Big Machine Records Denies Taylor Swift’s Claims of Blocking Music Use, Says She Owes ‘Millions of Dollars’
‘THE MAN’
Big Machine Records, Taylor Swift’s former record label, on Friday denied the singer-songwriter’s allegations that it’s trying to halt her plans for a retrospective performance at the American Music Awards and prevent her from using her old recordings in a new Netflix documentary. Swift is set to be honored as Artist of the Decade at the AMAs on Nov. 24. She claimed Thursday that she’s “not allowed to perform my old songs on television because they claim that would be re-recording my music before I’m allowed to next year.” Swift asked fans to let the company “know how you feel about this,” siccing her followers on the label. The company, meanwhile, disputed those allegations and claimed that Swift owes them “millions of dollars.”
“As Taylor Swift’s partner for over a decade, we were shocked to see her Tumblr statements yesterday based on false information,” Big Machine’s statement reads. “At no point did we say Taylor could not perform on the AMAs or block her Netflix special. In fact, we do not have the right to keep her from performing live anywhere. Since Taylor’s decision to leave Big Machine last fall, we have continued to honor all of her requests to license her catalog to third parties as she promotes her current record in which we do not financially participate.” Swift has publicly fought with the company since mega-manager Scooter Braun announced a $300 million deal to buy Scott Borchetta’s Big Machine over the summer. Braun has been feuding with Swift for years; now he owns her master recordings. “The message being sent to me is very clear,” Swift said Thursday. “Basically, be a good little girl and shut up. Or you’ll be punished.”