Taylor Swift May Have Just Outplayed Scooter Braun

URL copied to clipboard.

Swifties are speculating that the Taylor Swift may have devised a clever way of outsmarting music executive Scooter Braun out of seeing a penny from her music.

This Sunday, the singer excitedly tweeted a haunting cover of her popular song “Look What You Made Me Do,” which she revealed was used in an episode of Killing Eve.

However, if the name of the band “Jack Leopard & the Dolphin Club” sounds unfamiliar to you, you’re not alone. Fans were quick to investigate, only to find out that the band doesn’t seem to exist.

They also noticed the name Nils Sjoberg on the track’s producers credits, which is the pseudonym Swift used in 2016 on the track “This is What You Came For,” created alongside now ex-boyfriend Calvin Harris. Members of the band include Swift’s brother Austin, Jack Antonoff and the duo Right Side Fred (Fred and Richard Fairbrass), all of whom have writing credits on the original song.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-z1dSJjKxq/?utm_source=ig_embed

Some fans suspect that the cover art is an edited photo of Swift’s brother Austin and that it is his voice on the track. Others think that the voice is Taylor’s but has been digitally lowered to sound like a man. It is believed that the name of the band comes from Antonoff’s first name, the leopard print Swift wore in the original LWYMMD video and Austin’s former Twitter handle ‘The Dolphin Club’.

ADVERTISEMENT

This comes after Scooter Braun, music executive to stars such as Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande, acquired the master recordings of Swift’s first six albums last year from her former label, Big Machine Records, despite Swift’s objections. The singer has since vocalized her disapproval, saying that she was denied the opportunity to buy back her own records. Swift has also announced that she will be re-recording her first six albums in order to own her own versions of her songs.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BYNz_r0HMgt/

A source told The Sun: ‘This is Taylor at her best — crafty and very, very clever. It’s no coincidence that all the original credits are on this new version. The way the industry works is you don’t need the label’s permission — in this case Scooter’s — to cover a song.’

The source said ‘It means Taylor can get around asking him for permission as well as not giving him a penny in royalties. It will no doubt have really peeved Scooter. It’s a great way of getting round red tape as well as showing Scooter she won’t be silenced. This is war.’

The singer is yet to comment on this, but that doesn’t stop fans from speculating. What do you think? Is this Taylor’s newest move in the never ending chess match between her and Scooter Braun? Let us know in the comments section and give the cover a listen below!

ADVERTISEMENT

More headlines