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Taylor Swift is ready to fight, it seems in this case the fight is purely business although in the case of Scooter Braun fuelled by personal motivation.
Taylor Swift and Scooter Braun saga
I am sure by now you have read about Taylor Swift and Scooter Braun saga where Scooter Braun sold Masters Rights to her first 6 albums which Swift announced in a tweet on Monday 16 November 2020. In her post she writes that her team had received a letter a couple of weeks ago notifying her that a private Equity firm called Shamrock Holdings had acquired the rights. The deal is thought to be worth over $300 million.
The dispute over Swift’s music began last year, when Braun’s media company Ithaca Holdings bought Big Machine Label Group from her old manager Scott Borchetta and with it, the original recordings of her first six albums.
This has angered Taylor as “This is the second time my music had been sold without my knowledge,” she said on Twitter. She clearly wanted to have some say in whether she wanted to have the rights to her Masters.
Private equity group Shamrock Holdings were not allowed to speak to Taylor
She was told that Shamrock Holding who purchased the Masters had been told they were not allowed to contact her until after the deal was closed.
In a letter she posted on Twitter, she explains her version of what had happened, including Scooter Braun’s legal team getting her to sign an NDA agreement to stop her speaking ill of him. She writes;
“Scooter’s team wanted me to sign an ironclad NDA stating I would never say another word about Scooter Braun until it was positive, before we could even look at the financial records of BMLG (which is always the first step in a purchase”
“I would have to sign a document that would silence me forever before I could even have a chance to bid on my own work”.
Scooter Braun would continue to profit
She also highlighted that Scooter Braun would profit from her work for many years making any kind of partnership with the new company impossible.
After receiving this news she has decided to cut out both companies and in her letter to Shamrock which she also shared she stated;
“If I support you, as you request, I will be contributing to these future payments to Scooter Braun and Ithaca Holdings. I simply cannot in good conscience bring myself ot be involved in benefitting Scooter Braun's interests directly or indirectly.”
Taylor will re-record her albums and cut out Scooter Braun and Shamrock
She has decided that she is going to go ahead and re-record her first five albums under new label Republic Records as outlined in her initial contract.
"My contract says that starting November 2020 — so, next year — I can record albums 1 through 5 all over again — I’m very excited about it. … I think artists deserve to own their work. I just feel very passionately about that," she said in a 2019 CBS interview.
Shamrock faces being a 'casualty'
Uh-o, this is probably not what Shamrock Holding had expected and if she does end up re-recording new music then the damage is really to Shamrock who may well have paid too much for something which might become worthless in years to come as she re-records her new songs, unless of course fans choose to continue to listen to the old ones.
What could happen next?
What happens next waits to be seen. Has Shamrock just made the biggest mistake and is a 'casualty' in this war. Will people feel the need to support Shamrock for being done over and continue to listen to her old music or will they go with Taylor and her new music? Tell us what you think.
