Big Machine Denies Taylor Swift's Muzzle Claim

UPDATE 10 AM FRIDAY:  Taylor Swift's claim Scooter Braun and Scott Borchetta from Big Machine are blocking her from performing her own songs at the AMAs is a complete fabrication ... according to the record label, which thinks she made a calculated move to harm its people.

Big Machine tells TMZ it was shocked to see Taylor's comments, and denies ever saying she could not perform at the awards show or blocking her Netflix special. It adds ... "In fact, we do not have the right to keep her from performing live anywhere."

To be fair, Swift never said BM was keeping her from performing ... she specifically stated it was keeping her from performing her own songs, and using her own songs and performance footage in the Netflix documentary.

Big Machine also claims Taylor's admitted to owing the company millions of dollars and it says it was optimistic the two sides were working toward resolving the issue ... but then she bailed.

Instead, BM says "Taylor made a unilateral decision last night to enlist her fanbase in a calculated manner that greatly affects the safety of our employees and their families.

Taylor Swift took to social media to call on fans to take her side in an escalating battle with the owners of most of her recorded-music catalog, including one of the biggest U.S. private-equity firms.

Original Posting...

According to The Wall Street Journal, the move adds a new public element to a dispute over how the pop star can use her music following a transaction earlier this year.

Swift issued a lengthy statement Thursday criticizing Scooter Braun and Scott Borchetta, who she said have blocked her from performing her older songs on a coming television special. Mr. Borchetta, who signed Ms. Swift to Big Machine when she was 15, in June sold the record-label group—and the master-recording rights to her first six albums—to Mr. Braun’s Ithaca Holdings LLC in a $300 million deal backed by the Carlyle Group.

Scott Borchetta and Scooter Braun

Swift, who left Big Machine last year to join Vivendi SA’s Universal Music Group, voiced her displeasure with the Big Machine deal in a Tumblr post, saying that she had pleaded for a chance to own her work and that Mr. Braun’s purchase of her masters was “my worst case scenario.” She has publicly feuded with Mr. Braun and some of his management clients.

Since then, Ms. Swift, 29 years old, has said that she plans to rerecord her older music starting next year, a move that would give her greater control over those songs. Under her deal with Universal, she owns the masters for any recordings going forward.

Swift said Borchetta told her that she will be allowed to use the music only if she agrees not to rerecord new versions of her songs next year and stops talking about him and Mr. Braun publicly.

Swift has been planning to perform a medley of her hits during the American Music Awards later this month.

She said Borchetta and Braun also have refused the use of her older music and performance footage for a coming Netflix documentary about her life. Netflix Inc. declined to comment.