Taylor Swift slams Scooter Braun's 'shameless greed' over his plans to release 2008 album without her consent
There will be a new Taylor Swift album releasing soon - except this time, it will be dropping without the singer's consent. In another extraordinary twist to the saga between Taylor Swift and her ex-record label, Big Machine Records, it's been revealed that Taylor Swift's live compilation album 'Live From Clear Channel Stripped 2008' is set to drop soon, but Swift did not have any say in the matter.
Her bitter feud with her former label and its new owner, Scooter Braun (manager of stars like Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande) has been well-documented and it's now common knowledge that Swift no longer owns the rights to her own music after Braun acquired her back catalog for a cool $330 million in June 2019. The singer, who recently released her 'Lover' album via the Universal Music label, also previously vowed to re-record and re-release her old music since she no longer owns the rights to her last six albums.
And this time the 'Lover' singer is in full-on rage mode. On learning that Big Machine Records planned to release this new album soon, the singer swiftly took to social media to release a lengthy statement on April 23. It began, "Hey guys - I want to thank my fans for making me aware that my former record label is putting out an ‘album' of live performances of mine tonight," she revealed on her Instagram Story. "This recording is from a 2008 radio show performance I did when I was 18. Big Machine has listed the date as a 2017 release but they're actually releasing it tonight at midnight."
She went on blame Braun directly saying "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. 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."
She then concluded that this was just another cash grab by Braun and his associates. "In my opinion..." Swift said in closing, "Just another case of shameless greed in the time of coronavirus. So tasteless, but very transparent." Braun and Big Machine Records are yet to comment on her statement, but their silence about this latest album release speaks volumes.