While Taylor Swift is busy touring, smashing records, and dominating the music industry with her Taylor’s Version rerecord project, Scooter Braun is reaping bad karma.
The music executive has been grabbing headlines after headlines with news of his empire is slowly crumbling down with the loss of his big-name clients, including Ariana Grande and Demi Lovato. Sources also suggest that Justin Bieber may also be on the verge of dropping him. The ironic part in all of this for Braun is that he unwittingly inspired and fueled Taylor’s Version, which is now receiving phenomenal success.
If you’re wondering what the hell is going on or just need a refresher, we have you covered. Here’s a quick timeline of their whole feud.
The End Of An Era
Taylor Swift started her music career under Scott Borchetta’s Big Machine Records with a 13-year binding contract signing away her rights to own her music. When that deal expired in 2018, Swift decided to take her career in a different direction.
She signed with Republic Records and Universal Music Group, who not only gave her ownership of all of her music but also ensured that she would get her fair share in any sale of the label’s share in Spotify.
Swift and Borchetta’s parting seemed to be just a case of a relationship that had run its course, but it wasn’t. When news of Braun’s media company, Ithaca Holdings, 300-million-dollar acquisition of Big Machine Label Group hit the ground, the singer revealed the decision behind her decision to leave Borchetta.
In her lengthy letter on Tumblr, she shared with fans that she had tried to own her work (the music she wrote on her bedroom floor and videos she dreamed about and paid for by her hard work playing in bars, clubs, and arenas) for years. Sadly, instead of letting her claim what she rightfully deserved, Borchetta offered her to sign back with him and earn her albums one at a time in exchange for new ones.
Masters are the artist’s original recordings and should be owned by them. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case for many. Now, when the artists have no control over their work, its integrity is at risk and, worse, sacrificed in the name of profit.
Swift knew that The moment she signed that deal with Borchetta, he would sell her future. So, she had to make the difficult choice to walk away, and she made peace with it until she found out that Borchetta had sold his label and her catalogs to Braun.
Wildest Nightmare
Never in Swift’s wildest nightmares did she ever imagine Borchetta would sell it to a bully like Braun and do so without even informing her.
Braun was her worst-case scenario. He was Kanye West’s former manager, and we all know what happened. Kim Kardashian orchestrated a recorded phone call – which turned out to be illegal – that turned the whole world against Swift. Hence, Reputation.
He got his clients to bully her on social media. Then Kanye even made a revenge porn music video where she was stripped naked.
“Now Scooter has stripped me of my life’s work, that I wasn’t given an opportunity to buy. Essentially, my musical legacy is about to lie in the hands of someone who tried to dismantle it.”
Borchetta knew that, and it was clear that he didn’t care. Moreover, the two didn’t stop at that. They tried to sabotage her AMA performance (where she was awarded Artist of the Decade) and her Netflix special by blocking her from performing and using her self-written songs. They even had the audacity to release a Live Version of her albums without her consent.
A year and a half after acquiring Big Machine, Braun sold Swift’s master rights to the private equity group Shamrock Holdings for 300 million dollars. Once again, this was done without the singer’s knowledge.
Reclaiming What’s Hers
Swift made a powerful statement announcing that she would mint new versions of her albums under Big Machine. Not only would it give the old songs new flavor with her more mature vocals, but the profit of streaming every song no longer benefits Borchetta, Braun, or any other entity.
The move was so impactful because it was unprecedented. Through Taylor’s Version, Taylor Swift showed that every Scooter Braun in the industry will no longer be a king who can exploit their artists.
