Music

Big Machine denies Taylor Swift's claim she's being blocked from performing old songs at AMAs


Big Machine Label Group is denying Taylor Swift’s claims that she isn’t being allowed to play her old songs at the American Music Awards. 

On Thursday the pop star took to Twitter, revealing a damning set of conditions she says she’s being asked to meet if she wants to play a medley of her old hits at the award show on Nov. 24, where she’s being presented with the artist of the decade award.

Swift says Big Machine label owner Scott Borchetta and music tycoon Scooter Braun, who purchased her extensive back catalog in June, are blocking her from performing her old songs on television because “they claim that would be re-recording my music before I’m allowed to next year.”

In a statement provided to USA TODAY on Friday by spokesperson Erin Burr, Big Machine Label Group said it was “shocked” to see Swift’s statements “based on false information.”

“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,” the statement read. “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.”

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The label continued, saying Swift “admitted to contractually owing millions of dollars and multiple assets to our company.”

“Despite our persistent efforts to find a private and mutually satisfactory solution, Taylor made a unilateral decision last night to enlist her fan base in a calculated manner that greatly affects the safety of our employees and their families,” the statement continued.

In addition to her AMAs performance, Swift says Borchetta and Braun have similarly denied her team’s requests to use her old songs and performance footage for a forthcoming Netflix documentary “even though there is no mention of either of them or Big Machine Records anywhere in the film,” she writes.

“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,” she wrote.

The message, Swift continued, “is very clear. Basically, be a good little girl and shut up. Or you’ll be punished. This is WRONG. Neither of these men had a hand in the writing of those songs. They did nothing to create the relationship I have with my fans.”

So Swift says now she’s going public for help, asking fans to “let Scott Borchetta and Scooter Braun know how you feel about this.”

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She also asked fans to reach out to artists managed by Braun, whose roster includes Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande, saying “maybe they can talk some sense into the men who are exercising tyrannical control over someone who just wants to play the music she wrote.”

That ignited social media, with the hashtags “IStandWithTaylor” and “FreeTaylor” trending worldwide on Twitter.

In late June, Swift publicly denounced Braun after he paid $300 million to acquire Swift’s former record label, Big Machine Label Group, and by extension, the masters of Swift’s music from her first six albums. 

The 29-year-old pop star called the deal her “worst case scenario,” accusing Braun of subjecting her to “incessant, manipulative bullying” for years and “controlling a woman who didn’t want to be associated” with him.

Swift and her lawyer have said she and her inner circle were unaware of the business deal, but Borchetta countered that, writing in a blog post that Swift had “every chance in the world to own … her master recordings.”

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With the year coming to a close, “I just want to be able to perform MY OWN music,” Swift wrote Thursday. “That’s it. I’ve tried to work this out privately through my team but have not been able to resolve anything.”

Swift’s seventh studio album, “Lover,” was released under her new label, Universal Music Group. Under her new contract, the singer owns master recordings for all new music.

Contributing: The Associated Press



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