Taylor Swift claims Big Machine Records is releasing an unapproved live album of her music | NME
Taylor Swift has said that her former record label, Big Machine Records, is releasing an unapproved live album today (April 24) of material dating back to 2008.
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As reported by Billboard, the album is called ‘Live From Clear Channel Stripped 2008’ and was recorded during a radio show performance when Swift was 18 years old.
Taking to Instagram, Swift thanked fans for letting her know that the album was being released. “Big Machine has listed the date as a 2017 release but they’re actually releasing it at midnight tonight,” she wrote.
“I’m always honest with you guys about this stuff so I just wanted to tell you that this release is not approved by me. It looks to me like Scooter Braun and his financial backers, 23 Capital, Alex Soros and the Soros family and The Carlyle Group have seen the latest balance sheets and realized that paying $330 MILLION for my music wasn’t exactly a wise choice and they need money.
“In my opinion,” Swift continued, “Just another case of shameless greed in the time of Coronavirus. So tasteless, but very transparent.”
See a screengrab of the message below:
This is just the latest chapter in a longstanding feud between Swift and Big Machine, including Scooter Braun and Scott Borchetta. Things came to a fiery head when Swift revealed that Braun had acquired Big Machine Label Group for $300 million, including the ownership of Swift’s first six albums, from 2006’s self-titled to 2017’s ‘reputation’.
While Swift said that she plans to re-record all six of those albums, she also accused Braun of “incessant, manipulative bullying.” Swift addressed the situation and “toxic male privilege” while accepting Billboard‘s Woman of the Decade award later last year.
In other news, Swift has had to cancel all of her planned live events this year in support of her 2019 album ‘Lover’ due to the coronavirus outbreak. Select events have been rescheduled to 2021.
