Taylor Swift on Thursday accused her former record label of “shameless greed” for releasing an album of live performances.
Big Machine Label Group (BMLG) quietly dropped Live From Clear Channel Stripped 2008 overnight, a collection of eight songs Swift performed while promoting her second album, Fearless.
“I’m always honest with you guys about this stuff so I just wanted to tell you that this release is not approved by me,” Swift wrote, in an Instagram Story. Swift did not mention that BMLG did not need to get her approval.
“It looks to me like Scooter Braun and his financial backers, 23 Capital, Alex Soros and the Soros family and The Carlyle Group have seen the latest balance sheets and realized that paying $330 MILLION for my music wasn’t exactly a wise choice and they need money.”
Swift is referring to Braun’s acquisition last year of BMLG, a deal that included ownership of her early albums. The pop star sparked a war of words when she said in a Tumblr post at the time that she was “sad and grossed out” to learn of the sale. BMLG head Scott Borchetta countered that Swift “had every chance in the world to own not just her master recordings, but every video, photograph, everything associated to her career." Swift's lawyer Donald Passman said in a statement: "Scott Borchetta never gave Taylor Swift an opportunity to purchase her masters, or the label, outright with a cheque in the way he is now apparently doing for others."
In her Instagram Story message, Swift said releasing Live From Clear Channel Stripped 2008 is “just another case of shameless greed in the time of Coronavirus. So tasteless, but very transparent.”