Kanye West says he wants to help Taylor Swift to regain ownership of her masters.
Last year, Scott “Scooter” Braun’s Ithaca Holdings bought Big Machine Label Group in a deal that includes Swift’s first six albums. Braun is West’s former manager.
“All artists need to be free and own their rights,” West told Billboard. “Taylor Swift deserves that, just like everyone else. … Scooter Braun is a friend and we’ll be having that discussion.”
West recently went on a Twitter spree to condemn the music business and demand ownership of his master recordings. (On Wednesday, he tweeted a promise to give artists signed to his label “the 50% share I have of their masters.”) He declared “ALL THE MUSICIANS WILL BE FREE” and called for support from other artists. “Bono can I get a retweet. Love you Paul can I get a retweet love you Drake Kendrick even Taylor … We need you right noooooow.”
The rap star told Billboard, via text through an intermediary, that his social media rant got the attention he wanted.
“The response is awesome because everyone knows this is a broken system that needs to be fixed,” he said. “Currently, artists take advances to make records and yet when they repay those advances the record company still owns the records. Imagine a bank lending you money to buy a house and then when you’ve repaid that mortgage, them telling you they still own it.”
West insisted the music industry needs to adapt. “You can’t have old rules for new games. No other business in the world would suggest you don’t adapt to a completely new supply chain and income sources,” he said.
“We cannot have designed streaming, but not designed a new method for payment and ownership around it where we all benefit. … Streaming re-invented the wheel and we all stuck on the sidewalk wondering if we have cab fare. We have to get out the Matrix. It will happen: Remember, Ye told you so!!”