Scooter Braun admits regret over Taylor Swift music rights battle

Taylor Swift lashed out at Scooter Braun after he acquired the rights to her first six albums. Photo / AP

Scooter Braun has admitted he learned an important lesson from Taylor Swift.

The American entrepreneur and manager of high-profile artists such as Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande got candid about the explosive moment he acquired the rights to Taylor Swift's music.

Almost three years ago, the manager acquired Big Machine Music Group and subsequently the rights to Swift's first six albums, and it quickly led to controversy.

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A post shared by Scott “Scooter” Braun (@scooterbraun)

Following the acquisition, Swift lashed out at the company and Braun online saying she was "blindsided" by the deal after she had unsuccessfully tried to acquire the rights to her own music.

Now E! News has reported Braun admitted he would handle the situation differently if he could relive it.

Appearing in an interview with NPR's Jay Williams, Braun said, "I learned an important lesson," adding: "When I did that deal, I was under a very strict NDA with the gentleman who owned it, and I couldn't tell any artist. I wasn't allowed to. I wasn't legally allowed to."

"I was excited to work with every artist on the label. So when we finalised the deal, I started making phone calls to say, 'Hey, I'm a part of this.' And before I could even do that— I made four phone calls; I started to do those phone calls — all hell broke loose."

Braun is likely referring to the scathing Tumblr post made by Swift who said she was "sad and grossed out" and heartbroken by the news, and accused Braun of bullying her for years.

Been getting a lot of questions about the recent sale of my old masters. I hope this clears things up. pic.twitter.com/sscKXp2ibD

— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) November 16, 2020

E! News reported Braun went on to say things "got 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.

"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. And I made that assumption with people that I didn't know."

At the time of the deal, Swift said she had "pleaded for a chance" to own her own work.

Following her scathing post, she went on to re-record and re-release her past albums encouraging fans to stream "Taylor's Versions" instead of the earlier ones.