Taylor Swift Cries Foul Over 2008 Live Album Without Her Approval

Taylor Swift is not taking it sitting down and wants to shake off another brewing controversy thrown her way. The "Lover" singer-songwriter let her voice out on Instagram Stories earlier about the latest attack on her music from Scooter Braun and Big Machine Label Group.

Swift wrote a post on her livid stand on the unapproved release of the album "Live from Clear Channel Stripped 2008," which is expected to be dropping at midnight later. The singer-songwriter was tipped off by her Swifties fans regarding the "release," which was going around earlier on Twitter. It was reported to have been posted on streaming platforms in other countries. On one tweet, a netizen posted that the album was allegedly streaming on iTunes and YouTube.

In her post, the Grammy-winning singer thanked the solid, loyal fans for making her aware that "my former record label is putting out an "album" tonight" of her live performances. Swift said the recording is from a "2008 radio show performance I did when I was 18." On her post, she mentioned that her former recording label, Big Machine, "listed the date as a 2017 release." But the "new" album was never released on the mentioned time, and further added: "they're actually releasing it tonight at midnight."

Swift, who said that she has always been honest to the fans, revealed there was no approval from her part to release the album. She wrote that the group of "Braun, financial backers, 23 Capital, Alex Soros, and his family, and the Carlyle Group" realized that "paying $330 MILLION for my music wasn't exactly a wise choice." She fearlessly added that "they need money."

(Photo : Instagram/@taylorswift)
Taylor Swift's post on her IG story about the unathorized release of a live recording in 2008.

"Shake It Off" singer was visibly strong and very clear in her statement, and she branded the move as "another case of shameless greed in the time of Coronavirus." She ended her post with loaded words of: "So tasteless, but very transparent."

Swift and Braun could not shake it off

The unauthorized release of the 2008 live album adds another chapter to the long ongoing feud between Swift, Braun, and her formel label Big Machine. Music manager Braun is handling pop music stars Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, Carly Rae Japsen, Black Eyed Peas, and recently, Demi Lovato, among others. He bought out Big Machine in 2019 for a whopping $300 million that included Swift's six-album back-catalog. With this move, Braun holds the rights and control of her master recordings.

On June 30, 2019, the entrepreneur Braun announced that his company, Ithaca Holdings LLC, acquired Big Machine Label Group. Swift, previous to this development, has moved on from Big Machine and signed a contract on 2018 with Republic Records.

The move irked the "Blank Space" singer and posted on Tumblr she was a victim of "incessant, manipulative bullying" by Braun for years. Swift also said that she had asked several times to acquire her master recordings, but Big Machine denied her the opportunity. The singer was only 15 years old when she signed up with the label. Swift understood the masters would be part of the deal, but revealed in her post "never in (her) worst nightmares" that Braun would make a move.

Worsening the feud was when Swift accused Braun from preventing her from performing her decade-long old songs at the American Music Awards in November 2019. She was also not allowed to use her music on the Netflix documentary, "Miss Americana."

Tags
Taylor Swift
Join the Discussion
Real Time Analytics