You may have seen, over the past 15 hours, your Twitter feed flooded with the hashtag #IStandWithTaylor. But why is this trending? and what caused this flood of support for one of the most marmite characters in the music industry? Keep on reading to find out!
The Tea:
Taylor Alison Swift, born 13th December (my birthday too) 1989, is a singer-songwriter, who started off as a country music artist under Big Machine Records, but who now records 'pop' music and is signed with Republic, underneath UMG.
The Grammy Award winner is set to be honoured at the American Music Awards, later this month, with the 'Artist of the Decade' award. However, the musician hit the headlines earlier today after a Tumblr post, written by Swift, claimed that Scott Borchetta (CEO of Big Machine) and Scooter Braun (owner of Big Machine under Ithaca Holdings) have banned Swift from performing music off her first 6 albums as part of her live set at the award show.
The post read, in part:
"I’ve been planning to perform a medley of my hits throughout the decade on the show. 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.
"Scott Borchetta told my team that they’ll allow me to use my music only if I do these things: If I agree to not re-record copycat versions of my songs next year (which is something I’m both legally allowed to do and looking forward to) and also told my team that I need to stop talking about him and Scooter Braun."
The post goes on to inform fans that a Netflix documentary about Swift is in the works, and Braun and Borchetta are not allowing the film to include her old music:
"This isn’t the way I had planned on telling you this news – Netflix has created a documentary about my life for the past few years. Scott and Scooter 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"
The post also asks her fans to help convince the duo to let Taylor perform the songs she has written over the past 6 albums, calling upon Swifties to encourage artists managed under Braun (Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, Demi Lovato) to "talk some sense into the men who are exercising tyrannical control over someone who just wants to play the music she wrote".
Don’t know what else to do pic.twitter.com/1uBrXwviTS— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) November 14, 2019
Gigi Hadid, Halsey, Selena Gomez and Lily Allen are among the few celebrities that have come out to support Taylor. However many 'friends' and collaborators of Taylor, including Camila Cabello, Shawn Mendes, Ed Sheeran and Karlie Kloss (questionable if she can be included as a friend anymore as she appears to be close to her manager Scooter Braun) have stayed painfully mum on the whole situation.
But why do these two middle-aged white men have a say in Taylor Swifts' art?
Okay so here is the thing. Taylor signed a contract waaaaaaay back when she signed with Big Machine Records (which at the time was a brand new label and only gained traction thanks to the songwriting and performance skills of a teenaged Swift) which essentially gave ownership of her music to the company. As Taylor got older and more successful, she wanted to own the art she was creating, so signed a new contract with UMG which gave her full ownership of any new material. But that still meant Mr Borchetta (ew) owned albums 1 through 6 of Taylors' hard work and dedication.
So now you're thinking, she signed the contract, and she left the label knowing Borchetta owned the music, so where is the problem? This is her decision? BUUUUT that is not where it ends.
In the summer of 2019, Scott Borchetta signed a $300 million deal with Scooter Braun's Ithaca Holdings, which, in part, included the sale of Taylor Swift's 'masters' (back catalogue from Taylor Swift (2006) to Reputation (2017)) to Braun. Now on top of Taylor not owning her own work, it was sold to someone who had no involvement with her throughout those 11 years of recording at Big Machine.
AND, on top of this, Braun has been known to publicly and privately 'shade' and bully Swift, in attempts to sabotage her career. In addition to this, Braun is also the manager of two of her biggest haters: Justin Bieber and Kanye West.
In a post to Tumblr, back when the sale took place, Swift wrote:
In short, Taylor felt bullied by a man who manages artists who opening diss her and betrayed by the man who was supposed to have her back.
Following this post, Borchetta responded and was quick to lay the blame on Taylor, whose entire career has been plagued by her 'enemies' accusing her of playing the victim and causing drama.
A statement, released on the Big Machine website, details Borchetta's version of events.
AND JUST A HEADS UP THE BIG MACHINE WEBSITE PLAYS 'BIG MACHINE RADIO' AT FULL BLAST WHEN YOU ENTER THE SITE SO PREPARE YOUR DEVICE FOR A COUNTRY MUSIC AMBUSH xoxo. (back to the tea)
He claimed that Taylor did know about Braun's purchasing of her master recordings and that Swift's dad (also named Scott) as one of Big Machine's shareholders was alerted days in advance. He goes on to claim that Taylor accepted the deal and like Swift's statement explained that he offered her the chance to claim back her masters, album by album (something Swift was unwilling to do).
In regards to the juicy info, regarding Bicycle Braun, Borchetta wrote an unnecessarily scathing attack on Swift, whilst praising Braun's character. This included evil bitter salty gross nasty human-hating Swift 'declining' to perform at the One Love Manchester concert (in aid of the victims of a terrorist attack at an Ariana Grande concert) and the Parkland Shooting rally (a gun control rally) both organised by kind generous holier-than-thou Jesus reincarnation Braun. The statement said:
Scott Borchetta? More like Scott Bullshitta
So this leads us up to the present day, and the piping hot tea. Bullshitta and Bicycle have banned Taylor from performing her songs at the AMA's because they class it as a pre-recording (I'm guessing the television broadcast is not completely live). In essence, these two old crusty dusty musty men, are jealous of Taylor's success and talent and are green with envy that they are not involved in her continued adoration. Instead of, presumably, raking in heaps of cash by claiming copyright for the songs, these men are stooping to the level of a petty child, in order to hurt Taylor.
Bullshitta released a statement claiming that Taylor is lying about all of this stating (and I quote) :
Do you notice what is wrong with this?
Of course, you do! because you guys have a brain. Taylor NEVER claimed that the pair banned her from performing, or releasing a documentary. Taylor said that they banned her from performing the songs the pair own and using those songs in the Netflix Special. As with the rest of these statements, I will link Borchetta's but it is not quote-worthy and in essence, attempts to accuse Taylor of lying and owing money to Big Machine (idek).
Any-who, in the latest turn of events, a spokeswoman for Taylor released a statement which echoes the opinion of many, after reading Borchetta's post. It states:
So now you're thinking, she signed the contract, and she left the label knowing Borchetta owned the music, so where is the problem? This is her decision? BUUUUT that is not where it ends.
In the summer of 2019, Scott Borchetta signed a $300 million deal with Scooter Braun's Ithaca Holdings, which, in part, included the sale of Taylor Swift's 'masters' (back catalogue from Taylor Swift (2006) to Reputation (2017)) to Braun. Now on top of Taylor not owning her own work, it was sold to someone who had no involvement with her throughout those 11 years of recording at Big Machine.
AND, on top of this, Braun has been known to publicly and privately 'shade' and bully Swift, in attempts to sabotage her career. In addition to this, Braun is also the manager of two of her biggest haters: Justin Bieber and Kanye West.
In a post to Tumblr, back when the sale took place, Swift wrote:
"I learned about Scooter Braun’s purchase of my masters as it was announced to the world. All I could think about was the incessant, manipulative bullying I’ve received at his hands for years.
"Like when Kim Kardashian orchestrated an illegally recorded snippet of a phone call to be leaked and then Scooter got his two clients together to bully me online about it. (See photo) Or when his client, Kanye West, organized a revenge porn music video which strips my body 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.
"When I left my masters in Scott’s hands, I made peace with the fact that eventually, he would sell them. Never in my worst nightmares did I imagine the buyer would be Scooter. Any time Scott Borchetta has heard the words ‘Scooter Braun’ escape my lips, it was when I was either crying or trying not to. He knew what he was doing; they both did".
In short, Taylor felt bullied by a man who manages artists who opening diss her and betrayed by the man who was supposed to have her back.
Following this post, Borchetta responded and was quick to lay the blame on Taylor, whose entire career has been plagued by her 'enemies' accusing her of playing the victim and causing drama.
A statement, released on the Big Machine website, details Borchetta's version of events.
AND JUST A HEADS UP THE BIG MACHINE WEBSITE PLAYS 'BIG MACHINE RADIO' AT FULL BLAST WHEN YOU ENTER THE SITE SO PREPARE YOUR DEVICE FOR A COUNTRY MUSIC AMBUSH xoxo. (back to the tea)
He claimed that Taylor did know about Braun's purchasing of her master recordings and that Swift's dad (also named Scott) as one of Big Machine's shareholders was alerted days in advance. He goes on to claim that Taylor accepted the deal and like Swift's statement explained that he offered her the chance to claim back her masters, album by album (something Swift was unwilling to do).
In regards to the juicy info, regarding Bicycle Braun, Borchetta wrote an unnecessarily scathing attack on Swift, whilst praising Braun's character. This included evil bitter salty gross nasty human-hating Swift 'declining' to perform at the One Love Manchester concert (in aid of the victims of a terrorist attack at an Ariana Grande concert) and the Parkland Shooting rally (a gun control rally) both organised by kind generous holier-than-thou Jesus reincarnation Braun. The statement said:
"As to her comments about ‘being in tears or close to it’ anytime my new partner Scooter Braun’s name was brought up, I certainly never experienced that. Was I aware of some prior issues between Taylor and Justin Bieber? Yes. But there were also times where Taylor knew that I was close to Scooter and that Scooter was a very good source of information for upcoming album releases, tours, etc, and I’d reach out to him for information on our behalf. Scooter was never anything but positive about Taylor. He called me directly about Manchester to see if Taylor would participate (she declined).
He called me directly to see if Taylor wanted to participate in the Parkland March (she declined). Scooter has always been and will continue to be a supporter and honest custodian for Taylor and her music."
Scott Borchetta? More like Scott Bullshitta
So this leads us up to the present day, and the piping hot tea. Bullshitta and Bicycle have banned Taylor from performing her songs at the AMA's because they class it as a pre-recording (I'm guessing the television broadcast is not completely live). In essence, these two old crusty dusty musty men, are jealous of Taylor's success and talent and are green with envy that they are not involved in her continued adoration. Instead of, presumably, raking in heaps of cash by claiming copyright for the songs, these men are stooping to the level of a petty child, in order to hurt Taylor.
Bullshitta released a statement claiming that Taylor is lying about all of this stating (and I quote) :
"At no point did we say Taylor could not perform on the AMAs or block her Netflix special".
Do you notice what is wrong with this?
Of course, you do! because you guys have a brain. Taylor NEVER claimed that the pair banned her from performing, or releasing a documentary. Taylor said that they banned her from performing the songs the pair own and using those songs in the Netflix Special. As with the rest of these statements, I will link Borchetta's but it is not quote-worthy and in essence, attempts to accuse Taylor of lying and owing money to Big Machine (idek).
Any-who, in the latest turn of events, a spokeswoman for Taylor released a statement which echoes the opinion of many, after reading Borchetta's post. It states:
"In addition, yesterday Scott Borchetta, CEO and founder of Big Machine Label Group, flatly denied the request for both American Music Awards and Netflix. Please notice in Big Machine’s statement, they never actually deny either claim Taylor said last night in her post.
"Lastly, Big Machine is trying to deflect and make this about money by saying she owes them but, an independent, professional auditor has determined that Big Machine owes Taylor $7.9 million dollars of unpaid royalties over several years."
So, the saga continues, and it will, probably, not end until 2020 when Swift can re-record her tracks.Statement regarding Big Machine pic.twitter.com/9ZhjE1ntHe— Tree Paine (@treepaine) November 15, 2019
In the meantime, Swifties (like me incase you didn't realise) will continue to support Taylor and her quest to own her art, a right every artist should have the privilege.
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