Taylor Swift is calling on her fans to help in her latest skirmish with Big Machine Label Group founder Scott Borchetta and music manager Scooter Braun.
In a statement posted to her social media accounts Thursday, Swift slammed Borchetta and Braun for “exercising tyrannical control” over her old music.
Swift, who is slated to perform a medley of her greatest hits at the American Music Awards on Nov. 24, where she is being honored as Artist of the Decade, wrote, “Scott Borchetta and Scooter Braun have now said that I’m not allowed to perform my old songs on television because they claim that would be re-recording my music before I’m allowed to next year.”
In November 2018, Swift left Big Machine for a new record deal at Republic Records and Universal Music Group. As part of her new deal, Swift can start re-recording her old music as soon as November 2020. She also now owns the masters to any of her work under her new label, which most recently included her new album Lover. (Her first six albums were released under her deal at Big Machine.)
In her statement Thursday, Swift also shared the previously unknown news that a Netflix documentary about her life is in development, but she said Borchetta and Braun have “declined the use of my older music or performance footage for this project, even though there is no mention of either of them or Big Machine Records anywhere in the film.”
According to Swift, Borchetta told her team that she can use her old music if she agrees to “not re-record copycat versions of [her] songs next year” and “to stop talking about him and Scooter Braun.”
Earlier this summer, Swift expressed public outrage that Braun had bought the rights to her masters when he acquired Big Machine Label Group. Posting on her Tumblr page, Swift called Braun’s acquisition of her masters the “worst case scenario” and said the news made her “sad and grossed out.” The news led to an extensive back-and-forth between Swift and her team and Braun, his wife, and other supporters.
“I feel very strongly that sharing what is happening to me could change the awareness level for other artists and potentially help them avoid a similar fate,” she wrote Thursday. “The message being sent to me is very clear. Basically, be a good little girl and shut up. Or you’ll be punished.”
Swift ended her note pleading with her fans to let Borchetta and Braun know how they feel, even encouraging them to go to artists managed by Braun for their help, because now her AMAs performance, the Netflix project, and “any other recorded events I am planning to play until November of 2020 are a question mark.”
“I’m hoping that maybe they can talk some sense into the men who are exercising tyrannical control over someone who just wants to play the music she wrote,” Swift said.
Within minutes of Swift’s statement, #IStandWithTaylor started trending on Twitter, and Swift fans began flooding the social media accounts of Braun and notable clients like Ariana Grande and Demi Lovato with comments.
EW has reached out to Big Machine, Netflix, the AMAs, and Braun for comment. Read Swift’s full post below.
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