Woman Of The Decade Swift slams ‘potentially harmful force’ at awards
POP star Taylor Swift warned of a “potentially harmful force” in the music industry as she reignited her feud with prominent talent manager Scooter Braun.
She was named Woman Of
The Decade by Billboard and used her acceptance speech to discuss the sale of her back catalogue.
Braun’s company, Ithica Holdings, bought Swift’s first record label in a deal reportedly worth more than $300 million (£222m).
The deal, which Swift furiously opposed, gave Braun the rights to Swift’s first six albums.
During her acceptance speech in Los Angeles, Swift warned of a “new shift” that is a “potentially harmful force in our industry”.
She said: “As your resident loud person, I feel the need to bring it up. That is the unregulated world of private equity coming in and buying up our music as if it is real estate, as if it’s an app or a shoe line. This just happened to me without my approval, consultation or consent.”
Swift, who celebrated her 30th birthday yesterday, said she was told the deal to buy her back catalogue was funded by “the Soros Family, 23 Capital and the Carlyle Group”.
She added: “Yet to this day, none of these investors have bothered to contact me or my team directly to perform their due diligence on their investment.
“On their investment in me, to ask how I might feel about the new owner of my art. The music I wrote. The videos I created. Photos of me, my handwriting, my album designs.”
Swift, who signed with Big Machine Records as a teenager before switching to Universal Music Group last year, again insisted she had not been given the opportunity to buy her own back catalogue.
She also took aim at Braun’s supporters. She said: “Let me just say that the definition of the toxic male privilege in our industry is people saying, ‘Well, he’s always been nice to me’ when I’m raising valid concerns about artists and their rights to own their music. Of course he’s nice to you. If you’re in this room you have something he needs.”
The hit-maker went on to challenge the audience to “stand as an example for someone else in the next generation that loves the same thing that we love”.
She added: “No matter what else enters the conversation we will always bring it back to music. As for me, lately I’ve been focusing less on what they say I can’t do and more on doing whatever the hell I want.”
Swift received a standing ovation for her powerful words.
Braun said he and his family have received death threats since his row with Swift went public.
The singer was introduced to the stage to accept her award by British actress Jameela Jamil.
Recalling her early career, the 10-time Grammy Award winner said: “When this decade began I was 20 years old, I saw that as a female in this industry some people will always have the slightest reservations about you.”
She said female artists face questions over whether a man was responsible for their work or if their success is down to a
“savvy record label” and added: “People want to explain away a woman’s success in this industry.”
She said women have to
“grow fast” to succeed in music, adding they are “not allowed to coast. We are held at a higher, sometimes impossible feeling standard”.
The months-long feud between Swift and Braun has been well-documented.
Last month, it was unclear whether Swift would be able to perform her back-catalogue of tracks at the American Music Awards. Ultimately, however, it was decided she would be able to belt out her hits, which include Love Story and Style.
A statement released read: “The Big Machine Label Group and Dick Clark Productions announce 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.
“This includes the upcoming American Music Awards performances for Thomas Rhett and former Big Machine Records recording artist Taylor Swift.”
When Braun bought into Big Machine, she described him as “an incessant, manipulative bully.”