Update: November 18, 2:15 p.m.
Justice has been served! Taylor Swift is officially allowed to play her biggest hits during her AMAs performance next weekend. On Friday, a Big Machine executive told TMZ that "Taylor Swift can 100% perform all of her catalog, past and present, on the AMAs," which is great, but like...huh?
Apparently, the true hold up on Big Machine's end was that they weren't certain of what happens to the live AMAs broadcast after it airs on television. So today, Big Machine, along with Dick Clark Productions, clarified that Taylor can perform any of her songs at the show—including re-broadcasts.
The companies reached out to TMZ to issue a joint statement, and said:
"The Big Machine Label Group and Dick Clark Productions announce that they have come to terms on a licensing agreement that approves their artists' performances to stream post-show and for re-broadcast on mutually approved platforms.
This includes the upcoming American Music Awards performances. It should be noted that recording artists do not need label approval for live performances on television or any other live media."
No word on what Taylor thinks of this, but I'm sure it isn't the last that we've heard of this drama!
Update: November 15, 2019, 3:50 p.m.
Welcome back, y'all! Remember when I said that this feud will probably only get nastier from here on out? Welp, I was absolutely right.
Following Big Machine's statement that claimed that Taylor was making up her entire narrative, Tree Paine—Taylor's representative—issued her own statement claiming that Big Machine did indeed deny Taylor the opportunity to use her old music in the AMAs performance as well as old performance footage in the upcoming Netflix documentary.
Oh! And that other part when Big Machine claimed Taylor owed them a million dollars? Yeahhh, Tree says that is a lie too and that Big Machine actually owes Taylor $7.9 million (P401.50 million) in unpaid royalties.
Tree posted this in an official statement to her Twitter page that had all the tea, and BOY—it's getting hella dramatic. She wrote:
"The truth is, on October 28, 2019 at 5:17 p.m. the Vice President, Rights Management and Business Affairs from Big Machine Label Group sent Taylor Swift's team the following:
'Please be advised that BMLG will not agree to issue licenses for existing recordings or waivers of its re-recording restrictions in connection with these two projects: The Netflix documentary and The Alibaba Double Eleven event.'
To avoid an argument over right, Taylor performed three songs off her new album Lover at the Double Eleven event as it was clear that Big Machine Label Group felt any televised performance of catalog songs violated her agreement. 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 (P401.50 million) of unpaid royalties over several years."
Update: November 15, 2019, 10:40 a.m.
Welp, it looks like this feud will only be getting nastier, you guys. Big Machine Records, Taylor's former label, issued a very lengthy statement on its website, and straight-up said, "Taylor, the narrative you have created does not exist," which eep!
The statement read:
"As Taylor Swift's partner for over a decade, we were shocked to see her Tumblr statements yesterday 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. 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 [Lover] in which we do not financially participate."
Oh, and if this whole situation weren't already messy enough, Big Machine also accused Taylor of "contractually owing millions of dollars and multiple assets to our company, which is responsible for 120 hardworking employees who helped build her career."
The statement continued and requested a private conversation with Taylor to sort the matter out:
"We have worked diligently to have a conversation about these matters with Taylor and her team to productively move forward. We started to see progress over the past two weeks and were optimistic as recently as yesterday that this may get resolved. However, despite our persistent efforts to find a private and mutually satisfactory solution, Taylor made a unilateral decision last night to enlist her fanbase in a calculated manner that greatly affects the safety of our employees and their families."
"Taylor, the narrative you have created does not exist. All we ask is to have a direct and honest conversation. When that happens, you will see there is nothing but respect, kindness, and support waiting for you on the other side. To date, not one of the invitations to speak with us and work through this has been accepted. Rumors fester in the absence of communication. Let's not have that continue here. We share the collective goal of giving your fans the entertainment they both want and deserve."
Keep your eyes peeled here for further updates, y'all—something tells me this isn't the last we'll be hearing about this Taylor Swift–Scooter Braun–Big Machine Records beef.
Original Story:
Remember when Taylor Swift called out celebrity manager Scooter Braun for purchasing her masters and bullying her in a lengthy Tumblr post? Well, she's back for round two, and it seems pretty justifiable. In another Tumblr post (where else?) titled "Don't know what else to do," Taylor slammed Scooter and Big Machine Records CEO Scott Borchetta for allegedly preventing her from performing her old songs during a medley at the 2019 AMAs, where she's set to receive the Artist of the Decade award.
"Guys—It's been announced recently that the American Music Awards will be honoring me with the Artist of the Decade Award at this year's ceremony," she wrote. "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 added that (surprise!) Netflix has created a documentary about her and that Scott and Scooter have declined the use of her older music and performance footage for the project. And apparently, the only way they'll let her have access is if she doesn't record "copycat versions" of her old songs, and if she stops talking about them.
"I feel very strongly that sharing what is happening to me could change the awareness level for other artists and potentially help them avoid a similar fate," Taylor said. "The message being sent to me 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 this is where I'm asking for your help."
Taylor went on to ask fans to "let Scott Borchetta and Scooter Braun know how you feel about this," even asking them to lean on the other artists Scooter managers (Demi Lovato and Justin Bieber, to name a few!).
"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," Taylor said, later adding, "I just want to be able to perform MY OWN music. That's it. I've tried to work this out privately through my team but have not been able to resolve anything. Right now my performance at the AMA's, the Netflix documentary and any other recorded events I am planning to play until November of 2020 are a question mark."
At this point, it doesn't look like Scooter has responded to Taylor on Instagram, but stay tuned—and read Taylor's full post below:
***
This article originally appeared on Cosmopolitan.com. Minor edits have been made by the Cosmo.ph editors.
