Musician Taylor Swift did want to buy her masters back from Scooter Braun and now we know that she reportedly wasn’t allowed to.
Swift took to Twitter on Monday to explain her side of the story after news broke that Braun had sold her masters for upwards of $300 million. The “Cardigan” singer revealed she had tried to enter into negotiations with Braun for her masters, but it didn’t work out well.
Been getting a lot of questions about the recent sale of my old masters. I hope this clears things up. pic.twitter.com/sscKXp2ibD
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) November 16, 2020
“Scooter’s team wanted me to sign an ironclad NDA saying I would never say another word about Scooter Braun unless it was positive, before we could even look at the financial records of BMLG (which is always the first step in a purchase of this nature),” Swift said. “So, I would have to sign a document that would silence me forever before I could even have a chance to bid on my own work.”
“My legal team said that this is absolutely NOT normal, and they’ve never seen an NDA like this presented unless it was to silence an assault accuser by paying them off. He would never even quote my team a price. These master recordings were not for sale to me.” (RELATED: REPORT: Scooter Braun Just Sold Taylor Swift’s Masters For Over $300 Million)
Swift revealed her masters were sold without her knowledge again. A private equity company called Shamrock Holdings contacted Swift after the purchase with hopes Swift would work with them. Swift explained that since Braun still profits from her master recordings under the acquisition terms agreed upon by Shamrock Holdings, she would not be working with them.
Swift confirmed she is re-recording her masters.
“I have recently begun re-recording my older music and it has already proven to be both exciting and creatively fulfilling,” Swift said in her statement. “I have plenty of surprises in store.”
I had a lot of questions yesterday, but in typical Swift fashion she has pretty much answered all of them. I was confused as to why she didn’t purchase her own masters if they were for sale, but seems like she did try.
I can’t wait to hear her new recordings of old songs. I love all Swift and all of her previous genres. This new music will be something to continue to look forward to.