Taylor Swift’s battle with her former record label just blew up again
Just when we thought the war between Big Machine and Taylor Swift had concluded in a truce, the battle commenced yet again. Yesterday, April 23rd, Taylor Swift responded to fans who made her aware that her former record label would be dropping one of her live radio albums from 2008—a drop that Swift did not approve of. Reminder: Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings bought Big Machine last summer.
To briefly sum up the chaos until this point, Big Machine Label Group owns all of Swift’s prior work up to Lover, which she debuted under a new label in 2019. Swift has spoken out about the unfair treatment she received while with Big Machine as well as the bullying she saw firsthand from Braun. Braun now owns all of her masters, and Swift has said he uses this ownership as an attempt to indirectly control her career.
So, when Swift caught wind that Big Machine was set to release Live From Clear Channel Stripped 2008 via Spotify at midnight on April 24th, she wasn’t shocked.
“Hey guys—I want to thank my fans for making me aware that my former record label is putting out an “album” of live performances of mine tonight,” she wrote in a text post on her Instagram Story. “This recording is from a 2008 radio show performance I did when I was 18. Big Machine has listed the date as a 2017 release but they’re actually releasing it tonight at midnight.”
She continued, “I’m always honest with you guys about this stuff, so I just wanted to tell you that this release is not approved by me. It looks to me like Scooter Braun and his financial backers—23 Capital, Alex Soros, and the Soros family and the Carlyle Group—have seen the latest balance sheets and realized that paying $330 MILLION for my music wasn’t exactly a wise choice and they need money ?.”
“In my opinion…just another case of shameless greed in the time of coronavirus. So tasteless, but very transparent.”
Despite Swift speaking out against the album release, Big Machine went through with the drop.
Live From Clear Channel Stripped 2008 is currently live on Spotify, dated 2008 with a 2020 Big Machine Label Group, LLC copyright. Fans are now spreading the word on Twitter to refrain from streaming the “new” album, reiterating that it was dropped without the artist’s approval. The hashtags #ScooterBraunIsOverParty and #BigMachineIsOverParty are currently trending.
Neither Big Machine nor Scooter Braun has responded to Swift’s statement, and something tells us that they probably won’t. Needless to say, it’s clear the war still rages on.
