вЂњThis just happened to me without my approval, consultation or consent. Taylor Swift and Scooter Braun arenвЂ™t exactly friends, and this acquisition angered Swift. Then, Scooter Braun, purchased Big Machine for $300M, meaning that he now owned the masters to Taylor SwiftвЂ™s first six albums.

Swift had reportedly tried to buy ownership of the masters of the albums from Big Machine, but was offered unacceptable terms. However, Big Machine still owned the masters for her first 6 albums. Swift then signed a new contract with Republic Records for her future albums, in which she negotiated owning the masters. Things started out well but the story of them looks like a tragedy now. Swift received a cash advance, and Big Machine owned the вЂњmastersвЂќ to all her albums released during the duration of the thirteen-year deal. When Taylor Swift was just getting started, she signed a recording deal with the record label Big Machine Records. And generally, these record labels would negotiate to own the masters in perpetuity, though typically paying a portion of that as negotiated to the artist (along with an upfront cash payment). These artists typically partner with record labels who help them get off the ground and with distribution and marketing. Typically, the songwriter owns the publishing rights. Ownership of the вЂњpublishing rightsвЂќ which represents the aspects which helped create the recording such as the melodies, lyrics, etc. Ownership of the вЂњMastersвЂќ, which means owning all forms of the sound recording and which allows the owner to decide and benefit from revenue from licensing and physical / digital streams and sales The way music ownership typically works in the US is that there are two types of ownership: First, letвЂ™s quickly touch on music ownership.

Taylor swift publisher