Taylor Swift signed away her masters. In exchange she became one of the worlds biggest stars and rich beyond most people's wildest fucking dreams.
The idea that she was somehow ripped off or swindled or taken advantage of because she had to live up to the terms of her contract which she received MORE than enough consideration for .... is wild.
Let this just be a lesson to all y'all that you shouldn't skimp on a lawyer, that you should heavily consider all aspects of your contracts, and that if you sign a commercially valid contract you can't come back later and say you don't like it anymore.
You should see the shit that her fans have been posting. They absolutely are throwing out the legality of the contract and of the sale. A lot of dummmmmb shit is flying around aside from the feelings aspect of it. That's all I'm responding to.
Thing is Tay threw that hand grenade out absolutely knowing this is what her stans would do. She's relying on them not knowing how the music industry works to be spreading shit about her 'life's work being stolen' and while I'm not game enough to go looking i can guaran-fucking-tee there's gonna be rape comparisons in there somewhere. She likes to play this game of plausible deniability and I think her aim is to shame Scooter into selling her her masters. Which isn't going to happen because he's literal human trash and has no shame, he's doing what he's doing to make bank. Same as her.
back when she signed her contract, being independent wasn't easier like it is now and there's honestly little chance she would have gotten successful without a label. she's not a moron for the contract she signed back then; a lawyer almost definitely looked it over (she comes from money so yeah) and gave the go ahead because it likely fell on the side of a pretty standard deal. her contract isn't the issue at all, it's that she wanted the option to outright buy her masters now that she has the money to pay what they're worth but says she wasn't given the option to do that without the stipulation of resigning with a label she knew was going to be sold out beneath her asap.
Yeah, but that's life. That's how the industry works. They weren't mentoring her or helping her out of the goodness of their hearts, they are a business and she sold herself to them as a product, as one does in her industry.
I read an article a while back about the artist who did the cover for Jethro Tull's Aqualung album. It's since become an iconic work, reproduced in all sorts of merch, plus the album has sold millions and millions over the past 40 years. But he was commissioned to created it, and happily earned 1,500 at the time, under a work-for-hire deal. He spent years trying to reclaim his rights or get a piece of the $$ the merch and album sales brought in, but that's not how things work, so he didn't get a cent. I'm sure artists today carve out different agreements, or maybe they don't because artists traditionally don't have the financial leeway to leave an offer on the table. But they picked that industry, and most avenues in life are designed to exploit people. It's just life.
things in life are destined to exploit people so fuck them? just because something works a certain way doesn't mean it should continue to. what is this thinking? do you feel that way about racism and classism and sexism too?
i'm not saying this as a taylor fan - quite the opposite - but she's a big name and she's not wrong for putting her fight in the public eye the way others have in the past. she might be wrong in some of her framing of the situation - i think she should have focused on her getting fucked over as an artist rather than it being scooter specifically - but she's not wrong in pointing out that this is a shitty aspect of the music industry.
your argument doesn't mean much to me when you keep repeating "that's the way it is" as if artist shouldn't bother to do what they can to change it, both from the start and especially when they have the clout and money to do so not only for themselves but possibly others. also those comparisons are not the same because taylor isn't asking for a stake in a record label or spotify just because she made them money. she's also not asking for her masters to be handed to her, she wanted to buy them just like scooter did.
but we seem to be coming at this from two very different takes and that's the only thing that is what it is.
There are a lot of artists who have been outspoken about this for decades, without turning into whining victims. Taylor's main beef - as far as what she's articulated - is that BMG was sold to Scooter's company. Not that it was sold, she already made peace with that reality, and not that she didn't own her masters, because she said she made peace with that, but because it's now scooter who owns them. Businesses get sold, and if you can't view it with an "it is what it is" lens, you're not living in reality
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i'd have one if i read your reply but i don't care enough to argue about this of all thing in this world. good on anyone else who has all that passion to write paragraphs on paragraphs but i have my opinion and you have yours and nothing changes with us going back and forth.
If you didn't read it, why not just move on, rather than being obnoxious and dismissive? Mine isn't the only comment you replied similarly to. You don't want to take the time to read it, and that's fine. But how about you don't spend those extra moments posting something insulting? Just. Move. On.
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The idea that she was somehow ripped off or swindled or taken advantage of because she had to live up to the terms of her contract which she received MORE than enough consideration for .... is wild.
Let this just be a lesson to all y'all that you shouldn't skimp on a lawyer, that you should heavily consider all aspects of your contracts, and that if you sign a commercially valid contract you can't come back later and say you don't like it anymore.
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She likes to play this game of plausible deniability and I think her aim is to shame Scooter into selling her her masters. Which isn't going to happen because he's literal human trash and has no shame, he's doing what he's doing to make bank. Same as her.
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I read an article a while back about the artist who did the cover for Jethro Tull's Aqualung album. It's since become an iconic work, reproduced in all sorts of merch, plus the album has sold millions and millions over the past 40 years. But he was commissioned to created it, and happily earned 1,500 at the time, under a work-for-hire deal. He spent years trying to reclaim his rights or get a piece of the $$ the merch and album sales brought in, but that's not how things work, so he didn't get a cent. I'm sure artists today carve out different agreements, or maybe they don't because artists traditionally don't have the financial leeway to leave an offer on the table. But they picked that industry, and most avenues in life are designed to exploit people. It's just life.
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i'm not saying this as a taylor fan - quite the opposite - but she's a big name and she's not wrong for putting her fight in the public eye the way others have in the past. she might be wrong in some of her framing of the situation - i think she should have focused on her getting fucked over as an artist rather than it being scooter specifically - but she's not wrong in pointing out that this is a shitty aspect of the music industry.
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but we seem to be coming at this from two very different takes and that's the only thing that is what it is.
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