Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Taylor Swift responds after Big Machine Records deny preventing her from performing old songs

Swift accused Scott Borchetta and Scooter Braun, manager of Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber, of ‘exercising tyrannical control’ over her

Adam White
Friday 15 November 2019 15:12 GMT
Comments
Taylor Swift appears for surprise performance at Stonewall Inn bar in New York City

Taylor Swift's representative has responded to her former record label’s denial of her claims that they blocked her from performing her old songs.

A spokeswoman said: “The truth is, on October 28, 2019 at 5:17 p.m. the Vice President, Rights Management and Business Affairs from Big Machine Label Group sent Taylor Swift’s team the following:

“Please be advised that BMLG will not agree to issue licenses for existing recordings or waivers of its re-recording restrictions in connection with these two projects: The Netflix documentary and the Alibaba ‘Double Eleven’ event. To avoid an argument over rights, Taylor performed three songs off her new album Lover at the Double Eleven event as it was clear that Big Machine Label Group felt any televised performance of catalogue songs violated her agreement.

“In addition, yesterday Scott Borchetta, CEO and founder of Big Machine Label Group, flatly denied the request for both American Music Awards and Netflix. Please notice in Big Machine’s statement, they never actually deny either claim Taylor said last night in her post.

“Lastly, Big Machine is trying to deflect and make this about money by saying she owes them but, an independent, professional auditor has determined that Big Machine owes Taylor $7.9 million dollars of unpaid royalties over several years.”

Swift wrote in a Tumblr post yesterday (15 November) that Scooter Braun and Scott Borchetta, co-owners of Big Machine, are attempting to block her from performing tracks from her back catalogue at this month’s American Music Awards, where Swift is collecting the Artist of the Decade award.

Swift also claimed that the pair were “exercising tyrannical control” over her, and preventing the use of old performance footage to be used in a forthcoming Netflix documentary about her life and career.

Big Machine subsequently denied Swift’s claims, writing in a statement that the star had published “false information” in her Tumblr post.

They wrote: “At no point did we say Taylor could not perform on the AMAs or block her Netflix special. In fact, we do not have the right to keep her from performing live anywhere. Since Taylor’s decision to leave Big Machine last fall, we have continued to honour all of her requests to licence her catalogue to third parties as she promotes her current record in which we do not financially participate.

Amazon Music logo

Enjoy unlimited access to 70 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music

Sign up now for a 30-day free trial

Sign up
Amazon Music logo

Enjoy unlimited access to 70 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music

Sign up now for a 30-day free trial

Sign up

“The truth is, Taylor has admitted to contractually owing millions of dollars and multiple assets to our company, which is responsible for 120 hardworking employees who helped build her career. We have worked diligently to have a conversation about these matters with Taylor and her team to productively move forward. We started to see progress over the past two weeks and were optimistic as recently as yesterday that this may get resolved.

Taylor Swift at the Teen Choice Awards in 2019

“However, despite our persistent efforts to find a private and mutually satisfactory solution, Taylor made a unilateral decision last night to enlist her fanbase in a calculated manner that greatly affects the safety of our employees and their families.

“Taylor, the narrative you have created does not exist. All we ask is to have a direct and honest conversation. When that happens, you will see there is nothing but respect, kindness and support waiting for you on the other side. To date, not one of the invitations to speak with us and work through this has been accepted. Rumours fester in the absence of communication. Let’s not have that continue here. We share the collective goal of giving your fans the entertainment they both want and deserve.”

Braun and Borchetta acquired Swift’s back catalogue in a deal worth a reported $300 million earlier this year, with Swift explaining she was “sad and grossed out” by the sale.

A number of stars have come out in support of Swift, including Halsey, Lily Allen and Tinashe. Selena Gomez wrote on Instagram that Swift’s allegations had made her “sick and extremely angry”.

“It’s greed, manipulation and power,” she wrote. “There is no heart or thought of anyone elses [sic]. No respect for the words my friend has written since she was a 14-year-old in her bedroom.”

A fan petition urging Braun and Borchetta to allow Swift to perform her old music has so far received 67,000 signatures.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in