Taylor Swift has distanced herself from a just-released batch of live recordings, telling her fans she never authorised the EP and blaming industry nemesis Scooter Braun for the “shameless” release.
Taking to Instagram this morning, Swift told her fans that Live From Clear Channel Stripped 2008, a collection of songs the megastar performed live when she was 18, was released on streaming services overnight without her explicit permission.
She said her former record label, Big Machine, pulled a fast one by claiming the record actually came out in 2017.
“I’m always honest with you guys about this stuff so I just wanted to tell you that this release is not approved by me,” Swift said.
Braun took ownership of Swift’s master recordings last year when his company, Ithaca Holdings, acquired Big Machine.
Swift claims the deal was deeply unfair.
Now, the pop gun says Braun and his business partners have “realized that paying $330 MILLION for my music wasn’t exactly a wise choice and they need money.”
“In my opinion, just another case of shameless greed in the time of Coronavirus,” she added.
“So tasteless, but very transparent.”
It’s the latest development in the legal tussle between Swift and Big Machine.
The artist, who released her latest album Lover on Universal Records, has pledged to re-record her back catalogue to work around Big Machine’s ownership of her previous master recordings.
Neither Big Machine nor Braun personally have spoken publicly in response to Swift’s message.
You can read it in full below.
