Scooter Braun on Taylor Swift and his plans for the label that bought her music
Scooter Braun opened up in great detail with Billboard magazine about how the deal came about that gave rights to all past Taylor Swift music to Braun and his label.
In the process, the music mogul also described memories of meeting and working with Swift, which he viewed as all positive.
Braun's client Justin Bieber opened for Swift almost a decade ago, and Braun said, "Everyone at Big Machine -- Taylor was kind, Scott was kind -- everyone was kind to me and Justin when we were doing that show, and you don't forget those things. I never forgot that, and we started a friendship."
But in the purchase of Scott Borchetta's Big Machine label, Braun was able to nab rights to Swift's first six studio albums, which sparked outraged vocal protest from Swift.
Braun said his company, Ithaca Holdings, hopes to create an environment where artists can "go after their dreams."
"Scott runs an incredible company, and we're trying to build an artist-first environment," Braun added.
Borchetta also shared praise for Braun, saying, "Big Machine Label Group will continue to operate exactly as it has been. I've been fiercely independent -- I choose to be fiercely independent -- and Scooter is the same way."
He added, "Everything about our business is now transparent, and artists, managers and lawyers know what the industry standards are. The artists that we've talked to -- they say they love it because there's such an upside to being able to talk with one 'artist team' instead of feeling like there's a wall between artist, label and management."
And while the duo would not comment further about Swift, her reaction to the deal digresses from the "transparent" statement from Borchetta.
"When I left my masters in Scott's hands, I made peace with the fact that eventually he would sell them," Swift wrote on Tumblr. "Never in my worst nightmares did I imagine the buyer would be Scooter. Any time Scott Borchetta has heard the words 'Scooter Braun' escape my lips, it was when I was either crying or trying not to. He knew what he was doing; they both did."
Swift left Big Machine in November to join Universal Music Group.
Swift has accused Braun of being involved in the infamous 2016 Kim Kardashian leak of a phone call that attacked Swift's honesty. Swift also claimed Braun encouraged Kanye West and Bieber to bully her online. Additionally, in West's video for "Famous," one of the lifelike mannequins lying naked on a bed looks like Swift, which Swift blames Braun for, calling it "revenge porn."
"Now Scooter has stripped me of my life's work, that I wasn't given an opportunity to buy," Swift wrote. "Essentially, my musical legacy is about to lie in the hands of someone who tried to dismantle it."
Borchetta responded in a post on his label's website in which he refuted her accusations point by point, providing what appears to be copies of texts and contracts supporting his argument. He also said Swift's father, her lawyer and one of her managers were on the shareholder call five days before a deal was announced.
"Taylor had every chance in the world to own not just her master recordings, but every video, photograph, everything associated to her career. She chose to leave," Borchetta wrote.
The back and forth compelled other artists like Bieber and Halsey to take sides.
Referring to Braun, in discussing claims he was asked to bully Swift, Bieber wrote, "He was the person who told me not to joke like that...Scooter has had your back since the days you graciously let me open up for you!"
Bieber said it "isn't fair" to attack Braun on social media and "get people to hate on" him.
Singers like Halsey backed Swift, tweeting, "She deserves to own the painstaking labor of her heart."
