Taylor Swift’s masters have been sold again for the second time. Celebrity manager Scooter Braun sold off the singer’s first six albums to an investment firm in a deal that values the assets at around $300 million.
Swift slammed the celebrity manager for his actions and shared that he wanted to silence her in exchange for the opportunity to bid on her own work. It was reported that Braun sold Swift’s master recordings to a private-equity company called Shamrock Holdings. Swift took to Twitter to respond to reports that Braun sold Big Machine Label Group, which includes the master rights for Swift’s first six albums.
The Grammy-winning singer took to Twitter to explain her side of the story. In a lengthy note, she expressed her displeasure about the deal, saying that it denies her the chance to buy back the tapes herself and take control over the rights to her first six albums.
Take a look at the tweets below.
The singer shared that she wanted to regain ownership of her music and tried to enter negotiations with Braun but his team required her to sign “an ironclad NDA” before she could even place a bid. She also went to reveal that she started re-recording the songs, and is finding it creatively fulfilling.
Under her contract with Republic Records and Universal Music Group, she is allowed to re-record the songs from those first six albums, which include “Taylor Swift” (2006), “Fearless” (2008), “Speak Now” (2010), “Red” (2012), “1989” (2014), and “Reputation” (2017).
Last year, Braun’s Ithaca Holdings purchased Big Machine Records along with Swift’s catalogue. Both have been continuously feuding over the issue since then. In November 2019, Swift accused Scott Borchetta and Braun of not allowing her to perform her older tracks at the American Music Awards. She also said that they didn’t give her permission to use her old masters in her Netflix documentary, “Miss Americana” (2020).
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