Taylor Swift claims her former record label has 'tyrannical control' over her old songs. The label denies it.

Taylor Swift.
(Image credit: Isaac Brekken/Getty Images for iHeartMedia)

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.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

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.

Sign up
Explore More
Kathryn Krawczyk

Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.