Taylor Swift isn’t backing down in her clash with Scooter Braun, revealing plans to rerecord her music catalog that fell into his hands.
CBS revealed on Wednesday that the “Lover” singer intends to go back into the studio and rerecord songs from her first six albums after the megaproducer and entrepreneur acquired her masters in a controversial $300 million deal with her former record label, Big Machine.
In a new interview with Tracy Smith for CBS Sunday Morning, Swift says that she “absolutely” intends to get her masters back, explaining that she learned of the deal “when it was online” like everybody else, according to a press release.
When asked if she was considering taking the pains to record her classic catalog once again, the Grammy winner said, “Oh yeah.”
“That’s a plan?” Smith asked to which Swift responded, “Yeah, absolutely.”
She previously described Braun’s acquisition of her music as the “worst-case scenario” in a scathing open letter after news of the deal broke and noted times throughout her career when he bullied and treated her poorly.
Swift may be taking the advice of fellow artist Kelly Clarkson, who encouraged the singer to “go in and re-record all the songs that U don’t own the masters on exactly how U did them” in a July tweet. The “American Idol” alum said that the new versions will be “brand new art” and an incentive for fans to no longer listen to her old albums.
Swift, who has since signed a new record deal with Republic Records and Universal Music Group, wrote in the letter that she was forced to make the “excruciating choice” to leave her past behind when she left the label.
“Scooter has stripped me of my life’s work, that I wasn’t given an opportunity to buy,” she wrote. “Essentially, my musical legacy is about to lie in the hands of someone who tried to dismantle it,” she wrote in the letter.
The accusation divided the music industry as many of Braun’s clients, including Justin Bieber and Demi Lovato, came to his defense, while others like singer Halsey and model Cara Delevingne sympathized with Swift’s desire to own music she produced.
Big Machine Label Group founder Scott Borchetta even released a statement of his own claiming Swift’s father, a shareholder in Big Machine, was notified about the deal.
Apart from the Braun drama, Swift will also open up about her “songwriting process, growing up in the business, addressing her haters in music, her insecurities, her life today,” according to the CBS release, and reveal behind-the-scenes details of her new album “Lover,” which arrives on Friday.
The interview airs on Sunday, Aug. 25 (9:00 AM, ET), on the CBS.