The Music World Reacts To Taylor Swift’s Allegations Against Braun & Borchetta
The music world sprang to life in the hours after Taylor Swift penned an open letter about Scooter Braun and Scott Borchetta. Last night (November 14), the 29-year-old claimed she is unable to play her classic material at the 2019 American Music Awards. Why? Because the masters belong to Big Machine Label Group, who allegedly refuse to let them be used on television. “They claim that would be re-recording my music before I’m allowed to next year,” she wrote. “This is WRONG,” she added.
“Neither of these men had a hand in the writing of these songs. They did not create the relationship I have with my fans.” This morning Big Machine responded with shared statement. “As Taylor Swift’s partner for over a decade, we were shocked to see her Tumblr statements yesterday based on false information,” they wrote. Taylor’s team has responded since with a rebuttal. And she’s not alone. In her original message the Lover hitmaker asked for support from her fellow artists.
A slew of them have weighed in on the ongoing drama. One of Taylor’s first supporters was Halsey. “This is just mean. This is punishment,” she wrote on her Instagram story. “These people are protected because they inspire complicity with fear. Banking on the illusion that people will not stand up for her. That the world will say she is over reacting. You’re barking up the wrong tree. It is her grace and patience in these moments that make her Artist of the Decade.” Tinashe quickly replied, too. “Fuck that. We’re with you,” she succinctly vowed.
This morning she also got support from best friend Selena Gomez. “My heart is so heavy right now. It makes me sick and extremely angry,” she wrote. “This is my opinion. It’s greed, manipulation and power. There is no heart or thought of anyone else. No respect for the words my friend has written since she was a 14 year old in her bedroom.” She signed off with a message of love for Taylor and also made sure to mention that she does not mind “if there may be retaliation.” Former tour mate Camila Cabello mirrored some of those thoughts.
“I can’t even imagine how painful this must be for you,” she wrote. “A record label can’t be allowed to do this to an artist… whatever needs to happen to get this situation fixed, needs to happen.” Then there are the Swifties. Overnight more than 80,000 fans signed a Change.org petition calling out sexism in the music industry and requesting Taylor be allowed to perform her music as she sees fit. At the time of publishing Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber and Demi Lovato (Braun’s clients) have not responded. Others who have though include the likes of Lily Allen, Echosmith, Joel Little and more.
Check out some of the replies below. We’ll keep this story updated as more roll in.
📲 IG | Camila Cabello showing her support for Taylor via Instagram story #IStandWithTaylor
“A record label can’t be allowed to do this to an artist…💔💔” pic.twitter.com/AYaNpO1YUb
— Taylor Swift News (@TSwiftNZ) November 15, 2019
📸 | @halsey via her IG Story #IStandWithTaylor
“This is hoping to silence her from speaking about things by dangling this over her head.” pic.twitter.com/9LDcVNRDFo
— Taylor Swift Updates (@TSUpdatesNYBU) November 15, 2019
Selena said #IStandWithTaylor pic.twitter.com/JLJ0yZkvvv
— Selena Gomez Source (@GomezSource) November 15, 2019
outrageous abuse of power and completely unforgivable. #IStandWithTaylor https://t.co/ofvxs4gQiH
— Sara Bareilles (@SaraBareilles) November 15, 2019
moral of the story: don’t sell ownership of your masters and still expect to have control of your work. https://t.co/Wo0oSavhyf
— VÉRITÉ *new skin OUT NOW!* (@Verite) November 15, 2019
this is meant to be educational not critical. labels promise a lot & in the end, selling your ownership is a gamble that works out sometimes and a lot of times causes issues.
no criticism of taylor, she crushes it, but yes she’s living with the consequences of a bad decision.
— VÉRITÉ *new skin OUT NOW!* (@Verite) November 15, 2019
as a person, i’m more clinical/less emotional, so apologies if i came off harsh.
here are some of my experiences & i’m happy to have any discussion, simple or complex cause the music industry is messy af xxhttps://t.co/XF5Or3I9pI
— VÉRITÉ *new skin OUT NOW!* (@Verite) November 15, 2019
thanks @halseynothing but love and respect.
we all just have different experiences and mine has been on the ground level carving a path for independent artists from day 1.
xx
— VÉRITÉ *new skin OUT NOW!* (@Verite) November 15, 2019
Hey man. Good for you. But you don’t become Taylor Swift that way. It takes an army. Everyone wants a different career and a different path, 100% But insinuating she should have known or done better to reach her magnitude is negligent. https://t.co/2viXU8NRGu
— h (@halsey) November 15, 2019
i wasn’t coming for her, i just made a blunt comment about a sad fact of the music industry without full sensitivity for the situation, which i clarified
also nothing but love & respect for taylor and what’s she’s built.
we do need education& empowerment of young artists.xx https://t.co/0uoq1GY28r
— VÉRITÉ *new skin OUT NOW!* (@Verite) November 15, 2019
Ps. My first radio play, charting records, and extended play were all seen independent as well before I found a home at my label. I know both sides of this very well. https://t.co/EKeG2G6Q2A
— h (@halsey) November 15, 2019
artist trust labels. It’s supposed to be a healthy symbiosis. You have holidays with these people. dinners. deaths. Watch babies be born. They watch your lowest lows and highest highs. Sometimes things are unspoken. Legal doesn’t mean moral or ethical.
— h (@halsey) November 15, 2019
You shouldn’t have to live in fear of protecting yourself from the people who are supposed to be on your side. And most young, wide eyed artists, don’t have the foresight to think they will need to. And it’s sad they would ever need to..
— h (@halsey) November 15, 2019
It breaks my heart to see people who have never written a song, created a lyric or poured their heart out artistically make a living off of using the gifts of others and truly feel ownership over someone else’s God given gift. Just because it could be legal doesn’t make it right.
— Todrick Hall (@todrick) November 15, 2019
At the end of the day, these two men aren’t hurting for money…they should just let her sing her damn songs that she created. Life is too short for all this ego driven drama. Periodt. Stop being assholes #JusticeForTaylorSwift #IStandForTaylor
— Todrick Hall (@todrick) November 15, 2019
Outrageous, for someone to pour everything into their art and have someone else put a stop to them performing those songs is a huge injustice. I really hope this gets put right. #IStandWithTaylor https://t.co/Gi5GljIoCi
— Bradley Will Simpson (@TheVampsBrad) November 15, 2019
Solidarity with Taylor here, this sounds awful, and people wonder why music hasn’t had its #MeToo moment ? https://t.co/lqfRVfhDYK
— LILY ALLEN 2.0 (@lilyallen) November 15, 2019
Scott and Scooter, you know what the right thing to do is 🙏🙏Taylor and her fans deserve to celebrate the music!!
— Gigi Hadid (@GiGiHadid) November 15, 2019
This is unbelievable and completely messed up. Let this amazing woman do what she wants with her amazing songs #IStandWithTaylor https://t.co/pVyVhsXwzO
— Joel Little (@iamjoellittle) November 15, 2019
what a complete power pull @scooterbraun @scottborchetta. the way this industry is set up, there are times where we have to get legal permission to perform anything we share rights to. but denying access like this is solely to play with and diminish a person. https://t.co/noNDUeFzYE
— Rebecca Black (@MsRebeccaBlack) November 15, 2019
We stand with you & we love you @taylorswift13 💕💕💕
— ECHOSMITH (@echosmith) November 15, 2019
Fuck that. We’re with you
— TINASHE (@Tinashe) November 14, 2019
Here’s an idea,what if other artists perform your early songs in the 1st half of the performance paying tribute to u? mechanical license is already granted since u released them. So it would be other artists “cover version”of your earlier hits? Then u jump in 2nd half?Ps. Hi Don.
— Eden (@edenxo) November 15, 2019
WE STAND WITH TAYLOR. scooter and scott are what we like to call a classic pair of “poor boys”
— The Regrettes (@regrettesband) November 15, 2019
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