The ongoing drama between Taylor Swift, Scooter Braun and Big Machine Label Group continues.
On Thursday (April 23), Swift informed her fans via Instagram stories that her "former label is putting out an 'album' of live performances of mine tonight."
The album, Live From Clear Channel Stripped 2008, has been popping up around Twitter, as it has already been posted to streaming services in some parts of the world. It has not yet appeared on her U.S. artist pages on Spotify or Apple Music at the time of publication.
"I'm always honest with you guys about this stuff so I just wanted to tell you that this release is not approved by me," Swift continued. "It looks to me like Scooter Braun and his financial backers, 23 Capital, Alex Soros and the Soros family and The Carlyle Group have seen the latest balance sheets and realized that paying $330 MILLION for my music wasn't exactly a wise choice and they need money.
"In my opinion...Just another case of shameless greed in the time of Coronavirus," the star concluded. "So tasteless, but very transparent."
@taylornation13 @taylorswift13 Let’s never let them get money off of your hard work!!! I honestly hate that all of her old music is even linked to Big Machine. #TaylorSwift pic.twitter.com/Iph1vqzrh9
— tayswift8991 (@tayswift8991) April 23, 2020
A source close to Big Machine says all the music on the set has been previously available via YouTube and Target and is now being released to all the digital service providers. An exclusive Target version of Swift's 2008 album Fearless included "Untouchable and "Fearless" from the Clear Channel sessions.
The live album, unapproved by Swift, is just the latest in a string of issues between Swift, her former label and Braun, who in 2019 acquired Big Machine along with the pop star’s six-album back-catalog. For a full rundown of everything that has gone down since then, find all the details here.
A representative for Scooter Braun declined to comment. A request for comment from Big Machine was not returned.