Taylor Swift opens about the importance of ownership in a new interview with British Vogue.
Swift is gracing the cover of the January British Vogue issue, and as a part of photoshoot and cover story, she also sat down for an interview with BV’s Andrew Lloyd Webber. As Swift prepares for 2020, the 29-year-old songstress talked about her career over the last 10 years and how she has made ownership of her mission as an artist.
“I think [writing] is really important — also from the side of ownership over what you do and make,” said Swift, who is currently in a public feud with her former label Big Machine Label Group and record executive #ScooterBraun over the rights to her music. “Even if you aren’t a natural writer, you should try to involve yourself in the messages you’re sending,” she added.
Swift has yet to call out Braun specifically, but she previously shared a message on Tumblr, accusing him and the CEO of BMLG, #ScottBorchetta, of blocking her from performing her older, popular songs — which were recorded while under contract with BMLG, PEOPLE reports. However, after widespread backlash, the singer was eventually granted the rights to perform the songs at the American Music Awards.
In addition to her music, Swift revealed that she has been working on a Netflix documentary about her “life for the past few years,” but that Borchetta and Braun — who purchased BMLG for $300 million earlier this year — have “declined the use of my older music or performance footage for this project.” Swift claimed Borchetta tried to make a deal with her by offering to let her perform her songs if she agreed not to re-record “copycat versions” of her old songs and “stop talking about him and Scooter Braun.” In a statement, a spokesperson for Swift said that “Scott Borchetta, CEO and founder of Big Machine Label Group, flatly denied the request for both American Music Awards and Netflix,” and alleged BMLG owed the singer “$7.9 million of unpaid royalties over several years.”
However, BMLG responded in a statement on their website and denied Swift’s allegations, all while accusing the star of “false information.” “We do not have the right to keep her from performing live anywhere,” the label said. ”Since Taylor’s decision to leave Big Machine last fall, we have continued to honor all of her requests to license her catalog to third parties as she promotes her current record in which we do not financially participate.”
