Taylor Swift Just Delivered a Powerful Message as She Received This Milestone Award & You Should Really Hear It

BuzzMarch 19, 2020

Taylor Swift is no stranger to controversies. She’s weathered her own share of feuds during her more-than-a-decade long career in music. Who could forget her notorious spat against rapper turned businessman Kanye West?

Of course, there’s also the topic of her romantic life. But perhaps her largest conflict to date is against music executives and she just delivered a powerful message calling them out.

Making an Impactful Statement

Swift at the 2019 Women in Music Event held in mid-December

As the first person to receive the Billboard’s Woman of the Decade Award, the 30-year-old performer used her acceptance speech as an opportunity to reminisce about her years in the industry and call out the negative influence that private equity has on the business of music-making.

She particularly talked about her experience of allegedly not being given the chance to purchase the rights to her own master recordings. Swift points out music executive Scooter Braun and his ability to own her early music without her approval.

As she put it, Braun was helped by the two financial giants 23 Capital and Carlyle Group to buy her music without even contacting her before the sale pushed through. Swift described acts like this as financial entities ‘buying up our music as if it is real estate’.

It can be remembered that Braun’s Ithaca Holdings acquired Big Machine Records earlier in the year. All of Swift’s previous albums before her latest release ‘Lover’ were produced under the label.

Ongoing Feud

Braun’s work in the music industry also includes the discovery of a then-12-year-old Justin Bieber on Youtube

The singer’s biting speech is the new chapter in the ongoing feud she has with Braun, who she also accused of bullying her. The back and forth between the parties has expanded to include other public figures such as Bg Machine CEO Scott Borchetta as well as other singers like Justine Bieber and Demi Lovato.

Borchetta has even gone out to pen his own letter published in the label’s website seeking to dispel Swift’s claims that she wasn’t aware of the record label buyout. According to the 57-year-old music executive, said that he texted her before the deal was made public.

Taylor’s Next Step

Swift’s seventh album ‘Lover’ was released under Republic Records

Meanwhile, Swift has also expressed plans to re-record her earlier albums and can legally do so by November 2020 as her contract with Big Machine finally expires. However, the possibility of this has been questioned by many.

After all, her first six albums are already available via streaming services and reportedly still continue to bring in large numbers. But the singer shows no signs of stopping as she moves her music career forward with the release of a new album in 2019.

She’s also announced the coming of her sixth concert tour dubbed as ‘Lover Fest’, which would be done in support of her latest record. The tour is set to begin in June 2020.