Photo: Getty
He chose sides and it wasn't Taylor's.
By Amy Lamare — Written on Jul 02, 2019
Why is it that toxic men tend to flock together? We're talking (still talking) about Scott Borchetta, CEO of Big Machine Records, the company that recently sold itself — and Taylor Swift's master recordings — to music manager Scooter Braun. Scooter, among his many accomplishments in the music industry, gave the world Justin Bieber. So there's that. Anyway, Scott Borchetta appears to have misplaced his sense of gratitude. Instead of thanking Taylor Swift for making Big Machine profitable enough to sell for $300 million, he's mansplaining why he made that deal to her. Look, Taylor Swift is about 80% of Big Machine's profits, so anything this dude says just comes off poorly. Who is Scott Borchetta?
1. His background
Scott Borchetta grew up in Los Angeles. He worked for a number of labels in L.A. His father was the head of his own label in Nashville, so Scott moved there to work in his father's mailroom as well as promoting country singles. He played bass in a country band that spent eight months on the road but didn't find success. While working with his dad, he learned a lot about the music industry. He took that knowledge and worked for other labels. He also spent two years working as an independent promoter before going in-house for promotion and artist development at MCA Nashville Records, DreamWorks Nashville and Universal Music Nashville. He started Big Machine in 2005 with 13 employees.
2. Taylor Swift was Big Machine's first artist
Borchetta had met Taylor Swift in 2004 when she was 14. As soon as he launched Big Machine he signed then 15-year-old Taylor Swift. She went on to record six albums for Borchetta's label. Swift is Big Machine's most successful artist by far. She won the label two Grammy Awards for Album of the Year for 2010's Fearless and 2016's 1989. One could make the leap of logic and say that Borchetta started Big Machine to sign Taylor Swift. In that regard, good on him for recognizing her talent. And shame on him for how he's treating her now.
3. Why did Taylor Swift leave Big Machine?
Taylor Swift signed a recording contract in 2005 when she was 15. That contract didn't expire until 2018 when she was 29 and one of the best-selling female pop stars of all time. Naturally, she wanted to negotiate a better contract. Everyone would do that. The key for her was the ownership of her master recordings. She wanted to own them. Now, this isn't standard practice in the music industry, even though it should be. Big Machine told her that she could "earn" back her masters by recording new albums for the label. For every new record she put out, she'd get one album from her back catalog back. She has recorded six albums in 13 years. That deal would effectively tie her to Big Machine until she was 42. Oh, and Big Machine was also for sale at the time of these 2018 contract re-negotiations. Taylor chose to take a new deal with Universal Music Group which would allow her to own the masters for any music she recorded for them.
4. Borchetta fired back at Swift
So, let's just lay it out. Scott Borchetta has known Taylor Swift since she was 14. How she reacted to the news that he sold her masters to Scooter Braun simply could not have been a surprise to him. Still, instead of treating Swift like an adult, he took to Big Machine's website to fire back at her. Sure, Taylor aired it all out on her Tumblr, but that's what she does. Borchetta had to have known this. He claims to have texted her around 930 pm the night before news of the Braun deal broke. Maybe he did. Taylor was in London that weekend. She would have gotten that message at 3 am, or whenever she woke up, so she did learn about the deal with the rest of the world. Taylor is still entitled to feel how she feels about someone she's long had issues with owning her master recordings. There is no way that Scott Borchetta didn't know selling to Scooter Braun would upset his former biggest star.
5. Why is Taylor Swift so upset?
Taylor Swift is angry because she created her music and her albums and she believes she should be the one who owns them. Instead, Scooter Braun, a man who she believes doesn't have her best interests at heart owns her work and can do anything he wants with it. "Shake It Off," a powerful anthem to haters, could become the theme song for, say, dog shampoo, and Taylor cannot do anything about it.
6. Borchetta threw her under the bus
In his post on Big Machine's website, Borchetta defended the sale of the label to Braun while also throwing Swift under the bus, saying she declined Braun's invitations to perform at a pair of high-profile charity appearances. He wrote: “As to her comments about ‘being in tears or close to it,’ anytime my new partner Scooter Braun’s name was brought up, I certainly never experienced that. Was I aware of some prior issues between Taylor and Justin Bieber? Yes. But there were also times where Taylor knew that I was close to Scooter and that Scooter was a very good source of information for upcoming album releases, tours, etc, and I’d reach out to him for information on our behalf. Scooter was never anything but positive about Taylor. He called me directly about [the] Manchester [benefit concert] to see if Taylor would participate (she declined). He called me directly to see if Taylor wanted to participate in the Parkland March (she declined). Scooter has always been and will continue to be a supporter and honest custodian for Taylor and her music.”
Scott Borchetta has taken a side, and it isn't Taylor Swift's, the woman who made his record label a success — the woman who made him a success. #TeamTaylor
7. And then he ran the bus over her
Borchetta brought up the fact that Taylor refused to perform at events Braun put together for high-profile tragedies like the Manchester Ariana Grande shooting. He seems to have forgotten that Taylor Swift loaned Grande her plane for the benefit concert and that after that shooting and the Las Vegas shooting, Taylor Swift was terrified to go on stage. The only thing Scott Borchetta should be saying to Taylor Swift is Thank You. I don't know about you, but I can't wait for the song Taylor will write about all of this.
Amy Lamare is a Los Angeles based freelance writer covering entertainment, pop culture, beauty, fashion, fitness, technology, and the intersection of technology, business, and philanthropy. She is deeply devoted to her chocolate Labrador and an avid long distance runner. You can find her on Instagram and Facebook.