Bad blood between Taylor Swift and a private equity group may entertain – but the music industry faces bigger problems

The boom in streaming has fuelled the dispute between Swift and Shamrock Capital but it favours established artists, writes James Moore

The pop star is battling for control of her lucrative back catalogue (Getty Images)

There was already “bad blood” to spare between Taylor Swift and Scooter Braun, the manager of her rival Kanye West among others, when the mogul bought the company that owned the masters to a string of her multi-platinum albums via his Ithaca Holdings. Now he’s sold them to a private equity firm for $300m (£226m), there’s enough of the stuff to drown in.

The background is that Swift signed a deal with a label called Big Machine in 2004, giving it the ownership of said masters in return for an advance to kick-start what has become an astonishingly successful (and lucrative) career. This isn’t at all unusual for artists who are just getting going.

Enter Braun, whom Swift has accused of “bullying” among other things. He bought the label last year with the help of a private equity backer, the Carlyle Group, better known for the presence of world leaders such as John Major and the late George HW Bush among its alumni.