The back-and forth drama between the two parties is never ending Taylor SwiftAnd her former label Big Machine Records’ executives Scott Borchetta and Scooter Braun.
The Grammy winner has been at odds with her business partners since June 2019 over the rights she recorded to music before switching to Republic Records in November 2018. Braun acquired Big MachineAnd Swift’s back catalog of master recordings as part of an estimated $300 million deal.
Shortly after the acquisition news broke, the “Bad Blood” singer took to Tumblr to alert fans that she “had to make the excruciating choice to leave behind my past.” In her blog post, she claimed she “learned about Scooter Braun’s purchase of my masters as it was announced to the world” and called out the talent manager for years of “incessant, manipulative bullying” at the hands of his clients Justin Bieber and Kanye West. She called the deal her “worst case scenario.”
Borchetta and Braun’s wife, Yael Cohen, were among those who publicly refuted the claims made in the Tumblr post. Celebrities included Halsey, Kelly Clarkson, Ed SheeranAnd CherSwift was sided.
Swift released her seventh album after the drama subsided. LoverIn August 2019. Braun and Borchetta were again exposed by her three months later when she allegedly tried to stop her from performing old songs at the 2019 American Music Awards. She was awarded Artist of the Decade. She also claimed on social media that the executives “declined the use of my older music or performance footage” for a Netflix documentary that she had in the works.
Big Machine slammed Swift’s post as “calculated,” saying in a November 2019 statement that it does “not have the right to keep her from performing live anywhere.” The label, however, did not explicitly address claims that it had barred the pop star from performing her old material.
“While Big Machine is not directly blocking her performance, they are putting a roadblock in her way as far as performing these particular songs,” music industry lawyer Erin M. Jacobson told Us Weekly.
The controversy made headlines again in November 2020 after Braun sold Swift’s masters to a private equity company, Shamrock Holdings, in yet another move that she claimed had been done behind her back.
Scroll down to see a complete timeline of what we know sofar.
