SZA Applauds Taylor Swift’s Bold Move to Re-Record Her Albums

Singer-songwriter SZA applauds Taylor Swift for re-recording her albums following a dispute over her master recordings. 

Solána Imani Rowe, a.k.a. SZA, said Taylor is one of the women in the music industry she admires. 

She tweeted her thoughts about Tay-Tay’s recent decision to record her songs again. “That’s the biggest ‘[expletive] you’ to the establishment I’ve ever seen in my life,” SZA said.

Why did Taylor Swift re-record her albums?

SZA praises Taylor Swift’s decision to re-record her music:

“Taylor letting that whole situation go with her masters and then selling all of those f–king records. That’s the biggest ‘f–k you’ to the establishment I’ve ever seen in my life, and I deeply applaud that sh-t.” pic.twitter.com/87cLDGvUrH

— Pop Base (@PopBase) February 22, 2023

In 2019, Taylor became embroiled in a dispute with Big Machine Label Group’s Scott Borchetta and Ithaca executive Scooter Braun. 

Borchetta founded the Nashville-based record label in 2005. Eventually, Braun’s company purchased it in June 2019 for more than $300 million.

Braun and Borchetta became the owners of BMLG, but the acquisition involved selling some of Taylor Swift’s master recordings.

Swift’s catalog, from her 2006 self-titled album to 2017’s “Reputation,” made up over $140 million of that amount. 

Variety reported that people viewed the sale of Taylor Swift’s masters because he significantly profited from his initial investment. 

In response, Swift publicly criticized Braun and called him a “bully” and “the definition of toxic male privilege in our industry.”

The Grammy winner shared her thoughts regarding the sale of her masters:

“This just happened to me without my approval, consultation, or consent.”

“After I was denied the chance to purchase my music outright, my entire catalog was sold to Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings in a deal that I’m told was funded by the Soros family, 23 Capital, and that Carlyle Group.”

“Yet, to this day, none of these investors have bothered to contact me or my team directly — to perform their due diligence on their investment.”

“The fact is that private equity enabled this man to think, according to his own social media post, that he could ‘buy me.’ But I’m obviously not going willingly.”

In response, she re-recorded her first five BMLG-issued albums to make sure her fans and other commercial ventures played her versions, not her former label’s. 

As a result, she snatches income from the buyer. More importantly, Taylor Swift stands for herself and her music.