Bad blood with Scooter Braun continues…

The saga between Taylor Swift and American music mogul entrepreneur, Scooter Braun, has just hit a new level of hostility.

For those that don’t know, Swift and Braun have had a very public ongoing spat since 2019. It all started at the beginning of Swift’s career when she signed a six album deal with Big Machine Records, an American independent record label. As part of the contract terms, Big Machine would hold the master recordings. Some years later, and following Swifts departure from Big Machine Records to Republic, Big Machine made the decision to sell the master recordings to Braun giving him control over some of Swift’s biggest hits. At the time Swift explained “my musical legacy is about to lie in the hands of someone who tried to dismantle it”. Braun meanwhile, explained that he was open to resolving the conflict.

This week it emerged that Braun has now sold the master recordings to a private equity firm called Shamrock Capital for a reported (and staggering) $300 million. Swift has again complained at the fact that this is the second time her music has been sold without her knowledge. She has previously claimed that, prior to entering in to any meaningful conversation about negotiating the control of her masters, she was silenced by Braun through being presented with “ironclad non-disclosure agreements”.

Shamrock Capital have commented on the recent sale saying, “Taylor Swift is a transcendent artist with a timeless catalogue. We made this investment because we believe in the immense value and opportunity that comes with her work. We fully respect and support her decision and, while we hoped to formally partner, we also knew this was a possible outcome that we considered. We appreciate Taylor’s open communication and professionalism with us these last few weeks. We hope to partner with her in new ways moving forward and remain committed to investing with artists in their work".

We will be interested in seeing whether Swifts negotiations with Shamrock Capital are more fruitful than they were with Braun.

If you have any questions on the above, please do not hesitate to contact the team at McDaniels Law on 0191 281 4000 or legal@mcdanielslaw.com