Taylor Swift speaks out after Scooter Braun sells her masters

The battle between Taylor Swift and Scooter Braun continues over the popstar's inability to buy back her work from the first 10 years of her career. In 2019, Braun and his financial backers secured Swift’s masters from Big Machine Records in a massive $300 million deal. Now Braun has sold Swift’s catalog to a new company and will continue to profit from sales of Swift’s music under the new deal. Continuing to keep fans in the loop, Swift released a statement on Monday explaining why she refused to make a deal with Braun and confirming that she will continue with her plan to re-record her old masters.In a lengthy letter shared on Twitter on November 16, Swift wrote "As you know, for the past year I've been actively trying to regain ownership of my master recordings. With that goal in mind, my team attempted to enter into negotiations with Scooter Braun," said Swift. "Scooter's team wanted me to sign an ironclad NDA stating I would never say another word about Scooter Braun unless it was positive, before we could even look at the financial records of BMLG (which is always the first step in a purchase of this nature)."According to Swift and her legal team, Braun’s use of an NDA was highly irregular. "I would have to sign a document that would silence me forever before I could even have a chance to bid on my own work,” continued Swift. “My legal team said that this is absolutely NOT normal, and they've never seen an NDA like this presented unless it was to silence an assault accuser by paying them off. He would never even quote my team a price. These master recordings were not for sale to me."Swift said that she did not become aware that Braun had sold her masters until she received a letter from Shamrock Holdings, the company who purchased her work. Swift said that the company reached out to her before the deal was finalized as an act of good faith, noting that in doing so they were risking the deal being terminated by Braun. Swift said that she was hoping to work with the new owners of her masters, but after learning that Braun would continue profiting off the sale of her music, a partnership would be out of the question.As of November 2020, Swift became legally free to re-record her old masters and confirmed to fans that she was moving ahead with her plans to rerecord her early work. “This is my only way of regaining the sense of pride I once had when hearing songs from my first six albums,” wrote Swift to Shamrock Holdings. The Grammy-winner also told fans that she has “plenty of surprises in store” with her new recordings. Get ‘em, Taylor.

Been getting a lot of questions about the recent sale of my old masters. I hope this clears things up. pic.twitter.com/sscKXp2ibD

— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) November 16, 2020

Swift has received an outpouring of support from her fans following her latest update.

Listening to those re-recordings is going to be better than revenge. ?

— Alex Goldschmidt (@alexandergold) November 17, 2020

Proud of you for standing up for your values and standing by what you believe in no matter how difficult that has to be

— Allie ?️‍? ???????? (@taybeautifulll) November 16, 2020

I’m so proud of you. Saying ‘no’ is a complete sentence, but your demonstrated kindness inherent in the transparency you offer is more than anyone who purchased your work deserves. Step on the gas, cover them in dust, & don’t let your rearview detract from what you love. Love you

— Holly Armstrong (@HollyArmstr0ng) November 16, 2020

And when the new recordings are ready, I will happily buy them. You’ve my support ??

— jamie grayson (@TheBabyGuyNYC) November 16, 2020

The new sale price for Swift's first six albums has yet to be disclosed, but Variety reports that some sources are saying Braun received upwards of $450 million from Shamrock Holdings. Braun purchased Big Machine Records and its catalog from founder Scott Borchetta in June 2019. This purchase included everything Swift recorded between 2006, when she released her debut album, all the way up to 2017’s Reputation. Swift’s contract with Big Machine Records expired the following year and she is now signed with Republic Records, releasing Lover and Folklore under her new label.Braun’s latest sale with Shamrock Holdings only includes Swift's catalog. The music manager, whose roster includes Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande and Demi Lovato, has retained ownership over Big Machine Records and its lineup of artists, which includes Thomas Rhett, Sheryl Crow, Florida Georgia line and Lady A (formerly Lady Antebellum).Following the sale of Big Machine Records last year, Swift published a deeply personal letter that accused Braun of “incessant, manipulative bullying” and characterized his purchase of her life’s work as her ‘worst case scenario.’ During her acceptance speech for the Woman of the Decade award at the Billboard Women In Music event in December 2019, Swift once again addressed Braun, saying “And let me just say that the definition of the 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. And of course he’s nice to you. If you’re in this room, you have something he needs.”[video_embed id='1833414']Before you go: Taylor Swift takes aim at Scott Borchetta and Scooter Braun...again[/video_embed]