Following the latest report, Taylor Swift posted to Twitter that her early masters have signed a new owner again, to which the superstar doesn’t seem to be much pleased. Swift posted on Monday that Shamrock Holdings has reportedly purchased Swift’s Big Machine Label Group catalog from Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings which is for the second time in the past seventeen months of ownership over Taylor’s first six albums it has changed hands.
It is said that in the industry having ownership of masters means that the person has control over what can be done with an album or a song. For example, whether it is to be used in some advertisements or on some other streaming platform, the owners of popular songs earn a lump sum amount of money.
Reports have it that back in June 2019; Ithaca had purchased the Big Machine Label Group that owned the master recordings to Taylor’s first six albums for an estimated budget of $300 million. Braun and Taylor had been locked in a massive battle over the control of the music and in a statement; Taylor had even disclosed that Braun had been actively trying to regain the ownership of her master recordings. According to the estimates, Taylor’s catalog was worth at least half of the total figure. It was since then that Swift had expressed quite a displeasure with the certified deal and had also expressed her intention to re-record the first six albums as soon as she would be legally able to do so, that happened to be earlier this month.
Additionally, Taylor was also keen on getting back her original masters as well. As per Monday’s reports on Ithaca’s sale and without any further information on the buyer, Taylor went on to post to Twitter that Braun’s team had asked her to sign a non-disclosure agreement before Swift could even bid on her own work. She lashed out saying that her legal team has said that this kind of thing is absolutely not normal and that they have never seen an NDA of this kind being presented unless it is done with the purpose to silence an assault accuser by paying them off, Taylor added.
Been getting a lot of questions about the recent sale of my old masters. I hope this clears things up. pic.twitter.com/sscKXp2ibD
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) November 16, 2020
Taylor further added that Braun would never even quote a price to her team and that these master recordings were never up for sale to her.
After a couple of weeks, Shamrock sent a letter to Swift stating that they had bought 100% of Swift’s music and this was supposedly for the second time that Taylor’s music had been sold off without her knowledge. The letter was posted to make Swift aware of the sale before they further proceed. It also stated that Scooter Braun had put up a requirement stating that they are not allowed to make any sort of contact with Taylor or her team, or else the deal would have been called off.
Taylor continued to say that it has come into her knowledge that Braun would continue to benefit from her catalog for the coming many years, although she didn’t specify how and in what ways. She said that she was being hopeful and was even to the possibility of a partnership with Shamrock, but with Braun’s participation in the same, is a complete non-starter for me, she added.
Post the revelation of the sale news, Taylor began trending on Twitter and she stated that as being promised by her previously, she has started re-recording her older music which has already proven to be quite creatively fulfilling and exciting for her.
The iconic pop sensation also mentioned in her tweet from October 28, addressing the principals at Shamrock that she would not continue to do any kind of business with them if they intend to continue getting involved with Braun. She even wrote that it’s quite a shame to even know that she would thereby not be able to help grow the future of her past works. Taylor also stated that it takes a great deal of courage for her to remain separated from the music that she has spent over a decade creating, but she also assures that this is rather a sacrifice she would make to keep Scooter Braun out of her life, she directly noted in the letter. Taylor concluded her letter by thanking her fans for their endless support all throughout this ongoing saga and signed off by expressing love and gratitude to all.
According to previous reports, Braun and Taylor were never on good terms for over years now and when his company, Ithaca Holdings had paid $300 million to acquire Taylor’s former record label last year, Swift referred to it as an act of aggression that literally stripped her off her life’s work. Taylor was also seen accusing Braun of manipulative bullying who apparently manages Ariana Grande, Demi Lovato, and Justin Bieber as well.
However, in a recent statement made by Shamrock, praised Taylor’s artistry and has also shown eagerness to partner with the singer in the future. They have also stated that Taylor Swift is a transcendent artist with a timeless catalog and that they have made this investment because they solely believe in the immense value and opportunity that comes along with her work. The company also stated that they fully respect and support Taylor’s decision and that they had hoped to partner formally, at some point the company was also aware of the fact that this was a possible result they had already considered.
They also appreciated Taylor’s clear and open communication and professionalism that they shared over the past few weeks and that they honestly hope to partner with her in other new ways moving forward in the coming days and remain fully committed to investing with artists in their work.
Ithaca was out to shop Swift’s catalog for approximately $300 million. As in recent times many publishing and recording catalog sales have increased drastically over the past two years, the company Ithaca may not have received the full amount but they would have still recovered the cost of the entire Big Machine Label Group acquisition with this kind of sale while on the other hand retaining the rights to the recordings by Thomas Rhett, Florida Georgia Line, Lady A, and Sheryl Crow, amongst many others.
At the moment, Braun has not yet responded to any of the comments. But it was sometime last year when Braun had stated that the dispute has slipped out of the hands to an extent that he and his family have been receiving death threats. He had also stated that the world is already dealing with a lot of problems, and problems and issues like this can be discussed behind closed doors and can also be figured out quite easily, he added. Moreover, Braun was also heard saying that this is something that he has wanted to do for the past six months.