Scott Borchetta says that he will “always” be rooting forTaylor Swiftas the record executive and pop star continue to feud over her music catalog.
“Of course,” Borchetta, 57,recently toldBillboardwhen asked if he’s still rooting for Swift amid the turmoil. “I mean, I’m always going to root for her. She’s brilliant and we’ve had a historic run, so, yeah.”
In the same interview, however, Borchetta said that his “biggest power move” of 2019 was joining forces withScooter Braun— the very move that triggered the drama with Swift, 30.
“Our biggest power move is my new partner, Scooter Braun, with Ithaca. So we’re having a great time and it’s pretty powerful,” he continued, adding that the sale of Big Machine to Braun has taught him who is real friends are.
“We’ve always had a tough skin, so you know, there’s a great balance in the universe, great things have happened,” he said. “Every once in a while you’re going to get hit, but we’re rocking.”
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Nearly a year after Swift signed a new record deal with Universal Music Group in November 2018, Big Machine sold for $300 million to Braun, meaning that Swift’s musical catalog was going along with it.
Braun, 38, manages several artists, includingJustin BieberandAriana Grande. He also represented Kanye West for a period of time.
Just after the sale, Swift made it clear that she did not approve and wanted the rights to own her own music.
“For years I asked, pleaded for a chance to own my work,” she wrote in alengthy Tumblr postthat gave some insight on her decision to leave Big Machine.
Swift revealed in the same post that she didn’t know Braun was buying her former label until the news broke publicly.
Taylor Swift.Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
“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.”
Borchetta has denied that Swift didn’t know about the sale until the rest of the world did, andreleasedboth text messages to Swift before the news was announced and an outline of their agreement in June 2019.
Swift has said she plans to re-record all of her old music, but will not be allowed to do so until November of this year.
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In November 2019, Swift alleged on Twitter that Borchetta and Braun werenot going to allow herto play any of her old songs at the American Music Awards, or use them in herNetflix documentarythat is coming out next week.
Big Machine said in astatement in responsethat “at no point did we say Taylor could not perform on the AMAs or block her Netflix special. In fact, we do not have the right to keep her from performing live anywhere. Since Taylor’s decision to leave Big Machine last fall, we have continued to honor all of her requests to license her catalog to third parties as she promotes her current record in which we do not financially participate.”
Ultimately, Swift was allowed to perform her old musicat the AMAs, where she washonored as artist of the decade.
“What I’ll say is, people need to communicate and when people are able to communicate I think they work things out. I think a lot of times things are miscommunicated, but I believe that people are fundamentally good,” said.
“I also think there are a lot of real problems in the world, and I think that these problems that are being discussed can be discussed behind closed doors and figured out pretty easily,” he added. “It’s something I’ve been wanting to do for six months and it’s hard because I can handle it pretty easily.”
Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for Billboard
In December, Swift was honored asBillboard‘s Woman of the Decade, and in her speech accepting the awardspoke about the ongoing dramawith Borchetta and Braun.
“After I was denied the chance to purchase my music outright, my entire catalog was sold to Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings,” she said, reiterating that “Scooter never contacted me or my team to discuss it prior to the sale or even when it was announced.”
“I’m fairly certain he knew exactly how I would feel about it though and let me just say that the definition of toxic male privilege in our industry is people saying, ‘But he’s always been nice to me’ when I’m raising valid concerns about artists and their rights to own their music,” she continued. “Of course, he’s nice to people in this room, you have something he needs.”
“The fact is that private equity is what enabled this man to think, according to his own social media posts, that he could ‘buy me.’ Well, I’m obviously not going willingly,” she added.
source: people.com
