Taylor Swift’s feud with Scooter Braun, ‘Taylor’s Version’ recordings explained

It’s a good day to be a Swiftie right about now, as fans of Taylor Swift have been treated to the re-release of her 2010 album Speak Now, now known as Speak Now (Taylor’s Version).

While for most it’s a defiant statement for musicians everywhere about owning their work, for the uninitiated, it could just be a note-for-note recreation of her album from over a decade ago.

For those not in the know (or if you just want a refresher), here’s a breakdown of the Taylor Swift masters controversy, from the record label sale that started it all and the Scooter Braun feud to the Speak Now re-release of the present day.

Taylor Swift vs Big Machine and Scott Borchetta

In 2018, Taylor, now 33, signed a new contract with Republic Records after her 13-year contract with Big Machine Records expired.

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One of the stipulations for her new contract was that she would be allowed to own the masters for her recordings aka the final version of the song that is recorded and can be sold — for use in advertisements, TV and films, future album compilations, video games, and the like.

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The singer-songwriter had explained in the past that she did not have ownership of her recordings under Big Machine (her first six albums) and negotiations on acquiring them fell through, hence her decision to switch labels.

As such, she owned the masters of her 2019 album Lover and the albums that followed (folklore, evermore, and Midnights) due to them being under the Republic contract.

Taylor Swift vs Scooter Braun

In June 2019, it was announced by Big Machine that famed artist manager Scooter Braun had purchased the label for an estimated $330 million through his holdings company Ithaca Holdings.

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As a result, Ithaca and therefore Scooter would acquire ownership of the masters of all the artists under Big Machine, including Taylor herself, which means that any use of such music would require prior permission and the payment of a fee to Ithaca Holdings.

Taylor retaliated immediately to the news with a long and emotional Tumblr post, decrying Scott’s “betrayal” and branding Scooter’s behavior “incessant, manipulative bullying.”

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Scooter, known for boosting the careers of artists like Justin Bieber, Demi Lovato, and Ariana Grande, was also the manager of Kanye West in 2016 which was the year the rapper released the infamous song ‘Famous,’ which included derogatory lyrics about Taylor.

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“Like when Kim Kardashian orchestrated an illegally recorded snippet of a phone call to be leaked and then Scooter got his two clients together to bully me online about it,” Taylor wrote in reference to Kanye and Justin calling her out on social media and the firestorm that surrounded her Reputation era in 2017.

Further strife followed when the ‘Cruel Summer’ singer accused Scott and Scooter of not allowing her to perform her older music and use it in her 2020 Miss Americana documentary, and amplified when Big Machine released Live From Clear Channel Stripped 2008, a previously unreleased live album of Taylor’s 2008 radio show performance, which she stated she did not authorize.

Taylor Swift, Taylor’s Version

In August 2019, Taylor announced that she would be re-recording and releasing all six of her previous albums, through the publishing rights she held over her work given she is the primary songwriter for every single one of her songs.

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In October 2020, before the first of her re-releases even came out, Scooter had sold all of the masters and acquisitions to American private equity firm Shamrock Holdings, a decision Taylor had contested as well, to no avail. She then began her re-recording process in earnest that November.

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She started that journey off with Fearless (Taylor’s Version) in April 2021 and followed that up with Red (Taylor’s Version) that November, and finally Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) this July. More than just reclaiming her blockbuster albums for herself artistically, the Taylor’s Version releases – which fans have already purchased and streamed in record numbers – would de-value the worth of the older recordings sold to Shamrock.

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Thanks to her new contract, like Lover and the albums that followed, Taylor now owns the masters and the rights to the recordings of all the songs from these three albums, and sweetened the deal for fans by dropping some unreleased cuts or “From the Vault” tracks as well as previously edited songs such as the 10 minute version of the acclaimed ‘All Too Well.’

Taylor Swift’s influence

Reactions to the re-release were overwhelmingly in Taylor’s favor, with many artists praising her for taking back the rights to her own material, with some like Olivia Rodrigo noting that they negotiated deals that gave her ownership of her masters, while others like Bryan Adams re-recorded their own material for the same, citing Taylor as the influence.

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Taylor’s fans have gotten the big win as well, with the “From the Vault” tracks, surprise collabs with the likes of Hayley Williams and Phoebe Bridgers, and more mature perspectives on decades old music to benefit from.

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Scooter himself has spoken out about his regret over how the deal went down, telling the podcast The Limit in September 2022: “The regret I have there is that I made the assumption that everyone, once the deal was done, was going to have a conversation with me, see my intent, see my character and say, ‘Great, let’s be in business together.’ I made that assumption with people that I didn’t know.”

Until then, let’s relish in the now 22-track long Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) and pray that 1989 (Taylor’s Version) is what comes next.