Pop Idol record producer Pete Waterman wades into Taylor Swift’s row with Scooter Braun

Pop Idol judge Pete Waterman has waded into Taylor Swift’s row with Scooter Braun, saying he ‘feels sorry for’ musicians who aren’t able to do what she did by re-recording her 2008 hit album.   

The record producer, 74, spoke about the singer, 31, during an interview on Times Radio on Wednesday, stating there was ‘no fury like a woman scorned’. 

Taylor has accused Scooter Braun of ‘bullying’ after he bought most of her work, thanks to his acquisition of her former record label Big Machine for $300 million.

Speaking out: Record producer Pete Waterman hit out at Taylor Swift on Wednesday by claiming Scooter Braun ‘made her’ and said he ‘feels sorry for’ musicians who do what she has

Braun’s company Ithaca Holdings LLC purchased Nashville-based independent record label Big Machine, which was founded by Scott Borchetta in 2005, in June 2019 for just above $300 million.

The deal included Swift’s catalog — from her 2006 self-titled debut to 2017’s Reputation – along with all her music videos recorded within that time frame, and her album artwork.

At the time, Taylor voiced public outrage that Scooter had acquired the rights to her master recordings. She called the situation a ‘worst case scenario’ and said the news made her ‘sad and grossed out’ because, in part, she claims the music mogul perpetuated ‘incessant, manipulative bullying’ against her for years to ‘dismantle’ her musical legacy.

Her own way: Taylor released her re-recorded version of her album Fearless last week, and Pete said: ‘There’s no question about it – this is a vendetta between her and her ex manager’

However, record producer Pete appeared to get the wrong end of the stick on Wednesday, as he believed Scooter to be Taylor’s manager.    

He claimed: ‘Let’s be honest there’s no fury like a woman scorned, and she [is] scorned. You know, there’s no question about it – this is a vendetta between her and her ex manager.

Pete went on: ‘I feel sorry for the young songwriters, who cannot do this, don’t have the money to take the lawyers that would take to create this.

‘So for instance, if a young writer, so let’s just say they had five or six hits, if they did that, they would literally go bankrupt within five years.’

Fearless is the first of six albums that Taylor plans to re-record and release as a way to regain creative control of her music following the sale of her past catalogue ‘without her knowledge.’ 

Braun gained ownership of Swift’s past music catalogue when he purchased her first label, Big Machine Records, in June 2019.

Incensed that she didn’t have a chance to buy back her work, she went public with her idea to re-record all six albums three months later. 

Regaining creative control: Taylor released her own version of her 2008 album Fearless on Thursday following the sale of her master recordings and promoted it on social media

But then, in November 2020, Braun sold the rights to her first six albums to the private equity company Shamrock Holdings, in a deal said to be worth over $300 million, according to Variety.

Determined to keep ownership of her future music, Swift signed a new agreement with Universal Music Group in 2019 giving her the rights to all future masters, which would include her surprise albums Folklore and Evermore, as well as 2019’s Lover.      

Released in 2008, Fearless was Swift’s second studio album, which went on to become a critical and commercial success with its crossover singles Love Story and You Belong With Me.

Old and new: Fearless (Taylor’s Version) features 26 songs and six previously unheard tracks

The album went on to win four Grammy Awards at the 52nd ceremony and helped cement the Pennsylvania native as one of the biggest performers of her generation.   

Although Swift has retained the publishing rights to her songs, and makes money every time someone streams them or purchases a download or a CD from the compositions, she didn’t own the actual master recordings, which were originally held by her record label Big Machine. 

In a sign of devotion, her fans, known as Swifties, are currently trying to make the original recordings disappear on Spotify.

The Twitter account Taylor Swift Updates has been sharing a how-to guide to hiding all the old versions of her albums and songs on Spotify to ensure fans automatically get the re-recordings.   

Back catalog: Taylor announced in August 2019 that she was going to re-record her first six albums after failing to acquire her back catalogue that was bought and sold by Braun