Taylor Swift has been signed to Big Machine since her first 2006 self-titled album up to her 2017 album “Reputation”, she has since signed to Universal Music Group. In July 2019, Taylor Swift’s early music catalog was sold to a company owned by Scooter Braun, Taylor’s manager, and Scott Broschetta for around $300 million. Braun, who manages artists like Ariana Grande, Demi Lovato, and Justin Bieber, has been a big name in the pop industry for a while. The sale prevented Swift from owning the first six albums in her catalog, and they now belong to Braun and Borschetta. The controversy started when Swift took to social media to call out Braun for denying her request to perform a medley of her early songs at the American Music Awards, where she will be honored as artist of the decade, unless she meets certain demands, and claiming that he has mistreated her in the past. The deny comes from the claim that she would be re-recording her music before she is allowed to next year. Big Machine Records denied that the company has prevented Swift from performing at the AMAs or blocked her from using old music for an upcoming Netflix special about Taylor’s life as an artist, saying “Taylor, the narrative you have created does not exist. All we ask is to have a direct and honest conversation.”
Getting social media involved with the issue has allowed for many to decide on a view over the issue. Many artists like Cher and Sara Bareilles have turned to social media to share their support for Swift’s situation. Swift’s fan has sent Braun death threats over the controversy. This issue is especially tough because it is in the public eye when something like this would normally be taken care of behind the scenes, and it can make the situation more complicated from all the narratives we see, which could be hearsay and not backed with evidence. However, Swift might have done this because she felt that she had no choice, and having many voices behind her would help the situation. Braun has since commented for the first time on this saying “I just think we live in a time of toxic division and people thinking that social media is the appropriate place to air out each other and not have conversations. I don’t like politicians doing it; I don’t like anybody doing it. And if that means that I’ve got to be the bad guy longer, I’ll be the bad guy longer, but I’m not going to participate.”
Braun has also claimed that he never said Swift couldn’t perform her songs, which adds extra confusion to the issue. Should Taylor have put this out into the world on social media, or kept it behind closed doors? Time will tell if the outcomes of these events fall in her favor