bear, I could go on and on and on.
Showing 521–540 of 4,192 · page 27 of 210
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