Taylor Swift has struggled for control of her own music in the past, but now a new live album released under her name—but without her permission—is firing her up again to take on “shameless greed.”
“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. This recording is from a 2008 radio show performance I did when I was 18. Big Machine has listed the date as a 2017 release but they’re actually releasing it tonight at midnight,” Swift wrote in an Instagram post.
“This release is not approved by me. It looks to me 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 realised that paying $330 MILLION wasn’t exactly a wise choice and they need money,” she added.
“In my opinion … Just another case of shameless greed in the time of coronavirus. So tasteless, but very transparent.”
The album, called Live from Clear Channel Stripped 2008, was recorded when Swift was 18, around the release of her second album, Fearless. It was released by Big Machine, Swift’s former label that was brought by music manager Scooter Braun. With that purchase, Braun got the rights to the masters of Swift’s first six albums made with that label.
Swift has been fighting with Braun for years, condemning his actions and “the incessant, manipulative bullying I’ve received at his hands for years.” She also claimed that Braun was preventing her from performing her own music at awards ceremonies. In order to regain control over her own material, Swift is planning to rerecord and rerelease those six albums.