Taylor Swift banned from singing own songs; gets swift support

Los Angeles: Grammy award winning singer Taylor Swift has got support from her fans and friends after she revealed that Scooter Braun and Scott Borchetta are preventing her from using her old music for an upcoming award show and a Netflix documentary.

Swift spoke against Big Machine Label Group founder Borchetta and Braun, alleging that they both are refusing to allow her to perform her catalog of songs when she appears at the American Music Awards to receive the Artist of the Decade Award on November 24, reports hollywoodreporter.com.

The hashtag #IStandWithTaylor started trending on Twitter as soon as the post went live, with many voicing their support.

In the Twitter post on Thursday, Swift wrote that she originally planned to perform a medley of her hits onstage, but Borchetta and Braun “claim that would be re-recording my music before I’m allowed to next year”.

The singer-songwriter also revealed that Netflix is currently creating a documentary about her life, and while news of the documentary had not been announced yet, but Borchetta and Braun have also declined the use of her older music and performance footage for the project.

“There is no mention of either of them or Big Machine Records anywhere in the film,” she noted.

Swift then shared that Borchetta informed her team that she can use her music only if she agrees to their conditions which include her to “not re-record copycat versions” of her songs next year and to “stop talking about him and Scooter Braun”.

Swift has been embroiled in a battle with Braun over his purchase of Big Machine Records, a label through which she launched her career. As part of a $300-million deal, Braun now owns master recordings for six of Swift’s albums.

Her friends including Ed Sheeran, Halsey, supermodel Gigi Hadid came forward to support her.

Hadid tweeted: “Scott and Scooter, you know what the right thing to do is … Taylor and her fans deserve to celebrate the music.”

Singer Lily Allen posted: “Solidarity with Taylor here, this sounds awful, and people wonder why music hasn’t had its #MeToo moment?”

“This is not okay,” Ruby Rose wrote on her Instagram stories before sharing Swift’s post.

Ed Sheeran replied to a fan who questioned his friendship with Swift. “I have been speaking directly to her, like I always do,” he said.

Infact, singer Justin Bieber seemed to address the drama in his Instagram stories, writing, “I’m having a rough day, thought I’d share, remind you are not alone. Keep pushing.”

“Not only are we looking at an awful business move…but this is just mean. This is punishment. This is hoping to silence her from speaking about things by dangling this all over her head,” Halsey posted on Instagram.

After the post, thousands of her fans have rallied in her support. A Change.org petition started by fan Jade Rossi has gathered upwards of 35,000 signatures, calling on Braun, Borchetta and investment firm The Carlyle Group to stop holding Swift’s art hostage, reports billboard.com.

In the petition, Rossi calls out sexism, the misuse of power and hints at “blackmail”.

“Not allowing Taylor Swift to use her music in any projects is manipulative and power hungry, all over music she wrote. Letting them get away with this will continue the disgusting sexism of the music industry as well manipulation of smaller/upcoming artists who just want to create art,” Rossi added.

According to Michael Jones, managing director of campaigns at Change.org, the appeal is one of the “fastest-growing petitions on the platform this month.