{"id":2445893,"date":"2019-07-01T11:22:47","date_gmt":"2019-07-01T17:22:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/?p=853424"},"modified":"2019-07-01T11:22:47","modified_gmt":"2019-07-01T17:22:47","slug":"taylor-swift-vs-scooter-braun-and-scott-borchetta-what-the-hell-happened","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/music-news\/taylor-swift-vs-scooter-braun-and-scott-borchetta-what-the-hell-happened\/","title":{"rendered":"Taylor Swift vs. Scooter Braun and Scott Borchetta: What the Hell Happened?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Sunday morning\u2019s announcement that Scooter Braun\u2019s Ithaca Holdings acquired Scott Borchetta\u2019s Big Machine Label Group caused the a-pop-calypse to swiftly descend upon us. Braun, an entrepreneur and talent manager best known for representing Justin Bieber<\/a> and Ariana Grande, among others, seemed like an unlikely partner for Borchetta\u2019s Nashville-based independent label. But Big Machine, the current home for Reba McEntire, Midland, Sugarland and more, has a massive net worth and back catalog thanks to the early signing of a 15-year-old Taylor Swift<\/a>. The acquisition was reportedly valued at $300 million.<\/span><\/p>\n

After six albums with Big Machine and a pivot to pop music, Swift\u2019s 13-year deal with BMLG expired last November,<\/span><\/a> with the superstar signing a new deal with Republic Records and Universal Music Group. With her new agreement, Swift had negotiated ownership of all future masters, while Big Machine retained ownership of her first six albums. The specific details of what would happen to her early masters were mostly unknown until Sunday. Upon the announcement of her new record deal last November, she also revealed a groundbreaking element<\/span><\/a> which affected all artists under UMG: any sale of the company\u2019s shares in Spotify resulted in equity for UMG artists.<\/span><\/p>\n

Swift\u2019s announcement of her new deal ended with a touching \u201cthank you\u201d note to Borchetta, but Borchetta\u2019s decision to sell the company to Braun led to a fiery war or words between Swift, Borchetta, Braun and, unexpectedly, a slew of pop artists and friends who chose sides.<\/span><\/p>\n

So what the hell happened? We break down a very crazy 24 hours.<\/span><\/p>\n

How did Taylor Swift respond to news of the acquisition?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Not well! Within hours of the announcement, Swift posted a lengthy blog on her official Tumblr<\/a> where she revealed how \u201csad and grossed out\u201d she was over the deal. In her post, she detailed a less-than-savory history with Braun, specifically through his clients Bieber and Kanye West<\/a>. She led the post with a screenshot from Bieber\u2019s Instagram that saw Bieber FaceTiming with West and Braun following Kim Kardashian West leaking a phone call between Swift and West on Snapchat about his song \u201cFamous\u201d (which contains the line \u201cI feel like me and Taylor might still have sex\u201d). Bieber\u2019s caption reads \u201cTaylor Swift what up.\u201d He has since removed the caption<\/span><\/a> from the photo following Swift\u2019s blog post.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFor years I asked, pleaded for a chance to own my work. Instead I was given an opportunity to \u2018earn\u2019 one album back at a time, one for every new one I turned in,\u201d Swift began her post. From there, she details how she knew Borchetta would eventually sell the label but claims she had no knowledge \u2014 and no expectation \u2014 that it would be to Braun.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSome fun facts about today\u2019s news: I learned about Scooter Braun\u2019s purchase of my masters as it was announced to the world,\u201d she claimed. Citing the \u201cillegally recorded snippet of a phone call\u201d posted by Kardashian, Bieber\u2019s aforementioned Instagram post and West\u2019s video for \u201cFamous\u201d featuring a nude version of Swift (which she called \u201crevenge porn\u201d), the singer-songwriter detailed how her \u201cmusical legacy was about to lie in the hands of someone who tried to dismantle it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Even more damning, she claims that Borchetta has known about her distaste for Braun for years, saying that the man who gave her her first record deal \u201cknew what he was doing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

What exactly will Braun own?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Swift signed her recording contract at the age of 15, and the deal she made with Big Machine gave them ownership of her master recordings, which entitled the company to her albums\u2019 revenue streams and control of how the music was used. Big Machine held her career\u2019s recordings from her self-titled album to 2017\u2019s Reputation<\/em>. Given her increase in popularity and massive sales during her Big Machine era, Swift\u2019s masters have become more and more valuable. Now, both Borchetta and Braun will have a say in what can be done with those recordings.<\/span><\/p>\n

How did other artists react to this?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Swift\u2019s Tumblr post created a pop world war on Sunday. Her fans carefully cataloged the events that transpired, alleging that artists like Rihanna, Miley Cyrus and Adele all unfollowed Braun on Instagram. Braun\u2019s client Ariana Grande deleted a \u201ccongratulations\u201d post from her Instagram story that celebrated her manager\u2019s new deal. (Reps for Grande did not reply to a request for comment.)  Halsey and Sky Ferreira penned earnest messages in support of Swift<\/a>. Swift\u2019s friend and collaborator Todrick Hall took to social media to detail his own experiences as a client of Braun\u2019s for six years, alleging that the entrepreneur is not only homophobic but also not quite a fan of Swift<\/a>. (Braun did not reply to multiple requests for comment.) <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

? @taylorswift13<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/1iI2tCr8my<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 h (@halsey) June 30, 2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

On #TeamScooter, clients and friends of the businessman flooded social media with their own shows of support. Bieber posted on Instagram<\/span><\/a>, first apologizing to Swift for the \u201churtful\u201d caption she cited in her Tumblr post. He added that Braun had nothing to do with the post she took issue with and claims that Braun has always had her back. As his caption continues, Bieber accuses Swift of being a \u201cbully\u201d for taking to social media instead of a private conversation with him and Braun. \u201cI usually don\u2019t rebuttal things like this, but when you try and deface someone I loves\u2019 character thats [sic] crossing a line,\u201d Bieber wrote.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yael Braun, Scooter\u2019s wife, alleged on Instagram that Swift \u201cpassed\u201d on the opportunity to own her masters, noting that her father Scott Swift is a shareholder at Big Machine. From there, Yael defends accusations that Scooter is a \u201cbully\u201d behind closed doors, stating that he has long supported Swift\u2019s career and was hoping to \u201cbuild\u201d with Swift given his new stake in her back catalog.<\/span><\/p>\n

Braun\u2019s business partner Allison Jamie Kaye and new client Demi Lovato<\/a> also stepped in, particularly defending Braun against Todrick Hall\u2019s inflammatory allegations of homophobia. Kaye reposted Yael Braun\u2019s message, adding that Scooter \u201csupports all women.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/blockquote>\n

Did Swift really not know about the deal before Sunday morning?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The situation has gotten messier over the logistics of a phone call about the acquisition that occurred on June 25th. Since the singer\u2019s father, Scott Swift, is also a shareholder, it was immediately assumed that he would be on the phone call. A representative for Swift told<\/span><\/a> People<\/span><\/a><\/em> that Scott Swift was not on the call \u201cdue to a very strict NDA.\u201d The rep added that \u201cher dad did not join that call because he did not want to be required to withhold information from his own daughter.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Late on Sunday, Borchetta, who typically does not publicize details of his negotiations, finally responded to Swift\u2019s accusations with his own blog post<\/span> titled \u201cSo, It\u2019s Time For Some Truth\u2026\u201d<\/a> His timeline confirms the June 25th phone call between the Big Machine shareholders and Braun\u2019s Ithaca Holdings. According to Borchetta, there was a final call on June 28th, which allowed the shareholders to have three days to go over the transaction and then vote, with three of the five shareholders voting \u201cyes\u201d for the deal. Borchetta confirms that Scott Swift was not on the call, instead being represented by a lawyer from Taylor Swift\u2019s management company 13 Management. 13 Management executive and Big Machine shareholder Frank Bell was also allegedly on the call.<\/span><\/p>\n

Borchetta further claimed that he had sent Swift a courtesy text ahead of the announcement on June 29th at 9:05pm, which he pasted in his blog post. Borchetta believes that with the near week of notice as well as the alleged courtesy text, it would have been nearly impossible for Swift to have had no prior knowledge of Braun\u2019s acquisition of Big Machine. (Rolling Stone<\/em> was unable to confirm the authenticity of the text message.)<\/span><\/p>\n

Did Big Machine want her to earn back her masters with every new album?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

As written in her Tumblr post, Swift claimed that Big Machine offered her to buy back her masters one album at a time, with every new album she would record for the label. Borchetta refutes this claim in his own blog post, even including a screenshot of a portion of the proposed new deal. In that memo, Swift (\u201cTS\u201d) requests a seven-year deal where Big Machine assigns ownership of all previous audio and audio-visual material over to her. BMLG\u2019s response agreed to the proposal but asked for 10 years.<\/span><\/p>\n

Borchetta pasted a text that he claims Swift sent him just moments before her Republic\/UMG deal was announced. \u201cOwning my masters was very important to me, but I\u2019ve since realized that there are things that mean even more to me in the bigger picture,\u201d Swift allegedly wrote, referring to the portion of her deal that would affect how all artists under UMG recoup shares from Spotify. \u201cWhat we accomplished together will be a lasting legacy and case study on excellent partnerships, and may it continue,\u201d the text read.<\/span><\/p>\n

Has Swift responded to Borchetta\u2019s post?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

At press time, Swift has remained silent on Borchetta\u2019s shared texts and deal memo. A representative for Swift has also not responded to numerous requests for comment from Rolling Stone<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Are all the men involved in this story named Scott?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Scooter Braun\u2019s real name is Scott Braun, so, unfortunately, yes.<\/span><\/p>\n

via:: Rolling Stone<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sunday morning\u2019s announcement that Scooter Braun\u2019s Ithaca Holdings acquired Scott Borchetta\u2019s Big Machine Label Group caused the a-pop-calypse to swiftly descend upon us. Braun, an entrepreneur and talent manager best known for representing Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande, among others, seemed like an unlikely partner for Borchetta\u2019s Nashville-based independent label. But Big Machine, the current […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2445893","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-music-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-21 19:44:27","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley's Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2445893","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2445893"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2445893\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2445893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2445893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2445893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}