Hours after Scooter Braun’s $300 million sale of her masters went public, Taylor took to Twitter to address the issue with the caption, “Been getting a lot of questions about the recent sale of my old masters, I hope this clears things up”.
In a lengthy picture post Taylor stated that she learned about the sale from a private equity company called Shamrock Holdings. She says the company gave her a heads up about the deal behind Braun’s back and also told her that Braun will continue to profit off it for years to come. Taylor also notes that Braun, “would never even quote a price to her or her team, adding that these masters were not for sale to her”.
The saga dates back to the start of Swift’s career, when she signed a six-album deal with label Big Machine, who held the master recordings as part of the deal terms. After Swift left for a new deal with Republic, Big Machine was sold to Braun in June 2019, giving him control over her Big Machine masters. Swift complained at the time: “My musical legacy is about to lie in the hands of someone who tried to dismantle it,” accusing artist manager Braun of “incessant, manipulative bullying” over the years.