The Master Of The Masters: Taylor Swift vs. Scooter Braun

A recap of one of the biggest feuds in the music industry

If there is one thing people should learn, it is that you don’t mess with Taylor Swift. Her blacklist is full of different familiar names, such as Kim Kardashian, Kanye West, Karlie Kloss, Netflix, etc. One of the most prominent names on the list is Scooter Braun, a former music manager, whose purchase of Taylor’s master recordings sparked a heated feud over artistic ownership and control.

Scooter (Kanye West’s former manager) and Taylor have been feuding for a while. Their feud came to a head in 2019 when Scooter purchased Taylor’s former record label, Scott Borchetta’s Big Machine Records. As a part of the deal, Scooter became the legal owner of Taylor’s first six albums.

Ever since that moment, Taylor has been fighting head-to-head with Scooter. She publicly dissed him on social media and raised awareness of the situation she was in: how all of her music, all of the songs she wrote by herself, are not hers anymore. These days, she is in the process of reclaiming her masters by re-recording her albums.

The past 5 years have been a fight for Taylor. Scooter has taken everything from her, and she is willing to work hard to get it back. I have gathered everything that happened between the two of them and created a complete timeline of one of the most talked-about feuds in the music industry.

Background Info

Who Is Scooter Braun Anyway? Ew.

Scooter Braun is an American music manager and record executive.  Braun served in career management for many famous artists including Kanye West, Ariana Grande, Demi Lovato, Justin Bieber and others.

In 2019, his company, Ithaca Holdings, purchased the record label Big Machine Records.

Who Is Scott Borchetta Anyway? Ew.

Scott Borchetta is an American record executive. He founded the Big Machine Label Group in 2005. Taylor Swift was his first signed artist. In 2019, he sold his label to Scooter Braun.

Taylor’s Record Deal With Big Machine

When she was 15 years old, Taylor signed a record deal with Scott Borchetta’s small record label: Big Machine Records. Taylor was naive and lacked experience within the music industry. She didn’t realize that by signing with Big Machine, she’d be giving up the rights to her own music.

What’s A Master Recording?

A master recording represents the original recording of a song, from which all of the later copies are made. This means that every version or copy of the song originates from the master recording. Big Machine Records has ownership of all of Taylor’s masters up until 2018. This includes her first six albums: Taylor Swift, Fearless, Speak Now, Red, 1989 and Reputation.

Timeline

2018: Taylor Leaves Big Machine Records

In 2018, Taylor’s contract with Big Machine expired and she left the label. Taylor could not have known how badly it would end with BMR.

The terms in her contract stated that when she left Big Machine Records, the company would keep ownership of the masters for all her music recorded during her time with them. 

Taylor signed a record deal with Universal Music’s Republic Records. This time, her contract ensured that she would have ownership of her master recordings from now on.

“It’s also incredibly exciting to know that I’ll own all of my master recordings that I make from now on.” She wrote on Instagram.

June 2019: Scooter Braun Buys Big Machine Records 

On June 30th, 2019, Big Machine announced that Scooter Braun had bought the label. Since he was now the legal owner of BMR, Scooter became the owner of Taylor’s catalog.

That same day, Taylor posted angrily on social media, sharing how awful she felt.

“For years I asked, pleaded for a chance to own my work. Instead I was given an opportunity to sign back up to Big Machine Records and ‘earn’ one album back at a time, one for every new one I turned in. I walked away because I knew once I signed that contract, Scott Borchetta would sell the label, thereby selling me and my future. I had to make the excruciating choice to leave behind my past. Music I wrote on my bedroom floor and videos I dreamed up and paid for from the money I earned playing in bars, then clubs, then arenas, then stadiums. 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. Controlling a woman who didn’t want to be associated with them. In perpetuity. That means forever.”

June 2019: BMR Hits Back

Of course, Big Machine Records didn’t keep quiet over Taylor’s Tumblr post. Scott Borchetta claimed that since Taylor’s dad was a shareholder in BMR, he was alerted before the deal was made. Borchetta stated that three out of the five shareholders, which amounted to 92% of the shareholders’ vote,  voted in favor of selling Big Machine to Scooter Braun's Ithaca.

Taylor’s team reacted and said that Scott Swift was not on the board of directors and was not aware of the decision.

“On June 25, there was a shareholder phone call that Scott Swift did not participate in due to a very strict NDA that bound all shareholders and prohibited any discussion at all without risk of severe penalty. Her dad did not join that call because he did not want to be required to withhold any information from his own daughter.”

June 2019: Scooter’s Wife Speaks Out

After Taylor’s Tumblr post, Scooter Braun’s wife-at-the-time Yael Cohen spoke out about the situation. “@taylorswift, whoa. Then let’s get the facts straight. You were given the opportunity to own your masters, you passed. Interesting that the man you’re so ‘grossed out’ by believed in you more than you believe in yourself.” She said.

“And girl, who are you to talk about bullying? The world has watched you collect and drop friends like wilted flowers. My husband is anything but a bully, he’s spent his life standing up for people and causes he believes in. Beyond that, it’s easy to see that the point of putting this out was to get people to bully him. You are supposed to be a role model, but continue to model bullying.”

Of course, how easy is that? Not criticizing your husband, the white privileged man that has more power in the situation. It’s time for women to stand up for other women, to stop sticking up to their men. Calling Taylor Swift a “bully” for publicly expressing her frustration and anger over a man who has taken everything from her is the dumbest thing I have ever heard.

July 2019: What Up Justin Bieber

Back in 2016, in the middle of the Kim-Kanye drama, Justin Bieber decided to post an image of him FaceTiming Kanye West and Scooter Braun. He captioned the picture “Taylor Swift What Up”.

Taylor wrote about this moment in her Tumblr post from June, saying that these men were bullying her while she was at her lowest point in life.

In July 2019, Justin shared a long post that started as an apology to Taylor but quickly turned into a post in the defense of Scooter. “I don’t usually rebuttal things like this but when you try and deface someone I love’s character that’s crossing a line…”

November 2019: Taylor’s Second Tumblr Post

On November 14, 2019, Taylor reemerged on social media, claiming that Scooter Braun and Scott Borchetta had prevented her from performing her old music at the upcoming American Music Awards. They also declined the use of the old catalog and any live performance footage in her upcoming documentary, Miss Americana.

“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.” She wrote on Tumblr.

She said that Scott Borchetta told her team that she’d be allowed to use her music if she agreed to not re-record her music and stop talking about him and Scooter Braun. She would be legally allowed to re-record her music from November 2020 onwards. Scott was trying to blackmail her to stop, to be a good girl and to shut up.

Taylor also asked her fans for help: “Please let Scott Borchetta and Scooter Braun know how you feel about this. Scooter also manages several artists who I really believe care about other artists and their work. Please ask them for help with this - I’m hoping that 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. I’m especially asking for help from The Carlyle Group, who put up money for the sale of my music to these two men.”

November 2019: AMA’s Performance

In November 2019, there was a dispute between Taylor Swift's former record label, Big Machine, and Dick Clark Productions, who produce the AMAs. At first, Big Machine claimed they had a deal saying that Taylor needed their approval to perform and rebroadcast her music. However, DCP disputed this. Despite Big Machine's restrictions on her older songs, after some negotiations, Taylor ultimately was able to perform a medley of her hits at the AMAs.

April 2020: Live From Clear Channel Stripped 2008

On April 24th, 2020, Big Machine Records put out an album featuring Taylor’s songs without her approval. It was a live album that was originally recorded in 2008. 12 years later, BMR decided to release it without Taylor’s awareness. She found out about the live album through her fans, who noted that it was very strange for a live album, marked with a 2017 release date, to suddenly be added to her music catalog on streaming services.

Taylor turned to social media and denounced the album.

“I want to thank my fans for making me aware that my former record label is putting out an ‘album’ of live performances of mine tonight. This recording is from a 2008 radio show performance I did when I was 18. Big Machine has listed the date as a 2017 release, but they’re actually releasing it at midnight.” She wrote.

“In my opinion … Just another case of shameless greed in the time of coronavirus. So tasteless, but very transparent.” Taylor said. She also mocked Scooter and said that buying her music for $330M wasn’t a wise choice and he needed money.

Due to Taylor’s denouncement, the album did not do very well and only sold 33 units in the US. It never entered the Billboard chart.

In revenge, BMR removed Taylor’s albums from her Spotify page, leaving only Big Machine’s Radio Releases. Taylor’s original albums were only available through the search option.

@taylorswift via Instagram

November 2020: Scooter Braun Sells Taylor’s Masters

Less than two years after buying them, Scooter Braun sold Taylor’s master rights to Shamrock Holdings for over $300M.

In the same month, Taylor went on Twitter and claimed she tried to buy her masters back from Scooter, but he didn’t even quote her team a price. Scooter’s team wanted her to sign an NDA stating that she’ll never say anything about Scooter again unless it’s positive, before she will be able to look at the financial records of Big Machine Label Group. This was not a normal NDA. Taylor’s team told her the only NDA similar to this one was presented to silence an assault accuser by paying him off.

She also said that her music was sold to Shamrock Holdings without her knowledge, for the second time now.

“As soon as we started communication with Shamrock, I learned that under their terms Scooter Braun will continue to profit off my old musical catalog for many years. I was hopeful and open to the possibility of a partnership with Shamrock, but Scooter’s participation is a non-starter for me.” Taylor wrote. She thanked Shamrock for appreciating her life’s work and art but refused to support them. Supporting them means contributing future payments to Scooter Braun, which is something Taylor was not intending to do.

“I simply cannot in good conscience bring myself to be involved in benefiting Scooter Braun’s interests directly or indirectly. As a result, I cannot currently entertain being partners with you.” Taylor wrote in a letter to Shamrock.

@taylorswift13 via X

2021: The Taylor’s Version Era Begins

Taylor kept her promise to re-record her music. On February 11th, 2021, she announced the beginning of the re-recording era on social media. Her first re-recorded album, Fearless (Taylor’s Version), was set to come out in April. Taylor was finally getting back her masters. She was finally owning her work. 

Fearless (Taylor's Version) sold 1 million album units in its first year of release, compared to 242,000 album units sold in a year when the original album was released in 2008.

In November 2021, Taylor put out her version of Red. Taylor’s Version has become more than just a name or a tag. It became Taylor’s lifeline, her only way of reclaiming her work and everything she has built over the years.

June 2021: Scooter Speaks

In June 2021, Scooter Braun was interviewed by Variety magazine. When he was asked about Taylor’s masters and the ongoing feud he answered:

“I regret and it makes me sad that Taylor had that reaction to the deal. All of what happened has been very confusing and not based on anything factual. I don’t know what story she was told. I asked for her to sit down with me several times, but she refused. I offered to sell her the catalog back and went under NDA, but her team refused. It all seems very unfortunate.”

October 2022: A Diss Track

On October 21st, 2022, Taylor released her tenth studio album, Midnights. Fans quickly realized that one of the songs on the album, Vigilante Shit, was dissing Scooter, and addressing some sensitive topics, such as his divorce. She also mentioned his $200M legal dispute involving his private equity fund, Ithaca Holdings.

2023: The Taylor’s Version Saga Continues

In 2023, Taylor released two more re-recordings. In July, she put out Speak Now (Taylor’s Version). Three and a half months later, 1989 (Taylor’s Version) was released.

In July 2023 Taylor put out a music video for Speak Now’s Vault Track, I Can See You. When she premiered the music video, she revealed that it represents her reclaiming her art through her re-recordings.

August 2023: Scooter Loses Clients

Several high-profile celebrities reportedly cut ties with Scooter Braun in August 2023, including Ariana Grande, Demi Lovato, and Justin Bieber. Both Demi and Justin had previously defended Scooter and called Taylor out for criticizing him so much. It seems karma was on Taylor’s side this time.

June 2024: Scooter Officially Retires From Music Management 

In June 2024, Scooter Braun announced he would be retiring from music management and revealed that he had been thinking of leaving the industry as a manager for the past two years.

Scooter reflected on his career decisions, stating, 'As my personal life took some hits, I came to the realization that there has been a lot said about what is happening in our company and in my career.’

He was probably referencing Taylor and the events of the past five years. With his retirement, Swifties can now rest in peace, hoping the final two re-records will come as soon as possible so that Taylor can finally regain ownership of her catalog.