UPDATED 11/18, 4:15 p.m. ET: The issue has still not been resolved between Taylor Swift and her former label, as a new statement from Dick Clark Productions, which you can read below via Pitchfork, says the company did not agree to a joint statement with Big Machine Label Group.
"At no time did Dick Clark Productions agree to, create, authorize or distribute a statement in partnership with Big Machine Label Group regarding Taylor Swift's performance at the 2019 American Music Awards. Any final agreement on this matter needs to be made directly with Taylor Swift's management team. We have no further comment."
UPDATED 11/18, 2:03 p.m. ET: It appears the latest spat between Taylor Swift, Scooter Braun, and Scott Borchetta has (maybe?) come to an end as Big Machine Label Group and Dick Clark Productions have released a joint statement that a licensing agreement has been made for performers, Swift included.
"The Big Machine Label Group and Dick Clark Productions announce that they have come to terms on a licensing agreement that approves their artists’ performances to stream post show and for re-broadcast on mutually approved platforms," the statement reads. "This includes the upcoming American Music Awards performances. It should be noted that recording artists do not need label approval for live performances on television or any other live media. Record label approval is only needed for contracted artists’ audio and visual recordings and in determining how those works are distributed."
UPDATED 11/15, 12:45 p.m. ET: Big Machine Label Group has responded to Taylor Swift, claiming “the narrative [Swift has] created does not exist.”
The statement continues, “Since Taylor’s decision to leave Big Machine last fall, [the label has] continued to honor all of her requests to license her catalog to third parties as she promotes her current record, in which we do not financially participate,” Pitchfork reports.
“We were shocked to see [Swift’s] Tumblr statements yesterday based on false information,” the statement reads. “At no point did we say Taylor could not perform on the AMAs or block her Netflix special. In fact, we do not have the right to keep her from performing live anywhere.”
However, Swift’s Tumblr post didn’t allege that Big Machine prevented the performance or doc, only that neither could feature her old music. In a new statement Friday, Swift’s spokeswoman pointed to this disparity, saying, “In Big Machine’s statement, they never actually deny either claim Taylor said last night in her post,” per Pitchfork.
Big Machine adds that Swift owes “millions of dollars and multiple assets to our company, which is responsible for 120 hardworking employees who helped build her career.” It asserts the label was optimistic both parties would resolve their differences, until Thursday when Swift “made a unilateral decision last night to enlist her fanbase in a calculated manner that greatly affects the safety of our employees and their families.”
The label ends its statement by maintaining that it shares “the collective goal of giving [Swift’s] fans the entertainment they both want and deserve.”
The response Pitchfork received from Swift’s spokeswoman includes an email that she says is written by Big Machine Label Group’s vice president of rights management and business affairs. The email states that the label “will not agree to issue licenses for existing recordings or waivers of its re-recording restrictions” regarding the Netflix documentary. Swift’s spokeswoman then claims Borchetta “flatly denied the request for both American Music Awards and Netflix” in a separate email yesterday.
📲 IG | Halsey supporting Taylor via Instagram story #IStandWithTaylor
“It is her grace and patience in these moments that make her Artist of the Decade.” pic.twitter.com/zC12Yq2x9G
Swift’s spokeswoman ended her statement by alleging that while the label alleges Swift owes them “millions of dollars,” the opposite is true. “An independent, professional auditor has determined that Big Machine owes Taylor $7.9 million dollars of unpaid royalties over several years,” she writes.
In a seperate statement given to TMZ by a Big Machine exec, they actually claim Taylor is free to perform her entire catalog at the AMAs if she wants.
"Taylor Swift can 100 percent perform all of her catalog, past and present, on the AMAs," the official says. "Our confusion with her statement is that we have no legal right to stop this and have never tried. She and her team both know this."
The official adds, "We are excited for all her fans, as all of the confusion has now been cleared up, and we now welcome Taylor to perform all of her hits on the AMAs."
Justin Bieber also weighed in, sort of, by posting on his Instagram Stories a screenshot of TMZ’s article headlined “Taylor Swift Free to Play All Her Hits During AMAs…Big Machine Can’t Stop Her.”
See original story below.
Taylor Swift's scheduled performance at the 2019 American Music Awards is now in question.
On Thursday night, the singer-songwriter shared a lengthy message in which she accused Scooter Braun and Scott Borchetta of blocking her musical set planned for the Nov. 24 ceremony. Swift, who will receive the Artist of the Decade honor at this year's AMAs, said she intended to perform a medley of her greatest hits, but Braun and Borchetta are preventing her from doing so.
"Scott Borchetta and Scooter Braun have now said that I'm not allowed to perform my old songs on television because they claim that would be re-recording my music before I'm allowed to next year," she wrote. "Additionally — and this isn't the way I had planned on telling you this news — Netflix has created a documentary about my life for the past few years.
"Scott and Scooter have declined the use of my older music or performance footage for this project, even though there is no mention of either of them or Big Machine Records anywhere in the film."
Borchetta allegedly told Swift's team he will allow her to use pre-Lover music on two conditions: "If I agree to not re-record copycat versions of my songs next year (which is something I’m both legally allowed to do and looking forward to)" and to "stop talking about him and Scooter Braun."
The highly publicized dispute began back in June, after Braun's media company Ithaca Holdings had acquired Swift's former label Big Machine Label Group, which was founded by Borchetta. As part of the acquisition, Braun received the master rights to Swift's first six albums, meaning any license requests would have to be authorized by the powerhouse music manager. Swift also claimed she rejected a contract-renewal deal in which she would earn back her masters one album at a time; for every new album Swift released under Big Machine Records, the label would give her the masters to one of her old projects. The singer said she declined the offer because she new Borchetta was on the verge of selling the imprint.
But Swift refused to give up, and was set on owning her music. During an August interview on CBS Sunday Morning, she announced her plans to re-record her back catalog, which she alluded to in her recent post.
"I feel very strongly that sharing what is happening to me could change the awareness level for other artists and potentially help them avoid a similar fate. The message being sent to me is very clear. Basically, be a good little girl and shut up. Or you’ll be punished," she continued. "This is wrong. Neither of these men had a hand in the writing of those songs. They did nothing to create the relationship I have with my fans.
"So this is where I’m asking for your help. Please let Scott Borchetta and Scooter Braun know how you feel about this. Scooter also manages several artists who I really believe care about other artists and their work. Please ask them for help with this – I’m hoping that maybe they can talk some sense into the men who are exercising tyrannical control over someone who just wants to play the music she wrote ... Right now my performance at the AMAs, the Netflix documentary and any other recorded events I am planning to play until November of 2020 are a question mark."
#IStandWithTaylor quickly started trending as stars like Halsey expressed their support for the pop star.
"This is punishment," Halsey wrote on Instagram Stories. "This is hoping to silence her from speaking about things by dangling this over her head. These people are protected because they inspire complicity with fear. Banking on the illusion that people will not stand up for her. That the world will say she is over reacting. You're barking up the wrong tree. It is her grace and patience in these moments that make her Artist of the Decade."
You can read Swift's full statement below.
