Taylor Swift Opens Up About Her Master Recordings Being Purchased

Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift has posted on Tumblr about her masters being sold to Scooter Braun:

For years I asked, pleaded for a chance to own my work. Instead I was given an opportunity to sign back up to Big Machine Records and ‘earn’ one album back at a time, one for every new one I turned in. I walked away because I knew once I signed that contract, Scott Borchetta would sell the label, thereby selling me and my future. I had to make the excruciating choice to leave behind my past. Music I wrote on my bedroom floor and videos I dreamed up and paid for from the money I earned playing in bars, then clubs, then arenas, then stadiums. […]

This is my worst case scenario. This is what happens when you sign a deal at fifteen to someone for whom the term ‘loyalty’ is clearly just a contractual concept. And when that man says ‘Music has value’, he means its value is beholden to men who had no part in creating it.

Capitalism is destructive to most industries, but it’s always felt specifically exploitative to me in the arts.

Liner Notes (June 28th, 2019)

This week’s newsletter is brought to you with a massive craving for pizza.

In this week’s newsletter, I share a new fun productivity tip I started using this week, talk a little about the current project I’m working on, and share thoughts on music, movies, and TV shows I enjoyed this week. There’s also a playlist of ten songs I loved and a rant about political debates. This week’s supporter Q&A post can be found here.

If you’d like this newsletter delivered to your inbox each week (it’s free and available to everyone), you can sign up here.

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Sponsor: Isaiah Dominguez Releases New Album ‘Holy Ghost’

Isaiah Dominguez

With Holy Ghost, Isaiah Dominguez has taken personal experiences and packaged them in a way that seem strangely familiar. There is a familiar comfort in his choruses and a vague recollection of memories that align with his lyrics. Dominguez has markedly set himself apart from his past with this collection of songs and created a sound uniquely his own. His blend of nostalgic 80’s rock and contemporary alternative marry perfectly with his independent, solo-songwriter style. The record starts strong with a fist-pumping pop-rock staple and doesn’t let up until the last note rings. If you’re looking for an album that is equal parts “windows down, road trip” and “nostalgia inducing introspection,” Holy Ghost is an absolute gem to add to your playlist.

Check it out at Apple Music, Spotify, and Google Play.

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Jony Ive Leaving Apple

Jony Ive, the famous designer at Apple, is leaving the company after thirty years. I thought Gruber’s take on the whole thing was pretty good:

Third: This may be good news. Ive is, to state the obvious, preternaturally talented. But in the post-Jobs era, with all of Apple design, hardware and software, under his control, we’ve seen the software design decline and the hardware go wonky. I don’t know the inside story, but it certainly seems like a good bet that MacBook keyboard fiasco we’re still in the midst of is the direct result of Jony Ive’s obsession with device thinness and minimalism. Today’s MacBooks are worse computers but more beautiful devices than the ones they replaced. Is that directly attributable to Jony Ive? With these keyboards in particular, I believe the answer is yes.