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Big Machine has been trying re-sign Swift for months, sources say, other labels have been in talks to try to sign her as well. Core to Swift’s discussions with Big Machine has been the idea of her gaining ownership of her masters from the label, which a major record company would be unlikely to grant.

Scott, I hope this finds you well. Since communication ran dry on our negotiations, I’ve done what I told you I would do and gone out exploring other options. Owning my masters was very important to me, but I’ve since realized that there are things that mean even more to me in the bigger picture. I had a choice whether to bet on my past or to bet on the future and I think knowing me, you can guess which one I chose. I also saw a rare opportunity to effect positive change for a lot of other artists with the leverage I have right now. I know you believe in the same things I do and I’d like to think you would be proud of what I’ve negotiated for in my deal. I wanted to tell you first that I’ll be signing with Lucian. I honestly truly cherish everything you and I have built together and I plan on saying so in my announcement of the new deal. What we accomplished together will be a lasting legacy and a case study on excellent partnerships, and may it continue. I still view you as a partner and friend and I hope you feel the same. Sending you a hug and my most sincere gratitude. And SO much love, Taylor

"It’s also incredibly exciting to know that I own all of my master recordings that I make from now on. It’s really important to me to see eye to eye with a label regarding the future of our industry [...] I want to express my heartfelt thanks to Scott Borchetta for believing in me as a 14-year-old and for guiding me through over a decade of work that I will always be so proud of. I’m extremely grateful to get to do what I love, especially with the people I’ve been fortunate enough to work with."

Dear Taylor, Hope all is well and congratulations on the success of your first two singles from “Lover”! I can’t wait to hear the entire album… I wanted to pass along to you the same courtesy that you passed along to me in regard to my future. Tomorrow morning (Sunday, June 30th) at 10a central, the Wall Street Journal will announce that I am entering into a mergeacquisition with Scooter Braun and Ithaca Holdings. This move will give us more pop culture super-power than ever before and I’m so excited about the future. I want you to know that I will continue to be the proud custodian of your previous works and will continue to keep you and your team abreast of all future plans for releases of you work. Nothing but the best, Scott

"For years I asked, pleaded for a chance to own my work. Instead I was given an opportunity to sign back up to Big Machine Records and ‘earn’ one album back at a time, one for every new one I turned in. I walked away because I knew once I signed that contract, Scott Borchetta would sell the label, thereby selling me and my future." "Some fun facts about today’s news: I learned about Scooter Braun’s purchase of my masters as it was announced to the world. All I could think about was the incessant, manipulative bullying I’ve received at his hands for years. " "Now Scooter has stripped me of my life’s work, that I wasn’t given an opportunity to buy." "This is what happens when you sign a deal at fifteen to someone for whom the term ‘loyalty’ is clearly just a contractual concept." "When I left my masters in Scott’s hands, I made peace with the fact that eventually he would sell them. Never in my worst nightmares did I imagine the buyer would be Scooter. Any time Scott Borchetta has heard the words ‘Scooter Braun’ escape my lips, it was when I was either crying or trying not to. He knew what he was doing; they both did. Controlling a woman who didn’t want to be associated with them. In perpetuity. That means forever."

"Taylor’s dad, Scott Swift, was a shareholder in Big Machine Records, LLC. We first alerted all of the shareholders on Thursday, June 20th for an official shareholder’s call scheduled for Tuesday, June 25th. On the 6/25 call the shareholders were made aware of the pending deal with Ithaca Holdings and had 3 days to go over all of the details of the proposed transaction. We then had a final call on Friday, June 28th in which the transaction passed with a majority vote and 3 of the 5 shareholders voting ‘yes’ with 92% of the shareholder’s vote. As you will read, 100% of all Taylor Swift assets were to be transferred to her immediately upon signing the new agreement. We were working together on a new type of deal for our new streaming world that was not necessarily tied to ‘albums’ but more of a length of time. Taylor had every chance in the world to own not just her master recordings, but every video, photograph, everything associated to her career. She chose to leave."

"You were given the opportunity to buy your masters, you passed. Interesting that the man you're so "grossed out by" believed in you more than you believe in yourself. Your dad is a shareholder and was notified, and Borchetta personally told you before this came out."

"Scott Swift is not on the board of directors and has never been. On June 25, there was a shareholder phone call that Scott Swift did not participate in due to a very strict NDA that bound all shareholders and prohibited any discussion at all without risk of severe penalty. Her dad did not join that call because he did not want to be required to withhold any information from his own daughter. Taylor found out from the news articles when she woke up before seeing any text from Scott Borchetta and he did not call her in advance.”

"MBW has obtained a subscription agreement between Big Machine Records LLC and Scott Swift, dated January 1, 2006, which grants Mr. Swift 416,666 common shares in the company plus 500,000 preferred shares, for a total price of USD $500,416.66. In addition, MBW has seen confirmation sent to Mr. Swift’s representatives from Big Machine Label Group LLC, in August 2019, confirming a payment to Mr Swift of USD $15.1 million. This payment was made as a result of the sale of Big Machine to Ithaca in June 2019."

"Scott Borchetta never gave Taylor Swift an opportunity to purchase her masters, or the label, outright with a check in the way he is now apparently doing for others."

"While Passman declined Variety’s request for further comment, a source close to the situation confirmed that Swift was not offered the opportunity to buy either her masters or the label without signing a deal that would bind her to Big Machine, apparently for another 10 years, and whomever Borchetta chose to sell the label to."

"Just a thought, U should go in & re-record all the songs that U don’t own the masters on exactly how U did them but put brand new art & some kind of incentive so fans will no longer buy the old versions," she wrote on Twitter. "I’d buy all of the new versions just to prove a point."

"I found out when it was online like when it hit the news." [Q: Nobody in your inner circle knew?] Nobody knew. [Q: And you didn't smell it?] No. I knew he would sell my music, I knew he would do that, I couldn't believe who he sold it to, because we had endless conversations about Scooter Braun and he has 300 million reasons to conveniently forget those conversations."

I've been planning to perform a medley of my hits throughout the decade on the show. 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. [...] 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. Scott Borchetta told my team that they'll allow me to use my music only if I do these things: If I agree to not re-record copycat versions of my songs next year and also told my team that I need to stop talking about him and Scooter Braun. [...] The message being sent to me is very clear. Basically, be a good little girl and shut up. Or you'll be punished. 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 a exercising tyrannical control over someone who just wants to play the music she wrote. I've tried to work this out privately through my team but have not been able to resolve anything.

"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. The truth is, Taylor has admitted to contractually owing millions of dollars and multiple assets to our company, which is responsible for 120 hardworking employees who helped build her career. We have worked diligently to have a conversation about these matters with Taylor and her team to productively move forward. We started to see progress over the past two weeks and were optimistic as recently as yesterday that this may get resolved. However, despite our persistent efforts to find a private and mutually satisfactory solution, Taylor 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. [...] Taylor, the narrative you have created does not exist. All we ask is to have a direct and honest conversation. When that happens, you will see there is nothing but respect, kindness and support waiting for you on the other side. To date, not one of the invitations to speak with us and work through this has been accepted."

"The truth is, on October 28, 2019 at 5:17p.m. the Vice President, Rights Management and Business Affairs from Big Machine Label Group sent Taylor Swift's team the following "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."

"A week before the AMAs event, says our source, Scooter Braun told 13 Management that Ithaca was willing to sell the masters of Taylor Swift’s six ‘Big Machine’ albums to 13 Management / the artist for USD $300 million. Braun also told 13 Management that Ithaca had secured pre-approval on a financing deal, provided by 23 Capital, to fully fund Swift’s acquisition at the $300 million price. The offer was rejected"

"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. 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."

"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."

"I haven’t talked about this in six months. Not once. I haven’t made a statement about it. When there’s a lot of things being said and a lot of different opinions, yet the principals haven’t had a chance to speak to each other, there’s a lot of confusion. I’m not going to go into details here, because it’s just not my style. I just think we live in a time of toxic division, and of people thinking that social media is the appropriate place to air out on each other"

"Since your public statement last week there have been numerous death threats directed at my family. This morning I spoke out publicly for the first time saying I wouldn’t participate in a social media war. However I came home tonight to find my wife had received a phone call threatening the safety of our children as well as other threats seen above. I assume this was not your intention but it is important that you understand that your words carry a tremendous amount of weight and that your message can be interpreted by some in different ways. While disappointed that you have remained silent after being notified by your attorney 4 days ago of these ongoing threats, I’m still hopeful we can fix this. [...] Knowing what I know now all I have wanted to do is rectify the situation. I’m open to ALL possibilities. My attempts and calls to have an open discussion with you over the last 6 months have all been rejected. While some on your team and many of our mutual friends have tried to get you to the table, all have had no luck. It almost feels as if you have no interest in ever resolving the conflict. As the world now knows you can and should perform any song you would like at the AMAs. I have never and would never say otherwise. You do not need anyone’s permission to do so legally but I am stating it here clearly and publicly so there is no more debate or confusion. Moving forward I would like to find a resolution. I will make myself available whenever works for you. Many have told me that a meeting will never happen as this is not about truth or resolution but instead a narrative for you"

“Ithaca Holdings said it was prepared to make available to [13 Management] certain information concerning the business, financial condition, operations, assets and liabilities of Ithaca, including without limitation those related to its affiliate Big Machine Label Group“. The NDA further stated that Ithaca would be willing to hand over to 13 Management “all non-public, proprietary business information regarding a Possible Transaction, relating, directly or indirectly, to such party or its business, clients, potential acquisition targets, condition (financial or other), operations, assets, liabilities, results of operations, cash flows or prospects”. The NDA was signed by Jay Schaudies – a key member of Swift’s management team – on behalf of 13 Management, and by Scooter Braun on behalf of Ithaca. It did not mention any reputational guarantees for Braun."

"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. After I was denied the chance to purchase my music outright, my entire catalog was sold to Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings in a deal that I’m told was funded by the Soros Family, 23 Capital, and the Carlyle Group. Yet to this day none of these investors have ever 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. And of course, Scooter never contacted me or my team to discuss it prior to the sale or even when it was announced. I’m fairly certain he knew exactly how I would feel about it though. And let me just say that the definition of the toxic male privilege in our industry is people saying, ‘But he’s always been nice to me,’ when I’m raising valid concerns about artists and their rights to own their music. And of course he’s nice to you. If you’re in this room, you have something he needs. The fact is that private equity is what enabled this man to think, according to his own social media post, that he could buy me."

"People were excited for her at the beginning of the speech. But once she started going in a negative direction at an event that is supposed to be celebrating accomplishments and rah-rah for women, I felt it fell flat with a good portion of the room, because it wasn’t the appropriate place to be saying it.”

"Hey guys—I want to thank my fans for making me aware that my former record label is putting out an ‘album’ of live performances of mine tonight [...] 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. It looks like Scooter Braun and his financial backers, 23 capital, Alex Soros and the Soros family, and The Carlyle Group have seen the latest balance sheets and 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. So tasteless but very transparent.”

"We last spoke on May 5 when you asked me to call you after I emailed you saying that we were still interested in purchasing all of the Taylor Swift assets and rights held by BMLG. You said you were not interested in selling BMLG as a whole, but that you were interested in selling Taylor her masters. You have told me and others, such as Ed Sheeran, that you’d like to see Taylor own these [...] You suggested that both Taylor and her publicist Tree Paine should be prohibited from speaking at all about you or your investors. I said that can’t happen, but that the details of the deal could be protected. The NDA cannot serve as a one-sided, surrogate gag order. Nevertheless, we are more than happy to sign a customary NDA, as we did before [in Nov 2019].”

"The seven-page document contains only one section – Clause 4 – that clearly attempts to restrict what each Party in the deal can say about one another publicly. However, this clause only appears to restrict what can be said about details of the deal negotiation itself – rather than any individuals involved. To MBW’s understanding, the clause appears to amount to this: if Ithaca wanted to generally criticize Taylor Swift publicly – or if Swift wanted to generally criticize Ithaca or indeed Scooter Braun publicly – they would presumably be free to do so"

"We’ve seen an email from Jay Schaudies in response to that June 2020 NDA suggested by Ithaca – sent a month later on July 29 – noting Schaudies’ concern that the “proposed NDA… still feels like an attempt to muzzle Taylor”.

"We’ve also seen an email from a legal rep for Ithaca sent to Schaudies on August 25, 2020, which states that “after discussing internally, we feel like we can move forward on the prior form” – i.e. Ithaca was willing to scrap the June 2020 NDA, and go back to that original, mutually signed, November 2019 NDA."

"Our source says that, this time, Braun offered to sell Swift’s ‘Big Machine’ masters to the artist/13 Management for $305 million – representing a $100 million discount on the $405 million that Shamrock Capital would ultimately pay Braun/Ithaca for the masters. This offer, says our source, was also rejected – after which Braun went ahead with a deal to sell the masters to Shamrock."

"The buyer, an investment fund, is as yet unknown but the deal is believed to be north of $300 million and closed in the last two weeks. Some insiders speculate the value could be as high as $450 million once certain earn-backs are factored in."

"I wanted to check in and update you guys. As you know, for the past year I've been actively trying to regain ownership of my master recordings. With that goal in mind, my team attempted to enter into negotiations with Scooter Braun. Scooter's team wanted me to sign an ironclad NDA stating I would never say another word about Scooter Braun unless it was positive, before we could even look at the financial records of BMLG (which is always the first step in a purchase of this nature). So, I would have to sign a document that would silence me forever before I could even have a chance to bid on my own work. My legal team said that this is absolutely NOT normal, and they've never seen an NDA like this presented unless it was to silence an assault accuser by paying them off. He would never even quote my team a price. These master recordings were not for sale to me. A few weeks ago my team received a letter from a private equity company called Shamrock Holdings, letting us know that they had bought 100% of my music, videos, and album art from Scooter Braun. This was the second time my music had been sold without my knowledge. The letter told me that they wanted to reach out before the sale to let me know, but that Scooter Braun had required that they make no contact with me or my team, or the deal would be off [...] PS: For transparency and clarification, I have included the letter of response I sent on October 28, 2020 to the private equity group who purchased my music."

Braun also secured the possibility of an earn-out for a further $45 million – dependent on Swift’s original recordings hitting certain commercial targets under Shamrock’s ownership.

I regret and it makes me sad that Taylor had that reaction to the deal. … All of what happened has been very confusing and not based on anything factual. I don’t know what story she was told. I asked for her to sit down with me several times, but she refused. I offered to sell her the catalog back and went under NDA, but her team refused

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