LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: As Taylor Swift's 'Speak Now' re-release is about to be launched, newly unearthed information has cast doubts on her claim that she was defrauded of ownership of her music collection and that her father was unaware of the Scooter Braun arrangement. This claim was the basis of this decade's most contentious feuds, born out of one of the biggest music business agreement the industry has ever seen.
After learning that Scooter's Ithaca Holdings had paid over $300 million to acquire Taylor Swift's original record label, Big Machine Label Group (BMLG), in 2019, Swift took to Tumblr to express her disgust at the transaction, saying she was "sad and grossed out." The deal meant that Swift's rival now owned the masters to her first six albums as well as the record label.
She wrote at the time, "Some fun facts about today's news, I learned about Scooter Braun's purchase of my masters as it was announced to the world." When Swift claimed that the songs she had composed as a teenager on her bedroom floor had somehow been snatched from her, her fans responded with fury and disdain. The pop artist said that after fighting for ownership of her work "for years," Braun had "stripped" it away from her. She accused Braun of manipulative bullying and attempting to "dismantle" her legacy. While the sale of Taylor Swift's song collection to Scooter Braun gained attention, Business Worldwide reported that Taylor Swift's father, Scott Swift, earned $15 million from the widely reported transaction.
Who is Scott Swift?
Just days before his daughter's catalog was sold to Braun, Taylor's father clearly understood critical things were happening with Big Machine Label Group. Scott Swift was born on March 5, 1952, in Pennsylvania. He is the son of Archie Dean and Rose Baldi (Douglas) Swift.
In Harris County, Texas, Scott wed Andrea Gardner Finlay on February 20, 1988. Their son Austin was born in 1992, and their daughter Taylor was born in 1989. Scott became a stock broker to get into the financial industry. He founded the Swift Group, a Merrill Lynch-affiliated financial advice firm. Scott moved his business to Nashville when Taylor decided she wanted to pursue a career in music, where he now serves as a key advisor and first vice president, as per reports. Back in 2019, Taylor Swift's representative had claimed that her father was unaware of the agreement but had the foresight to warn his daughter about what could happen.
Scott Swift offered assistance to Ithaca
But as an email, acquired by TMZ, from the time of the contentious buyout shows, Scott had offered assistance to Ithaca, the business that went on to pay over $300 million to buy BMLG (and Taylor's songs). The email was sent on June 26, 2019, which is interesting timing, given that the firm was sold a few days later, as reported by DailyMail. According to sources with firsthand knowledge, the data room was utilized to store information on impending transactions and corporate events, which in all likelihood probably included details about the sale.
Taylor has argued she was unaware of the masters deal
Taylor has argued that she was unaware the deal was even taking place until it was completed and made public. According to her father, Scott, he chose not to take part in any shareholder conversations about the transaction since they were subject to a stringent NDA and he didn't want to learn anything that may endanger his daughter's professional future. Well-placed sources claim that Taylor was not only given the opportunity to buy her masters, but was given the chance more than once. Braun had taken over management of Taylor's first six albums' use and income streams, while Swift continued to get a sizable fee, which she neglected to mention.
Swift and her father Scott have often argued that they were unaware of or lacked foresight into the specifics of the upcoming Ithaca contract. Since then, she has succeeded in re-recording, re-releasing, and reclaiming all six of her initial albums with her 2008 album, 'Fearless', and 2012 album, 'Red'. The albums' names and tracks are all labeled "Taylor's Version" to differentiate them from the originals.
Scott Borchetta, the CEO of Big Machine, issued a statement immediately after Taylor claimed she had been kept in the dark. According to 13 Management attorney Jay Schaudies, who represented Scott on the shareholder calls, "I guess it might somehow be possible that her dad Scott didn't say anything to Taylor over the prior 5 days."
According to one insider, who spoke on condition of anonymity to DailyMail, said, "With all this coming back up again, the feeling is, enough is enough. It's time for the truth to come out rather than this version in which Taylor was somehow blindsided and wronged." The insider added, "Her team absolutely knew what was on the table. As for the story that Scooter never offered Taylor a chance to buy her catalog when he came to sell it the following year, that is just 100 percent not true."
According to another source who spoke to the outlet, "I think once Taylor crossed the line that day and tweeted that she learned everything at the same time as the rest of the world she was just going to hold onto that victim narrative because it worked for her. Her fans took it and ran with it."
Whether intentionally or not, she stoked the flames of her supporters' rage to the point where Braun, his wife, and their young family had to deal with real-world repercussions. Braun was up to that time more of a respected industry executive than a well-known public figure. Swift's accusations of 'bullying' and misogyny were especially explosive during the #MeToo era, and soon Braun and his family were the focus of severe threats.
Scott made $15 million profit from catalog sale
As per reports, Scott made a profit of $15 million from the catalog sale since he had a stake in Big Machine at the time it was sold. A source reported to TMZ, "In 2020, the ability to evaluate any opportunity for Taylor to purchase her catalog was conditioned on signing a gag order NDA, prohibiting her from ever speaking the truth about Scooter and the situation. Taylor has completely moved on from this saga, and has turned what started out as an extremely painful situation into one of the most fulfilling creative endeavors of her life."
