Case of Taylor Swift's Master

On June 30th, 2019, Taylor Swift decided to write a post on her Tumblr page and inform the overall public that Scooter Braun, former manager of many celebrities, including Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande, bought her master. The rights for her multi-platinum studio albums - Taylor Swift, Fearless, Speak Now, Red, 1989, and Reputation were sold by Scott Borchetta, the founding father of Big Machine Records.

According to the singer, she asked for an opportunity to buy her work multiple times and never got the chance. The only option to do it, proposed by Borchetta, was signing back to the Big Machine Records, which Swift left in 2018 after fourteen years of collaborating. She could redeem one album in exchange for releasing a new one. The artist rejected the offer. Within the post, she mentioned that she found out about Scooter Braun`s purchase as it was officially declared to the general public. Additionally, the singer called Braun out for incessant, manipulative bullying, which, in her opinion, she received for years. , she adverted to Justin Bieber's Instagram post with a Taylor swift up caption where he talks to Scooter and Kanye West`s music video with a nude wax sculpture that portrays her. Swift also admitted she was aware that Scott Borchetta would sell her masters in the future and made peace with that, but discovering who is the new owner terrified her. She accused these two men of trading her work not only for business reasons but also for humiliating her.

Scooter Braun did not comment on the singer`s statement, but after her seventh studio album, Lover, was released, he wrote public congratulations on Twitter. Certainly, it met with strong criticism from Taylor Swift`s fans. A few months later, in November, Taylor wrote another post. She has claimed that Scott and Scooter are successfully holding her music hostage, precluding her from performing a variety of her top-selling tracks at the American Music Awards, and blocking her discography from being used in her Netflix film. She stated that Scott will give her his permission if she agrees to abandon re-recording her album and talking negatively about him and Scooter.

A few moments after publishing that, the artist went on Tumblr to like numerous posts from fans expressing outrage. Meanwhile, some celebrities, including Demi Lovato, Sia, Kelly Clarkson, and Halsey, decided to speak about the situation. As it usually is, not everyone agreed with Taylor and deemed her post an encouragement to bully Scooter and his clients. Some people described her Tumblr behavior as bullying, so she appeared as a hypocrite to them.

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The amount of hate and death threats towards Braun, his family, and his clients made him react. In an open letter, he called on the singer to resolve the fallout. The manager stated that he is open to all possibilities and suggested an open discussion multiple times, but it all has been rejected. It almost feels as if you have no interest in ever resolving the conflict he claims. Braun also explained that Borchetta informed the artist about the transaction before it went out to the public and said Swift had an opportunity to buy her music rights before his purchase. Right after Borchetta posted a picture of Taylor`s final offer on his Instagram account. It created significant confusion. Swift`s lawyer, Don Passman, released a statement, which stated that neither she nor her dad, a shareholder in Big Machine Records, received the offer. Eventually, she performed at the award show and won the Artist of the decade award.

Taylor's problem with performing at the American Music Awards was not about owning the songs' rights, which the writers and music publishers control. It was more about the performance record and the posterior distribution of them, for example, via platforms such as YouTube. If Swift wanted to perform those songs no one could forbid her. Actually, Big Machine Records acknowledged that 'recording artists do not need label approval for live performances on television or any other live media.' Record label approval is only needed for contracted artists' audio and visual recordings and in determining how those works are distributed. It means she could perform. However, in practice, the show's producer has to record and promote the performance. Given those constraints, Big Machine's acknowledgment gave neither Swift nor the American Music Awards producer the comfort required.

The music industry had various reactions to this conflict and Taylor`s statement that she will re-record her albums. Rolling Stone asked a few people from the industry to express their opinion on the matter. One of them, Allen Kovac, the founder of Better Noise Music and the manager of Blondie, said: Why does someone who invested in her as a teenager have to just give them to her? Even the Beatles don`t own their masters. Actually, Record labels usually make owning the master recordings a part of the contract. Even pop star like Ariana Grande or Beyonc© does not own their masters. It is justified by the financial contribution made by Record labels. They do not have an assurance that the new artist they are investing in will pay off. On the other hand, it is an occupational risk made by the label. For Taylor Swift, it is an antiquated system. During her interview with Billboard she became their Woman Of The Decade, the singer said: Artists should maybe have the first right of refusal to buy. I would have paid so much for them. Anything to own my work that was an actual sale option, but it wasn`t given to me.

The case of Taylor Swift`s master is still developmental. The singer denies that Scott Borchetta gave her an offer, which he presented online, while Big Machine Records claims Swift was aware, among others, of the trade. Furthermore, Scooter Braun sold her masters for $300 million to Shamrock Holdings. Swift began re-recording her catalog in November 2020 and declined Shamrock's offer to become an equity partner.