There are way too many uneducated Taylor Swift listeners still listening to non-(Taylor’s version) songs in 2023. Everyone should listen to (Taylor’s version). Too many artists have been affected by the “Scooter Braun” effect. We need to stop this.
In 2019, a fight over Swift’s music master rights sprang up after Scooter (Scott) Braun purchased Big Machine Records, Swift’s old record company. That August, Swift announced to her fans that she made a deal with Braun and would be re-recording her first six albums from when she was using that record label. Swift wasn’t even able to perform her own songs without them being Taylor’s version. Swift even said, “I just want to be able to perform MY OWN music.”
Scooter Braun even went as far as releasing live versions of her old music without even telling Swift. In 2020, once again without Swift’s knowledge, the master rights to Taylor’s songs were sold. In July of that year, Swift released the album “Folklore,” and some could argue that Scooter Braun was the inspiration for some of the lyrics. For example, in the song “Mad Woman” she sings, “I’m takin’ my time/ Takin’ my time/ Cause you took everything from me/ Watchin’ you climb/ Watchin’ you climb/ Over people like me.”
Again in “My Tears Ricochet” she sings, “And when you can’t sleep at night(you hear my stolen lullabies).”
In an interview with Seth Meyers, Swift said, “So when something says ‘(Taylor’s Version)’ next to it, that means that I own it, which is exciting!” Swift also exclaims that, “You probably don’t know this but most of your favorite artists do not own their work.” This opened a new light to anyone watching and helped them learn how often this really happens to artists.
In 2022, Swift released a new single “Karma,” singing about how what goes around comes around. Lyrics stating, ”Spider boy, king of thieves/ Weave your little web of opacity/ My pennies made your crown/ Trick me once, trick me twice/ Don’t you know that cash ain’t the only price/ It’s coming back around,” leading fans to think that just might have something to do with the issues with Braun.
Streaming the old “stolen” version of Swift’s songs is just giving people like Scooter Braun more money and allows them to think what they’re doing is okay. This is obviously not just happening to Swift alone, either, so if you think artists should get the credit that they deserve, stop listening to “stolen” versions, and start listening to “(Taylor’s Version).” Taylor Swift has been and always will be making changes to the music industry we have today.
