Billboard is finally addressing the controversial practice of bundling albums and merchandise. Almost every No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart are bundled with merchandise or tickets. Nearly every artist have bundled albums with merchandise including Celine Dion, Luke Combs, Kanye West, SuperM, Post Malone, and Taylor Swift.
The new rules according to Billboard, “in order for an album sale to be counted as part of a merchandise/album bundle, all the items in the bundle must also be available for purchase concurrently and individually on the same website. In addition, the merchandise item sold on its own will have to be priced lower than the bundle which includes both the merchandise and the album.”
Some artist will see album sales plummet especially for those who heavily rely on merchandise.
Taylor Swift claimed Scooter Braun and Scott Borchetta from Big Machine are blocking her from performing her own songs at the AMAs. Label boss Scott Borchetta says this a fabrication.
Big Machine also claims Taylor’s admitted to owing the company millions of dollars….
Big Machine 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.
The label says … “Taylor, the narrative you have created does not exist.”
“The truth is, Taylor has admitted to contractually owing millions of dollars and multiple assets to our company, which is responsible for 120 hardworking employees who helped build her career. We have worked diligently to have a conversation about these matters with Taylor and her team to productively move forward. We started to see progress over the past two weeks and were optimistic as recently as yesterday that this may get resolved. However, despite our persistent efforts to find a private and mutually satisfactory solution, 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 injected herself back into the press and released a not-so-nice love letter with claims that Scott Borchetta, her former label head at Big Machine Records, and Scooter Braun (Justin Bieber manager) are trying to sabotage her performance at the American Music Awards.
Taylor released her statement on an Instagram story, Facebook and Twitter with the headline “Don’t know what else to do.”
Taylor says her former label team Big Machine told her she would be allowed the use of her old songs only if she agreed not to re-record them in the future and if she affirmed she would not speak negatively going forward. She rejected both offers.
The feud started when Taylor Swift claimed she was denied an opportunity to buy back her masters from Big Machine Label Group. Big Machine tells another story – label boss Scott Borchetta said Swift was well aware that her masters were for sale and never made an offer.
Taylor Swift will join The Voice as a “mega mentor” for season 17. She’ll join the other judges including John Legend, Blake Shelton, Gwen Stefani and Kelly Clarkson.
“I heard we have a mega mentor? I heard it’s supposed to be one of the most successful people in music,” Legend says before Swift nonchalantly walks out of the trailer behind them as her latest chart-topping single “Me!” featuring Brenden Urie begins playing.
The MTV VMA’s was centered around Taylor Swift. Not surprised MTV gave her LGBTQ+ anthem “You Need to Calm Down” video of the year. Other winners include Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish, and Jonas Brothers. Full list below….
Video Of The Year
Taylor Swift – “You Need to Calm Down” – Republic Records
ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Ariana Grande – Republic Records