Private equity giant Carlyle dragged into dispute over Taylor Swift’s past hits
Taylor Swift has begged private equity titan The Carlyle Group for help after accusing two record executives of exercising “tyrannical control” over her music and barring her from performing past hits.
Swift appealed to Carlyle and her fans to help her secure ownership of six of her past albums, accusing her former record label of blocking her from performing them or using them in an upcoming Netflix documentary.
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In a statement posted on Twitter, Swift said celebrity manager Scooter Braun and Big Machine record label founder Scott Borchetta had told her she could not perform her songs at the upcoming American Music Awards.
“”They claim that would be re-recording my music before I’m allowed to next year,” Swift said.
Braun bought Big Machine, which owns the master recordings of Swift’s past songs, earlier this year in a $300m (£233m) deal backed by the Carlyle Group.
Swift has publicly opposed the sale of the label, where she recorded her biggest hits including “Shake It Off”.
In her tweet, she called on her fans to ask Borchetta and Braun “for help” to resolve the dispute, as well as the artists they manage – a group including Ariana Grande and Justin Beiber.
“I’m hoping that maybe they can talk some sense into the men who are exercising tyrannical control over someone who just wants to play the music she wrote,” Swift said.
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“I am especially asking for help from The Carlyle Group, who put up the money for the sale of my music to these two men”. Carlyle declined to comment.
Swift joined Big Machine when she was 15, and left last year to join Universal Music Group. She released her first album with Universal, Lover, in August.