Pharrell Williams defended Taylor Swift in her ongoing battle with Scooter Braun over the rights to her highly-coveted masters in an interview with Variety.
His comments come after Scooter Braun sold the ten-time Grammy winner’s first six albums from the Big Machine Label Group for over $300 million to Los Angeles-based private equity firm Shamrock Holdings last month.
The 47-year-old Happy singer, who recently acquired possession of his own original recordings, said he sympathized with her plight, which has spurred her to rerecord all of her music to gain ownership.
Speaking up: Pharrell Williams defended Taylor Swift in her ongoing battle with Scooter Braun over the rights to her highly-coveted masters in an interview with Variety; seen in 2019
‘There’s no other industry out there in the world where a start-up gets off the ground and doesn’t own the trademark — it just doesn’t make sense. It may be legal, but it’s still a crime,’ the rapper explained of artists’ lack of rights in the music industry.
He continued: ‘If a bank walks away with ownership of a company and the trademark, how much should a creator really be participating? The artist should always have the lion’s share of their creation.’
When asked specifically about Swift’s struggle, Williams said her situation was ‘really unfortunate’ and ‘felt for her and not being able to be in control.’
Tough situation: The 47-year-old Happy singer, who recently acquired possession of his own original recordings, said he sympathized with her plight, which has spurred her to rerecord all of her music to gain ownership; pictured in February
Both fighting for artists’ rights: As he gaining ownership of his ownership of his master recordings from Columbia Records, Williams said it was a ‘huge milestone, but it shouldn’t be’ (seen together in 2013)
‘There’s a system in place that’s just all wrong. He’s a businessman and he also represents artists, so from his point of view he’s just making an acquisition of something that he felt would be a good investment. But the artist should have the opportunity [to retain ownership], and I don’t know whether she did or she didn’t,’ he stated.
Additionally, the performer noted that ‘the system is wired in ways that is oftentimes not always fair to the creator’ and stated he believes ‘it should be the norm that the creators retain their rights.’
Speaking of gaining ownership of his masters from Columbia Records, Williams said it was a ‘huge milestone, but it shouldn’t be.’
‘We shouldn’t be celebrating that because I shouldn’t be one of let’s call it dozens of people who own their original recordings,’ he pointed out; seen in 2016
‘We shouldn’t be celebrating that because I shouldn’t be one of let’s call it dozens of people who own their original recordings,’ he pointed out.
In mid-November, news broke that Braun had sold Swift’s masters for over $300 million, 17 months after he purchased them, according to Variety.
The deal, which was sanctioned in early last month, is believed to be over $300 million and may even rise as high as $450 million, according to the entertainment publication.
Wild: In mid-November, news broke that Braun had sold Swift’s masters for over $300 million, 17 months after he purchased them, according to Variety
Silenced: Last month, Swift claimed that Braun demanded she sign an ‘ironclad’ NDA which would silence her before she could begin discussions with BMLG Records about regaining ownership of her songs
Braun’s company Ithaca Holdings LLC purchased Nashville-based independent record label Big Machine, which was founded by Scott Borchetta in 2005, in June 2019 for just above $300 million.
The deal included Swift’s catalog — from her 2006 self-titled debut to 2017’s Reputation – along with all her music videos recorded within that time frame, and her album artwork.
At the time, Swift voiced public outrage that Braun had acquired the rights to her master recordings. She called the situation a ‘worst case scenario’ and said the news made her ‘sad and grossed out’ because, in part, she claims Braun perpetuated ‘incessant, manipulative bullying’ against her for years to ‘dismantle’ her musical legacy.
Following Braun’s sale of Swift’s catalog to Shamrock, the music mogul and his backers will retain the remainder of Big Machine – whose other artists include the likes of Sheryl Crow, Lady A, and Tim McGraw – for a fraction of their original investment.
Disappointed: The singer also revealed Shamrock Holdings as the private equity firm that bought the masters in a recent deal. She shared a letter she sent Shamrock after they reached out to her to inform her about the deal
‘So tasteless’: Back in April, Swift ([pictured in Utah back in January) slammed Scooter Braun and his business partners over an upcoming release of live performances
Shortly after the sale made headlines, Swift spoke out about it on Twitter, accusing Braun of denying her the chance to own her old masters.
She detailed how she unsuccessfully tried to negotiate the purchase of the rights to her old music catalog, claiming that Braun demanded she sign an ‘ironclad’ NDA which would silence her before she could even begin discussions with BMLG Records.
The singer also claimed the masters were sold without her knowledge, and she revealed the name of private equity company Shamrock Holdings as the new owners of her work.
Swift slammed the family of billionaire investor George Soros (pictured) for giving financial backing to her nemesis Braun
Sealing the deal: The two have been feuding for nearly a year after Braun reached a deal of more than $300million to purchase Big Machine Records from Scott Borchetta and with it, all of Swift’s old music back in June 2019, the two are pictured at the time of the deal in June
Along with her post Swift also shared a letter she sent to Shamrock after they reached out to her to inform her of the purchase.
The Bad Blood hitmaker informed them that she had been excited at the prospect of partnering with them but after learning that Braun is still going to profit off the catalog she realized there was no way forward.
In a statement, Shamrock confirmed the deal and said they ‘made this investment because we believe in the immense value and opportunity that comes with her work.’
The company continued: ‘We fully respect and support her decision and, while we hoped to formally partner, we also knew this was a possible outcome that we considered.’
Written in Red: The country superstar had taken to her Instagram Story to post a lengthy statement in which she took aim at the record executive and partners for their ‘shameless greed’
‘They need money’: Days before the performance Scooter revealed he had received death threats since Taylor claimed he won’t let her perform her back catalog at the awards, which he denied
The sale comes at an interesting time as Swift is now free to re-record songs from her first five BMLG-issued albums as of November.
Back in April, Swift slammed the family of billionaire investor George Soros and her nemesis Braun for their ‘shameless greed’ on the release of a new album of her songs.
The music superstar took to Instagram to slam the executives in the war of words over the ownership of her music.
‘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 realized that paying $330 million for my music wasn’t exactly a wise choice and they need money,’ Swift wrote in the post.
Swift finished off her note to her 131 million fans with a biting statement aimed at the executives as she wrote: ‘In my opinion… Just another case of shameless greed in the time of the coronavirus.
‘So tasteless, but very transparent.’
Ouch: Sara Bareilles showed her support for Taylor with a tweet in disbelief of the situation
The album in question was titled ‘Live From Clear Channel Stripped 2008’ as some diehard Taylor fans were able to find it listed on Spotify.
Swift wrote: ‘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.’
Big Machine Records’ Scott Borchetta first signed Swift as a teenager, but she has been trying to purchase back the masters of her first six albums, to no avail.
When Scooter Braun bought into Big Machine, she described him as ‘an incessant, manipulative bully.’
Courting controversy: The album in question appears to be titled ‘Live From Clear Channel Stripped 2008 as some diehard Taylor fans were able to find it listed on Spotify
Interesting: Swift took on Braun in the very pointed speech after he had acquired Swift’s music catalog alongside Big Machine CEO Scott Borchetta back in June 2019