Taylor Swift is very much included in this narrative.
Swift and Big Machine Records, which produced her first six albums, unamicably parted ways a year ago in what was the beginning of a high-profile fight over who controls Swift's songs. That reached a new height Thursday night when Swift posted an open letter accusing the label of stopping her from performing her songs live — and Big Machine is denying it all.
In her statement, Swift discussed how she'd be getting an American Music Award deeming her the "artist of the decade," and wanted to perform a medley of her songs at the awards show. She also said, and "this isn't the way I had planned on telling you this news," that a Netflix documentary about her was in the works as well. But all of those things are "a big question mark" because Scott Borchetta and Scooter Braun — Big Machine's founder and the man whose holding company bought Big Machine earlier this year, respectively — "have now said that I'm not allowed to perform my old songs on television" because she'd be re-recording her music before she's allowed to in November 2020, Swift said.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
On Friday, Big Machine fired back. "We were shocked to see her Tumblr statements yesterday based on false information," and "at no point" did Big Machine attempt to block her performances or documentary, it said in a statement. It decried her for risking "the safety of our employees and their families," stemming from how she directed fans to question Borchetta and Braun and their other clients. And with what was likely a deliberate choice of words, Big Machine directly addressed Swift to say "the narrative you have created does not exist."
-
10 upcoming albums to stream during spooky seasonThe Week Recommends As fall arrives, check out new albums from Taylor Swift, Jeff Tweedy, the Lemonheads and more
-
The most notable records Taylor Swift has brokenIn Depth The pop star has cemented herself as one of the century's most popular artists
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclubSpeed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's illsSpeed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, StalloneSpeed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's viewSpeed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talkSpeed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
