Irving Azoff’s Music Artists Coalition has sided with Taylor Swift in her spat with Big Machine Label Group.
Taylor Swift
The 29-year-old singer has accused the record label – which is run by Scott Borchetta and was acquired by Scooter Braun‘s company in July – of blocking her from performing her old songs and Taylor has received the backing of music manager Azoff’s new coalition, which was established to advocate for and protect the rights of artists.
The group said in a statement: “The Music Artists Coalition supports the rights of all artists to control their music. Taylor Swift should be allowed to perform her songs where she wants and when she wants. And she should be allowed to use her music to tell her story through her documentary. For a label to take positions contrary to that would be unprecedented. We applaud Taylor for reminding all artists to be aware of their rights and to stand up for themselves.”
Along with Azoff, the coalition includes Don Henley, Anderson Paak and Dave Matthews and was established in July.
Don said at the time: “Artists decide their musical fate every time they write a song or step on stage. Their true fate – the ability to protect their music – is being decided by others … bureaucrats, government legislators, and the powerful digital gatekeepers.”
Taylor has alleged BMLG put plans for a proposed Netflix documentary and her performance at the American Music Awards (AMAs) in doubt because Braun and Borchetta won’t allow the use of her old material.
After Taylor went public with her claims, Big Machine released a statement denying the allegations.
The company said: “As Taylor Swift’s partner for over a decade, we were shocked to see her Tumblr statements yesterday based on false information. 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.”
Big Machine also claimed that Swift owes the company “millions of dollars and multiple assets”.
However, Taylor hit back with her representative telling BANG Showbiz: “Please be advised that BMLG will not agree to issue licenses for existing recordings or waivers of its re-recording restrictions in connection with these two projects: The Netflix documentary and The Alibaba Double Eleven event.
“To avoid an argument over rights, Taylor performed three songs off her new album Lover at the Double Eleven event as it was clear that Big Machine Label Group felt any televised performance of catalog songs violated her agreement. In addition, yesterday Scott Borchetta, CEO and founder of Big Machine Label Group, flatly denied the request for both American Music Awards and Netflix. Please notice in Big Machine’s statement, they never actually deny either claim Taylor said last night in her post.
“Lastly, Big Machine is trying to deflect and make this about money by saying she owes them but, an independent, professional auditor has determined that Big Machine owes Taylor $7.9 million dollars of unpaid royalties over several years.”
