Scooter Braun Has One ‘Regret’ About Buying Taylor Swift’s Masters

Nemeses Scooter Braun and Taylor Swift. Photo-Illustration: Vulture; Photos by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Amazon Studios and Terry Wyatt/Getty Images

Taylor Swift has a new album out in three weeks, so what better time to relitigate some old drama? Scooter Braun figured as much, anyway, appearing on NPR’s podcast The Limits to discuss, among other things, controversially acquiring Taylor Swift’s masters via his purchase of Big Machine Records in 2019. Without mentioning Swift by name, Braun blamed the confusion around the sale on a nondisclosure agreement with Big Machine owner Scott Borchetta and saying he was open to working with artists once the news came out. “When we finalized the deal, I started making phone calls to say, ‘Hey, I’m a part of this,’” he explained. “And before I could even do that — I made four phone calls; I started to do those phone calls — all hell broke loose.” Presumably, he’s referring to Swift’s letter on Tumblr criticizing the deal, writing, “Essentially, my musical legacy is about to lie in the hands of someone who tried to dismantle it.” (Swift’s bad blood with Braun goes back to his work with her enemy Ye, known then Kanye West.) If you’ve enjoyed Swift’s ongoing project of rerecording her albums, you have that sale to thank, since she started the rerecordings to own the new masters.

Braun blamed the fallout on information about the deal getting “lost in translation.” “I think that when you have a conflict with someone, it’s very hard to resolve it if you’re not willing to have a conversation,” he said. “So the regret I have there is that I made the assumption that everyone, once the deal was done, was going to have a conversation with me, see my intent, see my character and say, great, let’s be in business together.” Braun went on to emphasize that he could see the situation from Swift’s point of view. “I thought it was unfair,” he said. “But I also understand, from the other side, they probably felt it was unfair, too.” He continued, “I’m rooting for everyone to win because I don’t believe in rooting for people to lose.” That’s great, but how dedicated is Braun to rooting for Swift to win — is he streaming Midnights or buying a ticket to Amsterdam?