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Post by Admin on Apr 24, 2020 1:03:43 GMT
The ongoing drama between Taylor Swift, Scooter Braun and Big Machine Label Group continues. On Thursday (April 23), Swift informed her fans via Instagram stories that her "former label is putting out an 'album' of live performances of mine tonight." The album, Live From Clear Channel Stripped 2008, has been popping up around Twitter, as it has already been posted to streaming services in some parts of the world. It has not yet appeared on her U.S. artist pages on Spotify or Apple Music at the time of publication. http://instagr.am/p/B4xXqP8DxPt "I'm always honest with you guys about this stuff so I just wanted to tell you that this release is not approved by me," Swift continued. "It looks to me like Scooter Braun and his financial backers, 23 Capital, Alex Soros and the Soros family and The Carlyle Group have seen the latest balance sheets and realized that paying $330 MILLION for my music wasn't exactly a wise choice and they need money. "In my opinion...Just another case of shameless greed in the time of Coronavirus," the star concluded. "So tasteless, but very transparent."
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Post by Admin on Apr 27, 2020 21:15:06 GMT
Just a few days ago, Taylor Swift’s old record label Big Machine dropped a live album of material recorded by the superstar in what was supposed to be a surprise move. The singer herself alerted the world to the release just hours before it appeared via her Instagram story in a post that made it very clear she had no say in the project. In fact, according to her wording, it seems like she wasn’t even consulted about it and that she only realized it was coming thanks to a few fans who caught it early.
While she may not be happy that Live from Clear Channel Stripped 2008 is out now for all to hear, chances are it will perform well in its first frame. A top 10 debut isn’t out of the question, and there are certainly some Swifties who are wondering if the title could go all the way to No. 1?
According to a projection published by HitsDailyDouble, rapper YoungBoy Never Broke Again currently seems to be the frontrunner for the No. 1 spot. His surprise release 38 Baby 2 could open with as many as 75,000 equivalent units, with streaming likely doing most of the work.
Other than that hip-hop title, this current frame is surprisingly devoid of any other albums that are likely make a serious play for the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 that will be announced in about a week. There are a number of newly-released sets from names such as Awolnation, Dance Gavin Dance, Lucinda Williams and The Used which could all debut inside the top 20, but none stand a chance of becoming chart-toppers, and it’s even a stretch to suggest they’ll go top 10.
In addition to YoungBoy Never Broke Again’s 38 Baby 2, Swift’s biggest competition for the No. 1 rung on the Billboard 200 appears to be either DaBaby’s Blame It on Baby, which was just announced as the newest ruler yesterday, or The Weeknd’s After Hours, which has already led the charge for four frames and which is still going strong.
So at this point, it appears that Swift’s Live from Clear Channel Stripped 2008 may only need to move about 70,000 or 75,000 copies or so in order to best 38 Baby 2 and claim the No. 1 rung on the Billboard 200...but is that possible?
The former country singer’s last full-length, 2019’s Lover, opened atop the Billboard 200 with an impressive 867,000 equivalent units, and that’s her smallest debut in years. She would need Live from Clear Channel Stripped 2008 to move only about 8% of that sum in order to have a fighting chance at the throne. Her only other live album, 2011’s Speak Now World Tour – Live, opened at No. 11 on the chart with 77,000 sales, but that was a different time (only sales were counted toward a ranking on the Billboard 200 at the time), and the music industry has changed drastically in the near-decade since.
The assumptions and projections above are simply possibilities, and it’s too soon to say exactly how well Live from Clear Channel Stripped 2008 will do once this current tracking frame closes on Thursday night (April 30). Swift may find herself competing with YoungBoy Never Broke Again for another No. 1 title, or her fans may opt to sit this one out, as she’s not promoting it and she clearly wants nothing to do with the release. Opening at the top isn’t impossible, but it’s also entirely possible that the pop star’s latest misses out on the upper reaches entirely.
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Post by Admin on Apr 28, 2020 7:45:36 GMT
Taylor Swift is not happy about the release of her latest album. While it seemed that the feud between Swift, Scooter Braun, and Big Machine Label Group had calmed down, Braun and his label have once again fueled the fire. Taylor Swift's statement about her new live album tears apart her former label, and she explained why. On Thursday, April 23, Big Machine Label Group released a new, unauthorized live album titled Live From Clear Channel Stripped 2008 featuring some of Swift's performances from 2008. When Swift became aware that the label had plans to release the album that night, she decided to speak out. In an honest statement on her Instagram Stories, Swift slammed the label's release of the album. Swift's statement began, "Hey guys — I want to thank my fans for making me aware that my former record label is putting out an 'album' of life performances of mind tonight." She continued, "This recording is from a 2008 radio show performance I did when I was 18. Big Machine has listed the date as a 2017 release but they're actually releasing it tonight at midnight." This information would suggest that Big Machine may have been attempting to slide under the radar, listing the wrong release year. Sharing her thoughts, Swift continued, "I'm always honest with you guys about this stuff so I just wanted to tell you that this release is not approved by me." The Lover singer then joked that Braun and his financial backers "have seen the latest balance sheets and realized that paying $330 MILLION" for her music "wasn't exactly a wise choice and they need money." The 30-year-old finished her PSA, saying, "In my opinion… Just another case of shameless greed and the time of coronavirus. So tasteless, but very transparent."
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Post by Admin on Apr 28, 2020 22:09:51 GMT
After some of Swift's fans brought the album to her attention, many are now refusing to support it in light of Swift's statement. On Twitter, the singer's fans have been asking others not to stream the album to maintain Swift's stance on the unauthorized release. The album is currently available to stream on Spotify and Apple Music, as well as other streaming platforms. Swift's feud with Braun began after he acquired her former label, Big Machine Records, last year. The label owns the entire back catalogue of her albums up to 2017's Reputation. Braun made a statement back in November 2019, addressing the Swift controversy at the 2019 Entertainment Industry Conference. "What I’ll say is, people need to communicate, and when people are able to communicate, I think they work things out,” he said. "I think that these problems that are being discussed can be discussed behind closed doors and figured out pretty easily, and it’s something I’ve wanted to do for six months." Swift had difficulty navigating the transition of ownership, making the claim that Braun and Big Machine were preventing her from performing her old songs at the AMAs. However, the label denied her claim, and Swift did perform a medley at the AMAs. Faithful Swifties are backing the singer's position against Braun and her former record label. Despite the unauthorized album, Swift is continuing to speak out and advocate for her rights as an artist.
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Post by Admin on Apr 29, 2020 7:26:51 GMT
Taylor Swift was so upset last week that an eight-tracks live album of her music was coming, albeit unauthorized. “Live from Clear Channel, Stripped 2008” was just part of Swift’s catalog acquired by Scooter Braun and Scott Borchetta, the latter from Big Machine Records. It was the first time they dove into the library of unreleased material since Braun and a consortium bought Big Machine last year. Swift, who knows the deal thoroughly, caught wind of the new set being prepared for streaming and blew a gasket. She posted a notice to her fans on Instagram explaining the situation. She called out the Soros family and the Carlyle Group, accusing them of “shameless greed.” Well, it worked. The stream appeared last week and at first sold 7 copies. SEVEN. Then on Friday and Saturday another 26. The total is 33. THIRTY THREE. That’s it. No one bought it. Plus, it seems only Spotify took it. Apple Music isn’t carrying it. Looks like Swift wins, although it is worth a listen, frankly. But I get her point. Here’s a screen shot from Buzz Angle aka Alpha Data with the figures. Ignore the release date, which was last Thursday. June 26, 2008 was when it was recorded. BTW, Universal put up YouTube holders for all 8 songs and yielded about 6,000 views total.
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