According to the Billboard Hot 100’s, Taylor Swift is the 24th biggest artist of all time. If you’re anything like me, you probably grew up on some variation of Taylor Swift. The country-turned-pop singer has seven studio albums, her first four being country music and her latest three moving to the pop scene. Her mid-2000s songs “You Belong With Me” and “I Knew You Were Trouble” made young kids and tweens fall in love with her music. The iconic “Shake It Off” and “You Need To Calm Down” only increased her popularity among those who had been fans for years.
Earlier in 2019, it was announced that Big Machine Label Group was going to be purchased by Scooter Braun, a manager in the entertainment industry. A few months prior to this, Swift switched record labels from Big Machine to Republic Records. However, the majority of her discography was created and produced with Big Machine before Braun’s purchase. Because of the contract she signed (at only fifteen years old), all of her music released before the production of Lover belongs to BMLG for at least another year. She also revealed that Netflix was making a documentary about her life, and because of the issues, they cannot use any of her older music for the film. Though she can technically perform her songs, it would be more difficult when it is being recorded, like for the American Music Awards, where Swift would be “rerecording” her old songs. According to Scott Borchetta, the founder of BMLG, there were many conversations and negotiations about Swift’s contracts, and there was a chance for her to regain the rights to her songs.
Swift has been very vocal about the entire situation, going to Tumblr and Twitter to share her side of the story. Many of her fans have pushed for other artists who work under the control of Braun to speak up for her, and though some have, many have chosen to stay silent on the issue. One of the more outspoken celebrities was Justin Bieber, who posted his support for Braun via Instagram. The topic has divided social media, as many people have used the hashtag “#istandwithtaylor” to the point where it made the Twitter trending page. Others have blamed Taylor and her lawyers for not reading her contracts thoroughly enough. There has not yet been a solution, but many Taylor Swift fans hope she will be able to perform her songs again in the near future.