![Taylor Swift](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/Taylor_Swift.jpg)
In late 2019, American singer-songwriter
Taylor Swift
Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her vivid songwriting—often inspired by her personal life—has received critical praise and wide media coverage. Bor ...
came in dispute with her former record label,
Big Machine Records
Big Machine Records is an American independent record label, distributed by Universal Music Group. Specializing in country and pop artists, Big Machine is based on Music Row in Nashville, Tennessee. The label was founded in September 2005 by fo ...
, its founder
Scott Borchetta
Scott Borchetta (born July 3, 1962) is an American record executive and founder of the Big Machine Label Group. He started the label in 2005 with 13 employees, as its president/CEO and encompasses four imprints: Big Machine Records, BMLG Recor ...
, and its new owner
Scooter Braun
Scott Samuel "Scooter" Braun (born June 18, 1981) is an American entrepreneur, investor, and entertainment executive. Known as the manager for artists such as Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, J Balvin, Demi Lovato, The Kid Laroi and other artists ...
, over the ownership of the
masters of
her first six studio albums. A highly publicized dispute that drew widespread media coverage, the issue led Swift to release the
re-recorded albums—''
Fearless (Taylor's Version)
''Fearless (Taylor's Version)'' is the first re-recorded album by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, released on April 9, 2021, through Republic Records. It is a re-recording of Swift's second studio album, ''Fearless'' (2008), and the f ...
'', ''
Red (Taylor's Version)
''Red (Taylor's Version)'' is the second re-recorded album by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. Released via Republic Records on November 12, 2021, as a part of Swift's countermeasure against the purchase of the masters of her back cata ...
'', ''
Speak Now (Taylor's Version)
''Speak Now (Taylor's Version)'' is the third re-recorded album by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, released on July 7, 2023, by Republic Records. It is a re-recording of Swift's third studio album, '' Speak Now'' (2010), part of S ...
'', and ''
1989 (Taylor's Version)''—from 2021 through 2024 to gain complete ownership of her music.
In November 2018, Swift signed a
record deal with
Republic Records
Republic Records is a New York City–based American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). It was founded by Avery Lipman and Monte Lipman as an independent label in 1995, and was acquired by UMG in 2000. Republic was initially an ...
after her Big Machine contract expired.
Mainstream media
In journalism, mainstream media (MSM) is a term and abbreviation used to refer collectively to the various large mass news media that influence many people and both reflect and shape prevailing currents of thought.Chomsky, Noam, ''"What makes mai ...
reported in June 2019 that Braun purchased Big Machine from Borchetta for $330 million, funded by various
private equity firm
A private equity firm is an investment management company that provides financial backing and makes investments in the private equity of startup or operating companies through a variety of loosely affiliated investment strategies including leve ...
s. Braun had become the owner of all of the masters, music videos, and artworks
copyright
A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...
ed by Big Machine, including those of Swift's first six studio albums. In response, Swift stated she had tried to purchase the masters but Big Machine had offered unfavorable conditions, and she knew the label would sell them to someone else but did not expect Braun as the buyer, recalling him being an "incessant, manipulative bully". Borchetta claimed that Swift declined an opportunity to purchase the masters.
Consequently, Big Machine and Swift were embroiled in a series of disagreements leading to further friction; Swift alleged that the label blocked her from using her music for the
2019 American Music Awards and her documentary ''
Miss Americana
''Miss Americana'' (also known as ''Taylor Swift: Miss Americana'') is a 2020 American documentary film that follows singer-songwriter Taylor Swift and her life over the course of several years of her career. It was directed by Lana Wilson, prod ...
'' (2020), while Big Machine released ''
Live from Clear Channel Stripped 2008
''Live from Clear Channel Stripped 2008'' is the second live album featuring songs by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, released by Big Machine Records on April 24, 2020, without Swift's approval. It was recorded in 2008 but only release ...
'' (2020), an unreleased work by Swift, without her approval. Swift announced she would re-record the six albums and own the new masters herself. In October 2020, Braun sold the old masters to the Disney family's
investment firm
An investment company is a financial institution principally engaged in holding, managing and investing securities. These companies in the United States are regulated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and must be registered under t ...
,
Shamrock Holdings
Shamrock Holdings, or Shamrock, is a private equity firm founded as the Roy E. Disney family's investment firm; the Disney family remains its sole investor. Shamrock is a private corporation, and is fully owned by the estate of Roy E. Disney.
Dis ...
, for $405 million under the condition that he keeps profiting from the masters. Swift expressed her disapproval again, rejected Shamrock's offer for an
equity partner
A partnership is an arrangement where parties, known as business partners, agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests. The partners in a partnership may be individuals, businesses, interest-based organizations, schools, governments o ...
ship, and released the re-recorded albums via Republic, to critical and commercial success, breaking multiple
sales
Sales are activities related to selling or the number of goods sold in a given targeted time period. The delivery of a service for a cost is also considered a sale.
The seller, or the provider of the goods or services, completes a sale in r ...
,
streaming
Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...
, and
chart
A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabu ...
records.
Various musicians, journalists, politicians, and scholars supported Swift's stance, prompting a discourse on artists' rights,
intellectual property
Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...
,
private equity
In the field of finance, the term private equity (PE) refers to investment funds, usually limited partnerships (LP), which buy and restructure financially weak companies that produce goods and provide services. A private-equity fund is both a ty ...
, and
ethics
Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns m ...
in the music industry. Publications described her response and move to re-record as influential measures, encouraging new artists to negotiate for greater ownership of their music.
iHeartRadio
iHeartRadio (often shortened to just "iHeart") is an American freemium broadcast, podcast and radio streaming Computing platform, platform owned by iHeartMedia. It was founded in August 2008. , iHeartRadio was functioning as the national umbr ...
, the largest
radio network
There are two types of radio network currently in use around the world: the one-to-many (simplex communication) broadcast network commonly used for public information and mass-media entertainment, and the two-way radio ( duplex communication) type ...
in the United States, proclaimed it will replace the older versions in its airplay with Swift's re-recorded tracks. ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' named Swift the Greatest Pop Star of 2021 for the successful and unprecedented outcomes of her re-recording venture. Braun has since expressed regret over purchasing Swift's masters and Big Machine at large, and subsequently sold his entire
holding company
A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...
, Ithaca, to
Hybe Corporation
Hybe Co., Ltd. (, stylized as HYBE Corporation) is a South Korean multinational entertainment company established in 2005 by Bang Si-hyuk as Big Hit Entertainment Co., Ltd. The company operates as a record label, talent agency, music productio ...
.
Background
Law
Under
U.S. copyright law
The copyright law of the United States grants monopoly protection for "original works of authorship". With the stated purpose to promote art and culture, copyright law assigns a set of exclusive rights to authors: to make and sell copies of thei ...
, a music release is subject to two separate
copyrights
A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educatio ...
: the copyright to the song or musical composition itself, and the copyright to the specific recording of that song, which is usually contained on a
master
Master or masters may refer to:
Ranks or titles
* Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans
*Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...
.
The master is the first recording of the music, from which copies are made for
sales
Sales are activities related to selling or the number of goods sold in a given targeted time period. The delivery of a service for a cost is also considered a sale.
The seller, or the provider of the goods or services, completes a sale in r ...
and distribution. The owner of the master, therefore, owns the copyright to all formats of the recording, such as digital versions for
download
In computer networks, download means to ''receive'' data from a remote system, typically a server such as a web server, an FTP server, an email server, or other similar system. This contrasts with uploading, where data is ''sent to'' a remote s ...
or
streaming
Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...
, or physical versions such as
CDs
The compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then released in Octo ...
and
vinyl LPs.
A party who wishes to use or reproduce a recording must obtain a copyright license authorized by the master-owner.
Before the emergence of digital platforms, musicians relied on
record label
A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...
s to promote their music through means such as
airplay
Airplay is how frequently a song is being played through broadcasting on radio stations. A song which is being played several times every day (spins) would have a significant amount of airplay. Music which became very popular on jukeboxes, in n ...
or physical distributions to retailers. Labels would typically require artists to give them the rights to the masters "in perpetuity".
On the other hand, owning the musical work is referred to as the
publishing rights A publishing contract is a legal contract between a publisher and a writer or author (or more than one), to publish original content by the writer(s) or author(s). This may involve a single written work, or a series of works.
In the case of music p ...
, which covers the musical materials before it became a sound recording—the lyrics, melodies,
sheet music
Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of musical notation that uses List of musical symbols, musical symbols to indicate the pitches, rhythms, or chord (music), chords of a song or instrumental Musical composition, musical piece. Like ...
, composition, and instrumental arrangements. Songwriters generally own the publishing rights, and are referred to as "
publishers
Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...
" of the music.
Context
Taylor Swift
Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her vivid songwriting—often inspired by her personal life—has received critical praise and wide media coverage. Bor ...
is a singer-songwriter from
Wyomissing, Pennsylvania
Wyomissing is a borough in Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The borough was established on July 2, 1906. As of the 2020 census, the population was 11,114, compared to 10,461 at the 2010 census. The growth was significantly larger betwe ...
, United States. In 2003, at age 13, she visited major record labels in
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...
,
for
record deals but was rejected.
In 2004, Swift performed original songs at an
RCA Records
RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...
showcase, and received an
artist development deal
An artist development deal (also known as a demo deal) is a recording artist contract with a record label or music publisher that promises to develop the skills and public profile
Notability is the property
of being worthy of notice, having fa ...
, following which she moved to Nashville and worked with experienced
Music Row
Music Row is a historic district located southwest of downtown Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Widely considered the heart of Nashville's entertainment industry, Music Row has also become a metonymous nickname for the music industry as a w ...
songwriters such as
Troy Verges
Troy Verges is an American songwriter of country and pop music from Louisiana.
Career
His first cut as a songwriter was a track on Faith Hill's '' Breathe''.
His credits include the singles " Wanted", recorded by Hunter Hayes; "Beer Money", r ...
,
Brett Beavers
Brett Beavers (born in Waco, Texas), is an American country music songwriter and producer and the co-author of the book ''Something Worth Leaving Behind''.
Education and early career
Beavers attended Baylor University, where he earned a bachelo ...
,
Brett James
Brett James Cornelius (born June 5, 1968) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and record producer based in Nashville. James' compositions have been credited on 494 recordings by a wide variety of artists. Signed to Career Records ( ...
,
Mac McAnally
Lyman Corbitt McAnally Jr. (; born July 15, 1957), known professionally as Mac McAnally, is an American country music singer-songwriter, session musician, and record producer. In his career, he has recorded ten studio albums and eight singles. ...
, and
the Warren Brothers
The Warren Brothers are an American country music duo composed of brothers Brett Warren (lead vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica, mandolin, piano) and Brad Warren (background vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar). The duo has released three ...
.
In 2005, she became the youngest artist (age 15) signed by the
Sony/ATV Tree publishing house, but left the
Sony
, commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...
-owned RCA Records due to her concerns that "development deals may shelve artists".
Later in 2005, Swift participated in an industry showcase at Nashville's
Bluebird Café
The Bluebird Café is a 90-seat music club in Nashville, Tennessee that opened in 1982. The club features acoustic music performed by both established singer-songwriters, and cover artists. The Bluebird receives over 70,000 visitors annually. T ...
, where she was noticed by a
DreamWorks Records
DreamWorks Records (often referred in copyright notices as SKG Music, LLC) was an American record label founded in 1996 by David Geffen, Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg as a subsidiary of DreamWorks Pictures. The label operated until 200 ...
executive,
Scott Borchetta
Scott Borchetta (born July 3, 1962) is an American record executive and founder of the Big Machine Label Group. He started the label in 2005 with 13 employees, as its president/CEO and encompasses four imprints: Big Machine Records, BMLG Recor ...
, who had an idea of establishing his own
independent record label
An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...
. Eventually, Swift signed a 13-year recording deal with Borchetta's new Nashville-based label,
Big Machine Records
Big Machine Records is an American independent record label, distributed by Universal Music Group. Specializing in country and pop artists, Big Machine is based on Music Row in Nashville, Tennessee. The label was founded in September 2005 by fo ...
, as its first recording artist. The deal gave Big Machine the ownership of the masters to Swift's first six albums in exchange for a cash advance.
From 2006 to 2017, Swift released six
studio album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
s with Big Machine: ''
Taylor Swift
Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her vivid songwriting—often inspired by her personal life—has received critical praise and wide media coverage. Bor ...
'' (2006), ''
Fearless
Fearless or The Fearless may refer to:
Psychology
* Lack of fear
* Courage or bravery
Film, television and audio Film
* ''Fearless'' (1978 film), an Italian film directed by Stelvio Massi
* ''Fearless'' (1993 film), an American drama directed ...
'' (2008), ''
Speak Now
''Speak Now'' is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, released on October 25, 2010, through Big Machine Records. Swift wrote the album entirely herself within two years, while she was promoting her second studio alb ...
'' (2010), ''
Red
Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...
'' (2012), ''
1989'' (2014), and ''
Reputation
The reputation of a social entity (a person, a social group, an organization, or a place) is an opinion about that entity typically as a result of social evaluation on a set of criteria, such as behavior or performance.
Reputation is a ubiquitous ...
'' (2017), all of which were commercially lucrative
and established Swift as one of the
most successful music artists in history.
Although Big Machine owned the masters, Swift retained the publishing rights to the albums due to her role as the main songwriter of all of the songs she had released under the label. This would allow her to re-record the songs in the future if she desired, as per the artist-label agreement that limits the artist from re-recording a song for a fixed period of time; Swift would not have been able to re-record her musical work had she not been a songwriter.
In August 2018, as per ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'', Swift's attorney Donald Passman and her management team proposed to
Big Machine Label Group
Big Machine Records is an American independent record label, distributed by Universal Music Group. Specializing in country and pop artists, Big Machine is based on Music Row in Nashville, Tennessee. The label was founded in September 2005 by ...
that the masters be sold back to Swift as their contract was nearing expiration; the label group responded that it would happen only if she renewed her recording contract with Big Machine, agreeing to create more albums under the label for the next decade. The two parties never arrived at an agreement.
Ultimately, Swift's contract with Big Machine Records expired in November 2018, following which she signed a new, global contract with
Republic Records
Republic Records is a New York City–based American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). It was founded by Avery Lipman and Monte Lipman as an independent label in 1995, and was acquired by UMG in 2000. Republic was initially an ...
, a
New York-based label owned by
Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...
. ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' reported that Swift's catalog constituted around 80 percent of Big Machine's revenue. Swift revealed a negotiation as part of her Republic contract—any sale of Universal's shares in
Spotify
Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...
, the largest on-demand music streaming platform in the world, resulted in
equity
Equity may refer to:
Finance, accounting and ownership
* Equity (finance), ownership of assets that have liabilities attached to them
** Stock, equity based on original contributions of cash or other value to a business
** Home equity, the dif ...
shares for all of Universal's artists on a non-
recoupable basis.
The contract also allowed Swift to fully own the albums distributed by the label—both the masters and the publishing rights—starting with her seventh studio album, ''
Lover'' (2019),
and as reported by ''
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...
'', offered a
royalty payment
A royalty payment is a payment made by one party to another that owns a particular asset, for the right to ongoing use of that asset. Royalties are typically agreed upon as a percentage of gross or net revenues derived from the use of an asset o ...
of 50 percent or more compared to the 10 to 15 percent Swift "likely" had been receiving from Big Machine.
Dispute
Acquisition by Braun
Scooter Braun
Scott Samuel "Scooter" Braun (born June 18, 1981) is an American entrepreneur, investor, and entertainment executive. Known as the manager for artists such as Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, J Balvin, Demi Lovato, The Kid Laroi and other artists ...
is an American
media proprietor
A media proprietor, media mogul or media tycoon refers to a entrepreneur who controls, through personal ownership or via a dominant position in any media-related company or enterprise, media consumed by many individuals. Those with significant co ...
,
talent manager
A talent manager (also known as an artist manager, band manager or music manager) is an individual who guides the professional career of artists in the entertainment industry. The responsibility of the talent manager is to oversee the day-to-da ...
, and businessman known for managing the careers of music artists
Justin Bieber
Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Bieber is recognized for his genre-melding musicianship and has played an influential role in modern-day popular music. He was discovered by American record executive Scooter ...
,
Ariana Grande
Ariana Grande-Butera ( ; born June 26, 1993) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Her four-octave vocal range has received critical acclaim, and her personal life has been the subject of widespread media attention. She has received ...
,
Demi Lovato
Demetria Devonne Lovato ( ; born August 20, 1992), known as Demi Lovato, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. After appearing on the children's television series ''Barney & Friends'' (2002–2004), Lovato rose to prominence for pl ...
, and
Kanye West
Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer.
Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...
through his media company,
SB Projects.
In June 2019, ''
The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'', followed by other mainstream media, reported that Braun's
holding company
A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...
,
Ithaca Holdings LLC., had fully acquired Big Machine Label Group by purchasing it for an estimated $330 million.
The purchase encompassed all aspects of Big Machine's business, including its client roster,
distribution Distribution may refer to:
Mathematics
*Distribution (mathematics), generalized functions used to formulate solutions of partial differential equations
* Probability distribution, the probability of a particular value or value range of a vari ...
deals, publishing rights, and music masters,
and was financed by American
private equity
In the field of finance, the term private equity (PE) refers to investment funds, usually limited partnerships (LP), which buy and restructure financially weak companies that produce goods and provide services. A private-equity fund is both a ty ...
companies such as
the Carlyle Group
The Carlyle Group is a multinational private equity, alternative asset management and financial services corporation based in the United States with $376 billion of assets under management. It specializes in private equity, real assets, and ...
, 23 Capital, and
Soros Fund Management
Soros Fund Management, LLC is a private American investment management firm. It is currently structured as a family office, but formerly as a hedge fund. The firm was founded in 1970 by George Soros and, in 2010, was reported to be one of the mos ...
, all of which owned a
stake in Ithaca. In a joint announcement, the companies claimed that the
buyout
In finance, a buyout is an investment transaction by which the ownership equity of a company, or a majority share of the stock of the company is acquired. The acquiror thereby "buys out" the present equity holders of the target company. A buyout ...
"creates one of the most powerful label, management, streaming, publishing and media companies by combining complimentary services, artists, executives and expertise".
As part of the acquisition, the ownership of all of the masters and copyrights owned by Big Machine, including those of Swift's first six studio albums, transferred to Braun.
Borchetta joined the Ithaca
board of directors
A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...
, acquiring a
minority interest
In accounting, minority interest (or non-controlling interest) is the portion of a subsidiary corporation's stock that is not owned by the parent corporation. The magnitude of the minority interest in the subsidiary company is generally less than 5 ...
in Ithaca, and remained as the president and
CEO
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
of Big Machine.
Swift's response
On June 30, 2019, Big Machine announced via social media that the label group had been acquired by Braun, following which Swift denounced the acquisition on
Tumblr
Tumblr (stylized as tumblr; pronounced "tumbler") is an American microblogging and social networking website founded by David Karp in 2007 and currently owned by Automattic. The service allows users to post multimedia and other content to a sho ...
the same day. She stated that she had tried to buy her masters for years, but was not given a chance unless she signed another contract that would require her to create six more albums under the label in exchange for the masters of the first six, which she felt was "unacceptable". While she knew that Big Machine was for sale, she said she was unaware that Braunwhom she described as an "incessant, manipulative bully"would be the buyer: "Essentially, my musical legacy is about to lie in the hands of someone who tried to dismantle it".
She highlighted Braun's involvement in the creation of West's music video for his 2016 single "
Famous", which she described as "a
revenge porn music video which strips
erbody naked".
Swift also claimed that Braun influenced
Kim Kardashian
Kimberly Noel Kardashian (formerly West; born October 21, 1980) is an American socialite, media personality, and businesswoman. She first gained media attention as a friend and stylist of Paris Hilton, but received wider notice after the s ...
, then-married to West, to orchestrate an "illegally recorded" snippet of Swift's phone call with West, and had "two of
raun'sclients" collude to bully Swift online, referring to a
FaceTime
FaceTime is a Proprietary software, proprietary videotelephony product developed by Apple Inc. FaceTime is available on supported iOS mobile devices running iOS 4 and later and Mac computers that run and later. FaceTime supports any iOS devic ...
screenshot of Bieber, West and Braun, posted to Bieber's Instagram after Kardashian released the snippet. Swift accused Borchetta of betraying her loyalty for selling the masters to Braun despite being aware of Braun's role in antagonizing Swift.
Passman argued that Borchetta never gave Swift "an opportunity to purchase her masters, or the label, outright with a check in the way
orchettais now apparently doing for others".
Borchetta's reply
In response, Borchetta published a blog post titled "It's Time For Some Truth" on the Big Machine website.
On June 25, 2019, Big Machine shareholders and Braun's Ithaca Holdings held a phone call regarding the transaction. While Swift's father Scott was one of the label's minority shareholders (4 percent),
he did not join the call due to a "very strict"
non-disclosure agreement
A non-disclosure agreement (NDA) is a legal contract or part of a contract between at least two parties that outlines confidential material, knowledge, or information that the parties wish to share with one another for certain purposes, but wish ...
. A final call was held on June 28, when Scott Swift was represented by a lawyer from Swift's management company, 13 Management.
Borchetta said he texted Swift on June 29, claiming that she was aware of Braun's transaction beforehand.
He denied that Braun had been hostile toward Swift,
and posted a text message he alleged Swift had sent before signing to Republic Records; in the message, Swift said she would accept another seven-year contract with Big Machine on the condition that she took ownership of her audiovisual works. Borchetta agreed, but asked for a ten-year contract. The authenticity of the message has not been verified.
Further strife
![191125 Taylor Swift at the 2019 American Music Awards (cropped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b5/191125_Taylor_Swift_at_the_2019_American_Music_Awards_%28cropped%29.png)
On November 14, 2019, Swift accused Braun and Borchetta of preventing her from performing her older songs at the
American Music Awards of 2019
The 47th Annual American Music Awards were held on November 24, 2019 at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, recognizing the most popular artists and albums of 2019. It was broadcast live on ABC, and hosted by Ciara. Taylor Swift received the ...
and using older material for her 2020 documentary ''
Miss Americana
''Miss Americana'' (also known as ''Taylor Swift: Miss Americana'') is a 2020 American documentary film that follows singer-songwriter Taylor Swift and her life over the course of several years of her career. It was directed by Lana Wilson, prod ...
''. She said they were "exercising tyrannical control" over her music, and claimed Borchetta told her team that she would be allowed to use the music only if she agreed to not re-record "copycat versions" of her songs; Swift commented, "the message being sent to me is very clear. Basically, be a good little girl and shut up. Or you'll be punished."
In response, Big Machine rejected Swift's claim, "we have worked diligently to have a conversation about these matters with Taylor and her team to productively move forward. However, despite our persistent efforts to find a private and mutually satisfactory solution, Taylor made a unilateral decision last night to enlist her fanbase."
However, on November 18, the label issued a statement saying they had "agreed to grant all licenses of their artists' performances to stream post show and for re-broadcast on mutually approved platforms" for the AMAs, without naming Swift. It also stated that Big Machine negotiated with the AMAs producer,
Dick Clark Productions
Dick Clark Productions (DCP, stylized in lowercase as dick clark productions or dcp) is an American multinational television production company founded by radio and TV host Dick Clark.
The studio primarily produces award shows and other music en ...
(DCP). DCP denied agreeing to issue any statement with Big Machine.
Swift's publicist
Tree Paine
Tree Paine is an American public relations executive. She is best known as the publicist of American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift since 2014.
Career
Paine began her career as an intern at British record label Mute Records in the Sales & Market ...
released a statement the next day. Paine said Swift avoided performing her older songs at the
Tmall
Tmall (), formerly Taobao Mall, is a Chinese-language website for business-to-consumer (B2C) online retail, spun off from Taobao, operated in China by Alibaba Group. It is a platform for local Chinese and international businesses to sell brand-n ...
Double Eleven Gala 2020, a
Singles Day
The Singles' Day () or Double 11 (), originally called Bachelors' Day, is a Chinese unofficial holiday and shopping season that celebrates people who are not in a relationship. The date, 11 November (11/11), was chosen because the numeral 1 res ...
event in
Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...
, China, and sang only three songs from ''Lover'', because "it was clear that Big Machine Label Group felt any televised performance of catalog songs violated her agreement",
attaching a screenshot of a portion of an alleged email from Big Machine that reads: "Please be advised that
ig Machine IG, Ig, or ig may refer to:
Companies
* IG Farben, a former German industrial conglomerate
* IG Group, a UK financial services company
* IG Recordings, a record label formed by the Indigo Girls, an American folk/rock duo
* Production I.G, a Japane ...
will not agree to issue licenses for existing recordings or
waiver
A waiver is the voluntary relinquishment or surrender of some known right or privilege.
Regulatory agencies of state departments or the federal government may issue waivers to exempt companies from certain regulations. For example, a United St ...
s of its re-recording restrictions in connection with these two projects: The
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
documentary and The
Alibaba
Ali Baba (character), Ali Baba is a character from the folk tale ''Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves''.
Ali Baba or Alibaba may also refer to:
Films
* Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (1902 film), ''Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves'' (1902 film), a F ...
'Double Eleven' event." Paine also denied Big Machine's statement that said Swift "has admitted to contractually owing millions of dollars and multiple assets" to the label, and claimed the label is attempting to deflect from "the $7.9 million of unpaid royalties" that the label owes to Swift "over several years", as assessed by "an independent, professional auditor".
Swift performed six songs at the 2019 AMAs on November 24, 2019, four of which were from her first six albums, and received the
Artist of the Decade award.
In April 2020, Big Machine released ''
Live from Clear Channel Stripped 2008
''Live from Clear Channel Stripped 2008'' is the second live album featuring songs by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, released by Big Machine Records on April 24, 2020, without Swift's approval. It was recorded in 2008 but only release ...
'', a live album of Swift's performances at a 2008 radio show. Swift said she did not authorize the release, and dismissed it as "just another case of shameless greed in
the time of Coronavirus".
''Live from Clear Channel Stripped 2008'' earned only 33 units in the US and did not chart anywhere. From August 2019 to January 2020, Big Machine released 4,000 vinyl LPs of each of the singles from ''Taylor Swift'' for the album's 13th anniversary, which was met with immediate backlash from Swift's supporters.
Aftermath
Swift's solution to her crisis was to create new recordings of all of the musical work in the six albums, using the publishing rights she retained, and to have the finished product sound as close to the original as possible.
She announced in August 2019, on a special episode of ''
CBS News Sunday Morning
''CBS News Sunday Morning'' (normally shortened to ''Sunday Morning'' on the program itself since 2009) is an American news magazine
A news magazine is a typed, printed, and published magazine, radio or television program, usually published ...
'' with American journalist
Tracy Smith, that she would "
re-record" and release the six albums to own the complete rights herself, as soon as her Big Machine contract allowed her to. By re-recording, Swift is technically covering her own songs as new recordings, resulting in new masters she fully owns, enabling her to control the
licensing
A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit).
A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...
of her songs for commercial use, known as
synchronization
Synchronization is the coordination of events to operate a system in unison. For example, the conductor of an orchestra keeps the orchestra synchronized or ''in time''. Systems that operate with all parts in synchrony are said to be synchronou ...
, by evading the owners of the older masters and subsequently devaluing them.
Sale to Shamrock
In October 2020, Braun sold the masters, associated videos and artworks to
Shamrock Holdings
Shamrock Holdings, or Shamrock, is a private equity firm founded as the Roy E. Disney family's investment firm; the Disney family remains its sole investor. Shamrock is a private corporation, and is fully owned by the estate of Roy E. Disney.
Dis ...
, an American private equity firm owned by the
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
estate, for a reported $405 million.
Swift stated that she attempted to negotiate with Braun, but that he offered her a chance to buy the masters back only if she signed an "ironclad" NDA that only allowed her to speak positively about Braun during the process; she refused to sign the NDA. She also claimed that Braun mandated Shamrock not to notify her about the sale until it is complete, and that she further declined an offer by Shamrock to become an
equity partner
A partnership is an arrangement where parties, known as business partners, agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests. The partners in a partnership may be individuals, businesses, interest-based organizations, schools, governments o ...
, on the grounds that Braun and Ithaca Holdings would continue to financially benefit from her work.
Swift upheld her original decision and began the re-recording process in November 2020. In response, Shamrock released a statement: "We made this investment because we believe in the immense value and opportunity that comes with
wift'swork. We fully respect and support her decision and, while we hoped to formally partner, we also knew
wift's re-recording venturewas a possible outcome that we considered."
According to a June 2023
Music Business Worldwide
Music Business Worldwide (MBW) is a global music industry news and analysis website launched in 2015 by former ''Music Week'' editor Tim Ingham. As of December 2020, it ranked 22,845 in the list of most visited global websites according to Alexa ...
report, Braun and Ithaca earned a profit of $265 million from buying and selling the masters.
Swift's re-recordings
Swift began releasing her re-recorded music in 2021. The re-recorded albums and songs are identified by the note "(Taylor's Version)" added to all of their titles, to distinguish them from the older recordings.
In February 2021, Swift announced that she had finished re-recording ''Fearless'' and released "
Love Story (Taylor's Version)
"Love Story" is a song by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. It was released as the lead single from her second studio album, ''Fearless'', on September 15, 2008, by Big Machine Records. Inspired by a boy who was unpopular with her famil ...
", a re-recording of the album's lead single "
Love Story", on February 12. ''
Fearless (Taylor's Version)
''Fearless (Taylor's Version)'' is the first re-recorded album by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, released on April 9, 2021, through Republic Records. It is a re-recording of Swift's second studio album, ''Fearless'' (2008), and the f ...
'' was released on April 9 to rave reviews from
music critics
Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...
, who praised Swift's move to re-record her music, viewing it as an act of preservation of artists' rights. On September 15, following a viral
TikTok
TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes.
TikTok is an international version ...
trend involving "
Wildest Dreams" (2015) that was gaining traction, the older recording of the song accumulated 735,000 plays on
Spotify
Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...
, marking the highest single-day streams ever for the song on the streaming platform. On September 17, Swift teased the re-recorded song's bridge as part of the said trend with a snippet on TikTok, captioning "if you guys want to use my version of wildest dreams for the slow zoom trend, here she is!". "
Wildest Dreams (Taylor's Version)" was subsequently released to streaming platforms. Swift stated that she saw "Wildest Dreams" trending on TikTok and thought fans should have "
erversion" of the song.
In its first four hours of availability, "Wildest Dreams (Taylor's Version)" amassed 2,003,391 Spotify streams, breaking the record the older "Wildest Dreams" had set a few days prior.
On November 12, 2021, Swift released ''
Red (Taylor's Version)
''Red (Taylor's Version)'' is the second re-recorded album by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. Released via Republic Records on November 12, 2021, as a part of Swift's countermeasure against the purchase of the masters of her back cata ...
'', the re-recorded issue of ''Red'', consisting of all 30 songs that were originally meant for the 2012 version.
The album broke several sales, streaming, and chart records, and was met with widespread acclaim, becoming her highest-rated album by critics on
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
. Its closing track, "
All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor's Version) (From the Vault)", scored Swift the eighth
''Billboard'' Hot 100 number-one song of her career and garnered the ''
Guinness World Record
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
'' for the longest song ever to top the chart. The song's producer
Jack Antonoff
Jack Michael Antonoff (born March 31, 1984) is an American singer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and record producer. Antonoff is the lead singer of rock band Bleachers, and is the guitarist and drummer in the pop rock band Fun. He was pr ...
told ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' that a 10-minute-long song topping the Hot 100 teaches artists to "not listen" to what the industry has to say. "
This Love (Taylor's Version)
"This Love" is a song written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift for her fifth studio album, ''1989'' (2014). Swift produced the song with Nathan Chapman. An atmospheric ballad, "This Love" combines electropop, soft rock ...
", a track from ''1989 (Taylor's Version)'', was released on May 6, 2022.
In September 2022, Swift reportedly turned down an offer to headline the
Super Bowl LVII
Super Bowl LVII is the upcoming championship game of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2022 NFL season. The game is scheduled to be played on February 12, 2023, at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. It will be the fourth Super B ...
halftime show in 2023, refusing to play the show until her re-recording process is finished.
In March 2023, ahead of the Eras Tour, Swift released a re-recording of the ''Speak Now'' deluxe edition track "If This Was a Movie", along with re-recordings of "Safe & Sound (Taylor Swift song), Safe & Sound" and "Eyes Open (song), Eyes Open" from ''The Hunger Games: Songs from District 12 and Beyond''. At the tour's first Nashville show on May 5, Swift announced ''
Speak Now (Taylor's Version)
''Speak Now (Taylor's Version)'' is the third re-recorded album by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, released on July 7, 2023, by Republic Records. It is a re-recording of Swift's third studio album, '' Speak Now'' (2010), part of S ...
'', which was released on July 7. It broke the Spotify record for the most-single days streams for an album in 2023, made Swift the first woman to score 12 ''Billboard'' 200 number-one albums,
and the fastest woman to collect 10 number-one albums in the UK, surpassing Madonna.
On August 9, at the tour's sixth and last Los Angeles show, Swift announced her next release, on October 27, 2023, would be ''
1989 (Taylor's Version)'', the re-recording of ''1989''.
Press investigation
On November 16, 2020, ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' journalist Shirley Halperin reported, "some insiders speculate the value [of Swift's masters] could be as high as $450 million once certain earn-backs are factored in".
According to a November 2021 report by ''Financial Times'', Braun believed that Swift was "just bluffing" about re-recording. The newspaper stated that, after purchasing Big Machine, Braun began searching for buyers for the masters of Swift's back catalog, and that he and co-investors told potential buyers that Swift would not actually re-record the albums, calling her announcement an "empty threat"; Braun also told the buyers that Swift's posts about the dispute would only generate more publicity, boosting streams and downloads of the albums. ''Financial Times'' also alleged that the deal between Braun and Shamrock included "a post-purchase earnout to Braun and Carlyle Group, if sales and streams hit specific targets". On December 10, 2021, ''The New York Times'' published that the Carlyle Group contacted Braun and encouraged him to reach a ceasefire with Swift, such as a Joint venture, joint-venture partnership, to prevent her from re-recording, according to an undisclosed group of "four people close to the situation", three of whom said the firm was "unhappy to be dragged into the dispute in such a public way".
''Business Insider'' reporter Anna Silman released an investigation Scoop (news), exclusive in March 2022. Silman wrote that one of Swift's many reasons to detest Braun's procurement of the masters is his poor handling of the relationship between Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez, the latter being one of Swift's closest friends and vice versa. Silman also stated that Braun controlled Article (publishing), news stories of several media outlets and blogs. American rapper Lil Twist told Silman that Braun used Tabloid journalism, tabloid websites such as TMZ and Page six, ''Page Six'' to plant negative stories about the rapper. Silman claimed that Braun refused to speak Source (journalism), on the record, and that many others were afraid to go on record due to Braun's "rep for litigiousness". Additionally, she stated that Braun's lawyer, Marty Singer, threatened ''Business Insider'' several times over the investigation, claiming Silman is biased and has "deep ties to the Taylor Swift camp."
Sale of Ithaca
In April 2021, Braun Mergers and acquisitions, merged Ithaca with South Korean entertainment company
Hybe Corporation
Hybe Co., Ltd. (, stylized as HYBE Corporation) is a South Korean multinational entertainment company established in 2005 by Bang Si-hyuk as Big Hit Entertainment Co., Ltd. The company operates as a record label, talent agency, music productio ...
, which purchased Ithaca for a 100 percent stake through its wholly owned subsidiary, Hybe America. The deal, valued at $1 billion, brought the SB Projects and Big Machine rosters, including Bieber, Grande, Lovato, J Balvin, Thomas Rhett, Florida Georgia Line, and Lady A, together with K-pop acts like BTS, Tomorrow X Together, and Seventeen (South Korean band), Seventeen. Braun joined the board of Hybe. In a September 2022 interview with NPR's Jay Williams, Braun stated he regrets the way the Big Machine acquisition was handled, admitted he came from a "place of arrogance" when he assumed that he and Swift "could work things out", and that he learned "an important lesson". Braun also stated that he was forced to make the purchase under a "very strict NDA" and hence was not allowed to talk to anybody about it.
Reactions
The controversy was highly publicized, drawing reactions and critiques from across the internet. Swift's re-recordings were one of the most widely discussed and covered news topics of 2020–2021, and were described by media outlets as one of 2021's most prominent Popular culture, pop-culture events. ''Evening Standard'' called it "music's biggest feud", because "back catalogues regularly change hands behind the scenes, but almost never make headlines".
Hashtags "#IStandWithTaylor" and "#WeStandWithTaylor" trended worldwide on Twitter following Swift's post.
''Billboard'' wrote, since the controversy, acts "lined up for Team Swift or Team Braun, creating the most public battle about an artists' masters in recent memory".
Entertainment industry
![Kelly Clarkson 2018 DoD Warrior Games Opening Ceremony 14 - Cropped 01](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/Kelly_Clarkson_2018_DoD_Warrior_Games_Opening_Ceremony_14_-_Cropped_01.jpg)
Swift's response and social media posts sparked support from many of her contemporaries. Musicians who openly supported her include Dionne Warwick, Anne Murray, Cher, Selena Gomez, Halsey (singer), Halsey, Iggy Azalea,
Sara Bareilles, Lily Allen, Tinashe, Ella Eyre, Hayley Kiyoko, Camila Cabello, Jordan Pruitt,
Brendon Urie, Kelsea Ballerini, JoJo (singer), JoJo,
Azealia Banks, The Regrettes, Echosmith,
Antonoff, Haim (band), Haim, Alessia Cara, Allie X, Hrvy, Gretchen Peters, Iza (singer), Iza, Katy Perry,
and Anita Baker, who agreed with Swift that artists should rightfully own their music. American musician Sky Ferreira supported Swift and told about her own battle over her masters: "the entertainment industry is filled with under qualified bullies & morons with way too much power for their own good." When questioned about his stance, English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran said "I have been speaking directly to [Swift], like I always do."
American singer Kelly Clarkson, in a tweet, urged Swift to re-record the albums; "You should go in & re-record all the songs that you don't own the masters on exactly how you did them... I'd buy all of the new versions just to prove a point." Various other singers unfollowed Braun on their social media accounts. Beside musicians, celebrities like Cara Delevingne, Heidi Montag, Sara Sampaio,
Martha Hunt,
Gigi Hadid, Antoni Porowski, Bobby Berk, Ruby Rose, Jameela Jamil, Joseph Kahn (director), Joseph Kahn,
Mike Birbiglia,
and Mamrie Hart also supported Swift via social media posts.
A few musicians supported Braun, including Australian singer-songwriter Sia,
American singer Ty Dolla Sign, and Braun's clients Bieber and Lovato. Lovato and Sia said they believe Braun is a "good man" and that his actions were not personal.
American entertainer Todrick Hall, who was formerly a client of Braun, supported Swift and accused Braun of homophobia; Hall engaged in a back-and-forth argument with Lovato on Twitter. In an Instagram post, Bieber apologized to Swift for the FaceTime screenshot (with Braun and West) he posted in 2016 with a caption targeting her; however, Bieber defended Braun, saying Braun has supported Swift since she let Bieber be the opening act of her Fearless Tour and added "years have passed, we haven't crossed paths and gotten to communicate our differences, hurts or frustrations. So for you to take it to social media and get people to hate on Scooter isn't fair." Bieber's wife Hailey Bieber, Hailey called him a "gentleman" under the post, which prompted Delevingne to criticize the Biebers for what she considered as insincere amity. Grande, also a client of Braun, posted an Instagram story congratulating Braun on the purchase but deleted it after Swift posted her statement.
David Geffen, a music executive whom Braun has often described as a mentor, supported Braun but said "only time will tell who made the wise decision".
Politicians
On November 19, 2019, US senator Elizabeth Warren, who was one of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic candidates in the 2020 United States presidential election, stated on Twitter that Swift is "one of many" whose work has been threatened by private equity firms, who keep "gobbling up more and more of Economy of the United States, our economy, costing jobs and crushing entire industries." Holding private equity firms accountable was a large part of Warren's presidential campaign. US representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez also sided with Swift. She tweeted: "Private equity groups' predatory practices actively hurt millions of Americans. Their leveraged buyouts have destroyed the lives of retail workers across the country, scrapping 1+ million jobs. Now they're holding
wift'sown music hostage. They need to be reined in."
American businessman Glenn Youngkin was the former co-CEO of the Carlyle Group, the major sponsor in Braun's purchase of Big Machine and Swift's masters. Youngkin contested in the 2021 Virginia gubernatorial election as the Republican Party (United States), Republican candidate for the office of the Governor of Virginia. On October 6, 2021, ahead of the election, former governor and Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe launched a series of negative advertisements on Facebook, Instagram, and Google Search, tying Youngkin to the purchase. The ad included the slogan "#WeStandWithTaylor", a hashtag used by Swifties during the fallout of the dispute, and asked her supporters to vote for McAuliffe.
Youngkin's spokesperson, Christian Martinez, stated "McAuliffe has reached the stage of desperation in his campaign where he's rolling out the most baseless attacks to see what sticks". Additionally, NPR highlighted a July 2021 report by ''Associated Press'' that claimed McAuliffe himself had invested a minimum of $690,000 in Carlyle between 2007 and 2016. McAuliffe's spokesperson, Renzo Olivari, confirmed that McAuliffe was a "passive" Carlyle investor who by 2019, at the time of the sale of the masters, owned less than $5,000 in Carlyle stock.
Jared Polis, the 43rd Governor of Colorado, mentioned Swift's re-recording venture as a highlight of 2021 in his annual gubernatorial address to Colorado, the state on January 14, 2022, and sang the chorus of "22 (Taylor's Version)" in reference to the new year of 2022.
Music critics
Publications highlighted Swift's public opposition to the acquisition as trailblazing: while the issue of master ownership and the conflicts between record labels and artists such as Prince (musician), Prince, the Beatles, Janet Jackson, and Def Leppard have been prevalent, Swift was one of the few to make it public.
''Rolling Stone'' journalists described the dispute as one of the 50 "most important moments" of the 2010s. Dominic Rushe of ''The Guardian'' said Swift's situation hinted at a change in the digital music era, where artists are more informed of their ownership and would not rely on record labels for marketing as heavily as in the past.
Recognizing the visibility she brought to "one of the music industry's longest standing issues", ''Pitchfork (website), Pitchfork'' critic Sam Sodomsky said Swift "is also so huge—not just an artist but a brand—that she can enact change by wielding the leverage of the reliability of her success", and that when she makes a statement, it is "financially lucrative for the industry to listen".
''The Evening Standard'' Katie Rosseinsky wrote, "it is not just another celebrity feud, this could have wide-reaching repercussions for the music industry."
''The New York Times'', ''The A.V. Club'' and MarketWatch felt Swift's criticism targeted private equity firms, highlighting her mention of the Carlyle Group in her social media posts.
''The New York Times'' said, "at a time of public outrage over corporate greed and a heightened awareness of gender-based power dynamics, the 29-year-old Ms. Swift was able to turn a commercial dispute into a cause célèbre."
Meera Jagannathan of MarketWatch described the Carlyle Group as a "powerful and politically connected" firm based in Washington, D.C., whose investments constitute a global portfolio of 272 companies, including Supreme (brand), Supreme, Dunkin' Brands, and many Aerospace manufacturer, aerospace and Arms industry, defense companies.
Critical commentary on Swift's decision to re-record remained favorable as well. ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' Chris Willman wrote that Swift's highly publicized move to re-record her back catalog would inspire other artists to "further deputize or weaponize fans in their own business disputes", unlike comparatively less successful attempts by her contemporaries to own their music.
''The Atlantic'' Spencer Kornhaber opined that the re-recordings have been "a dazzling victory lap", disproving industry observers who had doubted Swift. ''Elle (magazine), Elle'' Fawzia Khan and ''The New Yorker'' Carrie Battan hailed the "(Taylor's Version)" tag attached to the re-recorded music as genius re-branding of Swift's back catalog.
Charlotte Richards, writing for ''Money Marketing'', said the situation helps understand "dangerous investing", such as Braun's. ''The New Zealand Herald'' reporter Lydia Burgham dubbed the move "ultimate middle finger to the bureaucracy of the music industry", while revealing how "even someone of Swift's star power cannot hold on to the rights to her recorded work." With the success of ''Red (Taylor's Version)'', Hannah Towey of ''Insider (news website), Business Insider'' said "the ''Taylor's Version'' era is already sending shockwaves throughout the industry."
''The Wall Street Journal'' journalist Neil Shah wrote, for using her back catalog in mass media, such as for commercials and movies, Swift can shut out Shamrock and Braun by directly lending the concerned song to the third party, approving the copyright license herself.
Kate Dwyer of ''Marie Claire'' said the re-recorded albums free Swift from the sexist Tabloid journalism, tabloid scrutiny of her private life that overshadowed her past works, by re-introducing listeners and critics to the same songs but without "as much gender bias", and that the audiences who "didn't believe she was a Feminism, feminist before (for whatever, sexist reason) can't deny the feminist undertones of becoming the industry spokesperson for artists' rights."
Legal scholars
Various lawyers and law firms have published their analyses of the controversy. The majority highlighted the lack of legal grounds and that a lawsuit is not viable. Susan H. Hilderley, music attorney at University of California's UCLA School of Law, Los Angeles School of Law, told ''The Washington Post'' that Swift not owning her masters is "nothing out of the ordinary". Hilderley noted Swift was an unknown artist when she signed her record deal and that signing off the masters to the record label is the "kind of terms" usually followed in artist-label agreements.
In a similar vein, Erin M. Jacobson, a music attorney specializing in artist-label negotiations, said on CBC News that "the structure of a label owning the master has been in place for such a long time that a lot of people are just used to that". She affirmed that Swift has no legal recourse on the contract but can effect change in the music industry and benefit all artists.
''The Hollywood Reporter'' consulted music lawyers Howard King and Derek Crownover regarding the controversy; King said Swift would not sue Braun or the label because of the "personal" nature of the dispute—her predicament being not the sale itself but that Braun is the buyer—having no legal recourse. In agreement, Crownover said: "from the satellite view, I don't see any legal ramifications that could come of this, unless there were restrictions on the sale of the masters to third parties."
James Jeffries-Chung of Norton Rose Fulbright asserted Shamrock cannot prevent Swift from re-recording her music by any legal measure since she is the publisher of her songs and that all they can hope is "listeners may be less interested in hearing modern takes of songs they enjoyed a decade ago and stick with the originals."
Many opined that Swift's moves will bring about systemic changes in the music industry and artist-label relationships. Meredith Rose, senior policy counsel at Public Knowledge, wrote in her American Bar Association post that "if Swift—who is, without exaggeration, one of the biggest powerhouse pop stars of an entire generation—can't get her own masters back, who could? Turns out, almost nobody."
According to Tonya Butler, professor and chair of the Music Business Management Department at Berklee College of Music, "regardless of the reasons why [Swift is] re-recording, whether it's spite or good business, the fact she is bringing to attention the re-recording restriction agreement alone makes the whole controversy valuable."
McBrayer's Peter J. Rosene stated that each "Taylor's Version" album lowers the value of the master of its respective original held by Shamrock and predicted that the sales of the re-recordings "might, in fact, outperform the original albums." American author Steve Stoute said "you build it; we make you think that you own it; you act like you own it; but at the end of the day, we own it." He opined that Swift's dilemma is a "painful" illustration of the fundamental issue with the music business that has been following a "sharecropping" model.
According to professor R. Polk Wagner of the University of Pennsylvania Law School, Swift associating her lyrics with a range of goods and services through trademark applications represents her understanding that "she is bigger than the music". He added "it's more of a branding right, thinking of Taylor Swift as a Conglomerate (company), conglomerate."
Doug McMahon of Irish firm McCann Fitzgerald Limited liability partnership, LLP opined that the controversy shows how "the bundle of related copyrights that exist in a piece of music can give rise to complex disputes" and upheld Swift's move to re-record as a "relatively novel solution", in regards to the copyright legislations in Ireland.
Legacy
Recognition
At the 2019 Billboard Women in Music, ''Billboard'' Women in Music event, Swift was conferred the inaugural Billboard Women in Music#Woman of the Decade Award, Woman of the Decade award for the 2010s. In her acceptance speech, Swift addressed Braun for the first time publicly, criticizing his "Toxic masculinity, toxic male privilege" and the "unregulated world of private equity coming in and buying [artists'] music as if it's real estate—as if it's an app or a shoe line." She claimed that none of the investors "bothered to contact me or my team directly—to perform their due diligence on their investment; on their investment in me. To ask how I might feel about the new owner of my art, the music I wrote, the videos I created, photos of me, my handwriting, my Album cover, album designs."
In December 2021, ''Billboard'' recognized Swift as "The Greatest Pop Star of 2021", saying she "rewrote industry rules and had one of the most impactful years of her storied pop career without even releasing an entirely new album." The magazine stated that the "unequivocal success" of ''Fearless (Taylor's Version)'' and ''Red (Taylor's Version)'' prove the widespread acceptance of the recordings, which replaced the older versions as "the ones listeners will be digesting and caring about moving forward."
The Recording Academy said the "Taylor's Versions" are a music trend that defined 2021. Swift and her re-recording venture were featured in a video montage by Vox (website), ''Vox'' summarizing major world events of the year. ''Rolling Stone'' listed Braun's purchase of Swift's masters as one of the 50 worst decisions made in the music industry history, and noted Swift's role in shifting the public perception of the concept of re-recording or re-mastering.
The term "(Taylor's Version)" and its variants have since achieved cultural prominence as taglines. Organizations such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and National Football League (NFL) have since used or parodied the term in their promotional digital content.
Financial impact
The re-recordings were widely successful.
The original ''Fearless'' was charting at number 157 on the US Billboard 200, ''Billboard'' 200 chart before the impact of ''Fearless (Taylor's Version)'', after which the original dropped 19 percent in sales and fell off the chart completely, while the re-recording debuted at number one. Ben Sisario of ''The New York Times'' opined that ''Fearless (Taylor's Version)'' "accomplished what appeared to be one of Swift's goals: burying the original ''Fearless''."
This became a pattern: Each announcement of a ''Taylor's Version'' album caused a spike in interest in the original album, but upon release of the new recording, the original plummeted in consumption and exited the chart; the original ''Red'' dropped by 45 percent, ''Speak Now'' by 59 percent and ''1989'' by 44 percent, following the release of their respective re-recordings. In October 2023, Bloomberg News estimated the value of the four re-recordings to be $400 million.
The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry reported that Swift was Global Recording Artist of the Year, the world's best-selling soloist and female artist of 2021. ''Forbes'' estimated her 2021 earnings to be US$52,000,000, and opined that Swift "recreating her catalog also sets
erup for a potentially massive payday".
Her publication rights over her first six albums were valued at $200 million in 2022. ''Rolling Stone'' reported in January 2022 that Swift was the highest-paid female musician of 2021, owing to ''Fearless (Taylor's Version)'' and ''Red (Taylor's Version)'', ahead of artists who released brand new albums that year. In December 2022, ''Billboard'' reiterated that Swift was the top earning musician overall in 2021, taking home an estimated $65.8 million, followed by English band the Rolling Stones ($55.5 million).
Synchronization
Swift has pointedly refused to authorize
synchronization
Synchronization is the coordination of events to operate a system in unison. For example, the conductor of an orchestra keeps the orchestra synchronized or ''in time''. Systems that operate with all parts in synchrony are said to be synchronou ...
requests for the original versions of her songs from her first six albums, advising use of her re-recorded versions instead.
American actor and Swift's brother, Austin Swift, Austin, manages the licensing of her songs.
A cover version of "Look What You Made Me Do" (2017), the lead single of ''Reputation'', was featured in the opening credits of an episode (aired May 24, 2020) of Spy fiction, spy thriller series ''Killing Eve''. The artist credited as the performer of the cover, Jack Leopards & the Dolphin Club, had no documented existence before the song's release. It was fronted by an unnamed male vocalist, speculated by some media outlets to be Austin, and was produced by
Jack Antonoff
Jack Michael Antonoff (born March 31, 1984) is an American singer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and record producer. Antonoff is the lead singer of rock band Bleachers, and is the guitarist and drummer in the pop rock band Fun. He was pr ...
and Nils Sjöberg, the latter being a pseudonym of Swift. Because Swift could not re-record ''Reputation'' at the time the episode aired, some believed that the cover version was Swift's way of bypassing the potential issues that would arise with Big Machine over licensing the copyright to ''Killing Eve.'' A copyright license is mandatory for using a song in a visual work; otherwise, the owner of the copyright is allowed to fine or press charges against the party who used the song unlicensed.
![Ryan Reynolds by Gage Skidmore](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/Ryan_Reynolds_by_Gage_Skidmore.jpg)
The re-recorded tracks have been featured in various visual media: "Love Story (Taylor's Version)" appeared in an advertisement produced by American actor Ryan Reynolds for the dating app Match.com.
"Wildest Dreams (Taylor's Version)" was extensively used in the trailers for the Computer animation, animated Adventure film, adventure film ''Spirit Untamed'' (2021) and in an episode of Netflix Animation, Netflix fantasy series ''Fate: The Winx Saga'' (2022). The trailers of Amazon Prime Video Romantic Drama, romantic drama series ''The Summer I Turned Pretty (TV series), The Summer I Turned Pretty'' made use of parts of "This Love (Taylor's Version)" and "Back to December (Taylor's Version)".
"Message in a Bottle (Taylor Swift song), Message in a Bottle" (2021) and "Bad Blood (Taylor's Version)" are featured in animated superhero film ''DC League of Super-Pets'' (2022).
According to ''Billboard'', filmmakers are aware that "Swift songs in scenes or trailers instantly build Streaming media, streaming and ticket-buying audiences" and "music supervisors are happy play along." Mike Knobloch, president of music and publishing in American mass media corporation NBCUniversal, NBC Universal (which released ''Spirit Untamed'') and who also worked with Swift's team for the ''Fifty Shades Darker (film), Fifty Shades Darker'' track "I Don't Wanna Live Forever" (2016), claimed that "Swift is exposing new music to the widest possible audience. For now, her strategy focuses on family films, but that approach is unlikely to last forever... She's on a short list of artists that are impactful to the broadest audience. If that translates to family films as a target, then that makes sense. But I don't think she's doing that exclusively."
Fan action
Journalists and media outlets credited Swift's fans, known commonly as "Swifties", with aiding Swift in magnifying the publicity surrounding the controversy and the success of her re-recording efforts.
Whereas, Braun claimed that Swift "weaponized" her fanbase by making the dispute public.
On June 30, 2019, following the news that Braun had acquired Big Machine—and along with it Swift's back catalog—many of Braun's friends congratulated him on their social media accounts; American entrepreneur David Grutman captioned a screenshot of the news headline with "WHEN YOUR FRIEND BUYS TAYLOR SWIFT" in his Instagram story, which Braun re-posted to his account. The story and its re-post were quickly deleted after Swift's fans claimed it as reflecting Braun's true intent. On November 22, 2019, Braun posted on Instagram claiming he received death threats from Swift's fans, and wanted to have a conversation with Swift regarding the dispute.
He wrote, "I am certain there is no situation ever worth jeopardising anyone's safety."
Big Machine headquarters in Nashville was shut down early on November 14, 2019, due to "direct and hostile death threats" made to the company's employees. An online petition launched by a fan on Change.org, calling Braun, Borchetta and the Carlyle Group "to stop holding Swift's art hostage", garnered 35,000 plaintiffs in its first three hours. Michael Jones, managing director of campaigns in Change.org, described the petition as "one the fastest-growing petitions on the platform this month".
Fans also mined information about the Carlyle Group and claimed it has ties to Yemeni Civil War (2014–present), the civil war in Yemen. Subsequently, publications such as ''The New York Times'' confirmed that Carlyle owns the aerospace manufacturer Wesco Aircraft Holdings, which supplies parts for building Saudi Arabian combat aircraft that are used to Famine in Yemen (2016–present)#Saudi Arabian-led intervention, drop bombs in Yemen.
Following the release of ''Fearless (Taylor's Version)'', fans blocked the tracks of ''Fearless'' (2008) on their digital music platforms, such as
Spotify
Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...
, to prevent accidentally streaming it—in order to make the older recordings "disappear".
On the May 12, 2022, episode of ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'', in his opening monologue, host Jimmy Fallon summarized several fan speculations about the next re-recorded album from Swift, theorizing that it is either ''Speak Now (Taylor's Version)'', ''1989 (Taylor's Version)'', or both at the same time.
Peer acknowledgment
American singer-songwriter Olivia Rodrigo stated that she negotiated with her record label to own her music's masters herself, after observing Swift's battle, and British singer Rita Ora thanked Swift for providing an incentive to purchase her masters herself. American singer Joe Jonas said that he wishes to re-record the Jonas Brothers' back catalog just like Swift. Canadian musician Bryan Adams, American vocal group 98 Degrees and American rock band The Departed (band), the Departed were inspired by Swift to re-record. American musician Dave Grohl, frontman of the rock band Foo Fighters, said he was "deeply impressed" by Swift and supports her vision. American rapper Snoop Dogg cited Swift's re-recordings and stated he wanted to re-record his debut album, ''Doggystyle'' (1993), but could not bring himself to do it because he was unable to replicate the "feeling". American singer-songwriter Ashanti (singer), Ashanti announced her intention to re-record Ashanti (album), her self-titled debut album to gain its masters, and told Metro (magazine), ''Metro'' that she felt "empowered" by Swift; Ashanti further stated "I think Taylor is amazing for what she's done and to be able to be a female in this very male-dominated industry, to accomplish that is amazing. Owning your property and getting a chance to have ownership of your creativity is so so important. Male, female, singer, rapper, whatever, I hope this is a lesson for artists to get in there and own."
Indonesian singer-songwriter Niki (singer), Niki stated Swift inspired her to re-record and "reimagine" her original songs that she had deleted from YouTube after signing to her record label, incorporating them into her second studio album, ''Nicole (album), Nicole'' (2022). American socialite Paris Hilton released an "updated" version of her 2006 song, "Stars Are Blind", re-titled as "Stars are Blind (Paris' Version)", on December 30, 2022. American singer SZA praised Swift in her 2023 Billboard Women in Music#Woman of the Year Award, ''Billboard'' Woman of the Year interview: "Taylor letting that whole situation go with her masters, then selling all of those fucking records. That's the biggest 'fuck you' to the establishment I've ever seen in my life, and I deeply applaud that shit." American rapper Offset (rapper), Offset, a former member of Hip hop music, hip hop group Migos, claimed to be "rap's Taylor Swift" following a dispute with Quality Control Music, his former record label, over his solo career. He has said he is seeking "control over his master recordings". Irish actress Saoirse Ronan and American filmmaker Greta Gerwig said Swift's fight for ownership resonated with them while making Little Women (2019 film), the 2019 film adaptation of ''Little Women'', whose author Louisa May Alcott also held onto her copyright. American musician Melissa Etheridge called the re-recording project "probably the most impressive musical business feat I've ever seen. Ever." British musician Imogen Heap called the project "a badass card to stay in control of
wift'swork in a commercial music industry that largely works against musicians." American singer and songwriter Maren Morris said she found "deep inspiration" in Swift's "courage" "turning the tables on exploitative businessmen and taking back ownership".
Systemic changes
On November 12, 2021, ''The Wall Street Journal'' reported that
Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...
, the parent company of Swift's current label, has doubled the amount of time that restricts artists from re-recording their works in their recording deals hereafter. The newspaper said the change represents "shifting power dynamics in the music business", as artists have started to demand better revenue shares and ownership of the masters to their music, incentivized by Swift's situation. Weverse said "the recording industry had been watching
wift'srerecording project closely to see where it might go and has recently begun to react" and pointed out that musicians have started to demand the rights to their masters "more and more often" following the controversy. On November 17, 2021,
iHeartRadio
iHeartRadio (often shortened to just "iHeart") is an American freemium broadcast, podcast and radio streaming Computing platform, platform owned by iHeartMedia. It was founded in August 2008. , iHeartRadio was functioning as the national umbr ...
announced that its radio stations will only play "Taylor's Version" songs henceforth, with plans to replace the rest of the older recordings with the re-recorded tracks as they are officially released.
Following the success of Swift's re-recordings, record labels and companies began to contractually prohibit music artists from ever re-recording their songs or increasing the waiting period to 10–30 years. In October 2023, ''Billboard'' reported that the major labels—Universal, Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group—overhauled clauses on re-recording in the contracts for new signees, with several music attorneys opposing this change.
Additionally, more artists have moved toward a licensing deal where they retain control of the masters, though traditional contracts where the label owns the masters remain more common.
Music inspiration
Songs from each of Swift's 2020 albums, "My Tears Ricochet" and "Mad Woman" from ''Folklore (Taylor Swift album), Folklore'',
and "It's Time to Go" from ''Evermore (Taylor Swift album), Evermore'', were underscored by critics for their references to the dispute, Borchetta, and Braun.
"My Tears Ricochet" is about how Swift felt betrayed by Borchetta and uses a funeral metaphor,
while "Mad Woman" is about the "gaslighting" Swift experienced at the hands of Braun.
Widespread interpretation has that the tracks "Vigilante Shit" and "Karma (Taylor Swift song), Karma" from her 2022 album, ''Midnights'', also Diss (music), diss Braun. ''Vulture (website), Vulture'' critic Jason P. Frank opined, American singer
Demi Lovato
Demetria Devonne Lovato ( ; born August 20, 1992), known as Demi Lovato, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. After appearing on the children's television series ''Barney & Friends'' (2002–2004), Lovato rose to prominence for pl ...
's decision to release her 2023 remix album, ''Revamped'', was inspired by Swift's re-recordings.
Academic attention
The controversy has also been a topic of study in higher educational institutions. On October 4, 2021, Rafael Landívar University in Guatemala hosted a conference on the topic "International Copyright Protection: Analyzing Taylor Swift's Case". In January 2022, a Academic term, spring semester course focusing on Swift's career and its cultural impact was launched at New York University's New York University Tisch School of the Arts, Tisch School of the Arts, with "copyright and ownership" as one of the topics covered by the syllabus. Queen's University at Kingston offers a fall semester course, titled "Taylor Swift's Literary Legacy (Taylor's Version)", focusing on her Political sociology, sociopolitical impact on contemporary culture; its syllabus includes studying select songs from Swift's studio albums, with the use of re-recorded versions wherever possible. The University of Virginia Darden School of Business released a new case study on the masters controversy in September 2023. In November 2023, the University of South Dakota announced a law course centered around Swift's interactions with the law, which will examine her re-recordings and related copyright issues.
See also
* Cultural impact of Taylor Swift
* Taylor Swift sexual assault trial
* 2022 Ticketmaster controversy
Footnotes
References
{{Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift, Masters controversy
Music controversies