More Signs Scott Borchetta Is Encroaching on Artist Freedom
Founder, president, and CEO of Big Machine Records Scott Borchetta, affectionately known around Saving Country Music as the Country Music Anti-Christ, and arguably the most powerful man in Nashville, continues to reign in on the freedom and creative control of his performers, and significantly influence their musical decisions—something that is in stark contrast to one of the benchmarks that made Big Machine one of the most sought after destinations for artists as one of the few Nashville-based major labels that generally allowed their roster to do what they wanted.
During the writing and recording phase of Taylor Swift’s last album Red is when Borchetta first notably inserted himself into the creative process, suggesting to Taylor that her songs were not good enough, and that she solicit the help of Swedish pop producers Max Martin and Shellback to help write, record, and produce songs, resulting in Swift’s most pop-oriented material to date.
Now according to Swift, she had to go against the wishes of Scott Borchetta and strong arm Big Machine Records to release her latest song “Sweeter Than Fiction” as part of the upcoming film One Chance. “I had to fight to do this,” Swift told the BBC, “I had to go around and ask people, ‘Can I please, please put something out?’ even though we’re supposed to be going quiet. My management, my label were like, ‘No new music until the next album comes out.’“
Eventually Taylor Swift did get her way and the song was released, but the song has received little push from Big Machine.
Scott Borchetta was initially bestowed the nickname “Country Music Anti-Christ” because he was the principle man behind-the-scenes slowly eroding the integrity of the term “country” by using country channels to push pop music, cross-genre music, and manufactured “Outlaws” to take advantage of marketing angles.
One such example is Justin Moore from Big Machine’s Valory Music imprint. Arguably the most audacious of the “new Outlaws” looking to capitalize commercially on growing anti-Nashville sentiment, Moore released an album in 2011 entitled Outlaws Like Me. His latest effort Off The Beaten Path just released in September includes a song called “I’d Want It To Be Yours;” an awful, immature example of both the tasteless direction of mainstream country, and the country rap trend. The song includes hip-hop elements, a small bout of rapping, and references to pop celebrities like Snoop Dog and Kim Kardashian—all from a guy that claims to be too country for Nashville.
In the eyes of Justin Moore’s critics, “I’d Want It To Be Yours” is the worst offering from Justin Moore’s new album, and one of the worst songs of 2013. But according to Justin, he didn’t want to record or release the song. It was at the insistence of Scott Borchetta that “I’d Want It To Be Yours” made the final cut.
“‘I’d Want It To Be Yours’ is ridiculous,” says Justin in the EPK for the song. “It’s just me being a perverted idiot in all honesty…I never thought it would end up on an album. We wrote it just kind of as a joke.”
The song seemed to take a very similar life to the infamous track “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk” that even lends a lyric to “I’d Want It To Be Yours.” It was written sarcastically between a few songwriter buddies looking to blow off steam. But Scott Borchetta saw something different. “When we were playing stuff for the label, Scott Borchetta said, ‘You have to put this on the album.'” Justin Moore explains. “And I’m going, ‘Really?'”
As Scott Borchetta and Big Machine Records continue to win market share and talent from its rival labels on the Music Row campus, his propensity to inject himself more and more into the creative process could become a bigger problem. Excessive control of artists is the classic sin of Nashville’s big music labels, and as Big Machine gets bigger, so could the artistic control dilemma, and the dilemma of maintaining control over the quality and purity of the term “country.”
October 30, 2013 @ 9:01 am
He’s got a purty mouth.
Nice hair, too.
October 30, 2013 @ 9:05 am
Borchetta seems just like many other big company executives who say one things, yet do another. It’s funny to look back on his press conference with Tim McGraw and watch him emphasize how Big Machine’s trademark is allowing artists to have the freedom to do what they want. And now, two of his top artists come out and say the company has had a lot of control in the content of their music.
Moreover, Borchetta has had a lot of influence on not only their music, but in turning Taylor Swift and Justin Moore into the type of artists they are perceived as. Moore has become one of the beacons for this “new-age Outlaw” movement, while Swift has transformed from a nerdy girl to a rock star. In all honesty though, it’s hard to feel any sympathy for artists like Swift and Moore, what with the contributions they’ve made in turning mainstream country radio into a mashup of pop songs that don’t sound much different than the kind of music played on actual pop radio.
October 30, 2013 @ 10:43 am
I really believe that when Scott Borchetta started out, he really did want to be different, just like many of the artists that arrive in Nashville and tell themselves they’ll never sell out and they’ll always be true to their music. Then they get that taste of fame and money, and they want more. Scott Borchetta didn’t want to release Taylor’s song, and did want to release Justin Moore’s because he knew those decisions would make him more money, despite it possibly not being the best thing for the artist, or within the artists’ wishes. Taylor Swift and Scott Borchetta have plenty of money, but that’s the problem with money; you can always have more. And so Scott falls into the trap and ends up becoming as restrictive as any of Nashville’s major labels.
October 30, 2013 @ 11:14 am
One of the really interesting things that Big Machine will have to deal with is when Swift begins to lose her hold on the pop market because it will happen. The burn rate in that format is extremely hot and when that happens get ready for all the talk about how she was always country and her heart never left Nashville and blah blah blah. Swift has made herself and her label a ton of money but she has greatly reduced the chances of having a long successful career like Dolly or Reba. Country much like other formats is very provincial and when they work to build a core artist and then that artist attempts to move on to ‘bigger’ things they don’t forget that when they come crawling back. It has happened with Faith Hill, LeAnn Rimes and Shania Twain who have greatly hurt their country credibility (yeah I know what cred but that’s a different discussion). Explains some of the female problems in country music also I think.
July 8, 2023 @ 7:54 am
This comment did not age well. That’s all that needs to be said.
October 30, 2013 @ 10:38 pm
Trigger, this article is an interesting read. Taylor Swift is usually held in very low regard on this site. So it is funny that once a bogeyman is brought into the picture, people rush to defend her, as if she were a poor helpless innocent country sweetheart being pushed around by a manipulative old man. People seem to want to look for someone else to blame for the things they don’t like about her.
What if they were both country music antichrists? What if they were playing a good cop, bad cop game, like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde? Taylor is a global brand that Borchetta presumably has a large stake in. Could it be possible that Borchetta’s fortunes depend more on Taylor’s image than on his own image? Might it be in his interest to do everything he can to make Taylor look good, even if he has to play the bad guy? And is there any hard evidence that Taylor had to fight her label to release her latest single? Or might they have agreed to release it long ago, with the intention of using an imaginary conflict as a showcase of her “authenticity”? It sure makes a good story line for her earlier fans who might not be enamored of the Max Martin songs.
October 30, 2013 @ 10:43 pm
I don’t see why she would need to play good cop, bad cop. She has always claimed that she enjoyed working with Max Martin and Shellback.
October 30, 2013 @ 11:30 pm
I think Scott Borchetta is driven to make money, but I’m not sure if he is someone who craves the public spotlight. I also just don’t see any benefit to the good cop / bad cop scenario you’re paining here. He fought against the single release for very legitimate reasons that most labels attempt to have all of their artists adhere to. Why it is out of the norm is because he portrays himself as someone who lets artists do what they want to. And in this case he actually did. It just to a “fight” (Taylor’s words) to do it.
October 31, 2013 @ 12:21 am
I think Borchetta and Taylor are on the same page 99% of the time. But I see your point regarding other Big Machine artists. It does sound like the suits have a lot of control over Justin Moore’s career, unfortunately. I also thought “Truck Yeah” was a very poor single choice for Tim McGraw and I’d be surprised if the label wasn’t pushing it.
October 30, 2013 @ 9:06 am
#freetaylor. Fact is this girl is very talented. If Bullshitta keeps pushing his idea of a good record we might never get it from her again. Not as good as “Speak Now” was where she was taking sole responsibility for everything.
October 30, 2013 @ 1:16 pm
I think you’re jumping to conclusions here. What makes you think she doesn’t have the same agenda as Borchetta?
October 30, 2013 @ 1:36 pm
I agree that Taylor was probably fully on board with the idea of creating pop songs with Max Martin. The proof of that is how aggressively she has marketed those 3 songs at the expense of the other songs on “Red”.
However, in the case of “Sweeter than Fiction”, she clearly had to fight with her label to get the song released. That indicates that her agenda and Big Machine’s agenda are not always aligned.
October 30, 2013 @ 9:22 am
Damn, that’s kind of funny because the best songs on RED are the ones she wrote by herself. Recording labels just want money from their artists, Taylor is a great musician and shouldn’t let people like Scott interfere in her work or tell her that it’s not good enough.
October 30, 2013 @ 10:11 am
They can gripe about the label all they want, but I guarantee you they wouldn’t give up what they have to be more independent. Right now if you told Taylor Swift that she could do anything she wants musically, but her career would be more like an Ashley Monroe, there is no way she would swap that. Right now she still has a need to be popular and wants that more than anything. She is big enough now, that she could still be big, even if she left the label, but I’m not for sure she would have ever gotten to this point without Scott Borchettta. I have always said, you find out how good gifted an artist is a lot of time, when they stop worrying about being popular.
October 30, 2013 @ 10:12 am
Damn, first time I’ve ever heard him speak. Didn’t realize his accent was that thick to begin with.
October 30, 2013 @ 10:46 am
I still can’t fathom that there is a dominant record label called Big Machine Records.
It sounds like a parody of an evil record company name from an early 80s cartoon or movie.
Is Big Machine going to sign the Misfits next? Truly, truly, truly outrageous…
October 30, 2013 @ 11:12 am
Love the ‘Jem’ reference. 😀
Personally, I can’t help being reminded of the name Big Media (from the Devo CD-ROM ‘Adventures of the Smart Patrol’):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Booji_Boy
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,293925,00.html
October 30, 2013 @ 11:22 am
Welcome to the Machine!
October 30, 2013 @ 11:25 am
I think that exact same thing every time I read that name, (the first time I heard of it I seriously thought: “nooo, that can NOT be right!”), right down to the JEM reference ”¦ or maybe that should have been the name of the label that Cobra Commander started to release Cold Slither records. 😛
October 30, 2013 @ 11:11 am
That song totally reminds me of Michael Jackson Montgomery.
October 30, 2013 @ 11:12 am
Really though… Taylor’s best songs on RED are with her and her long tim producer Nathan chapman and not some manufactured pop guy. Just listen to Sad Beautiful Tragic and Begin Again. I mean he did discover her and in the beginning was a good guy, but not he’s turned into a big greedy guy who just cares about money. I think Taylor should create her own label and not have to make music that appeals to those teenyboppers.
October 30, 2013 @ 1:44 pm
I have an article coming up soon that talks more in depth about the diminishing role of Nathan Chapman in Taylor’s music and the effects of this.
October 30, 2013 @ 2:45 pm
I think it’s naïve and maybe a little sexist to pretend that Swift is just being led around by Borchetta and not doing what she wants to do with her career. She is what 23, 24 years old not a child anymore. I always like to remind people that Adele’s brilliant album ’21’ was called that because she was 21 years old when it was recorded. If Taylor wants to make deeper more substantial music she has enough juice to do it in my opinion.
October 30, 2013 @ 5:49 pm
This has nothing to do with age. It is about how much creative freedom labels allow their artists in the process of releasing albums and singles.
As I mentioned, though, Taylor has enough leverage that she can push Big Machine to bend to her will. Hopefully her success in releasing “Sweeter than Fiction” becomes a trend.
October 30, 2013 @ 6:26 pm
But it’s been said or at least implied on many occasions on many different sites that she is so young and that is one of the reasons that Borchetta is able to lead her into a more pop direction and I think that has become condescending that is all I am saying. Isn’t it just as possible that she wants to record these kinds of songs (Never, Trouble, 22) and that her label was helping her do that? As for this single release this is hardly an unheard of practice for a major act to go quiet so as to avoid overexposure and that seems to be that labels concern here. I can’t believe I’m defending the Anti-Christ. Ewww.
October 30, 2013 @ 7:25 pm
I agree that the idea that Taylor is easily led around is extremely condescending. When it comes to making the music she wants, Taylor has a backbone of steel. Even way back when she was 14 or 15, she rejected a major record deal with RCA because the label wanted her to sing other people’s songs.
I also agree that she enthusiastically supported the idea of making pop songs with Max Martin and Shellback. She has admitted that several times and has played up those songs to the expense of other songs on her album.
Nevertheless, what happened with “Sweeter than Fiction” is still alarming. Ultimately, the label controls album and single releases, and even an artist with a solid backbone can be hindered by that fact. That’s why it’s especially essential for Taylor at this point to drive a hard bargain with her label. Maybe she should watch “Nashville” and use the example of how Rayna and Juliette deal with Jeff Fordham.
October 30, 2013 @ 7:43 pm
We agree here more than not I just don’t think this is as egregious as say the Curb Records move of not releasing albums for years to extend contracts and the like. One of the labels main jobs should be to insure an artists long term viability and one way they do that is guarding against overexposure and I think that is the goal here as Swift seems to be admitting. There I go defending the Anti-Christ again.
October 30, 2013 @ 9:42 pm
I talked about this with my friend once, and ultimately we came to conclusion that yes, while she was being pushed to work with Max Martin and she could have refused, there’s a part of her that’s also afraid of failure, afraid of fading. I feel like that’s the reasoning from her part for agreeing on that. I mean, she was a 22 yo with tons of issues and had (still has) a lot of growing up to do. Maybe a little slip here and there is necessary?
But the fact that she actually fought Borchetta here gives me a little hope that she had finally realised who needs who, and that her fans would just love her even if she starts fading (not the bandwagon ‘fans’, mind you.) Even if Borchetta’s intention to not release STF is purely to kill the over-exposure, but it’s still against what the artist wishes.
We’ll see on her next album though, if there’s another pop-song-doctor tunes, I know who to blame here. And I certainly hope she’d not take any creative advices anymore from Borchetta.
October 30, 2013 @ 11:36 pm
I agree Scotty, this is not out-of-place for a label to want an artist to have a rest period between projects. What is different is that Scott Borchetta claims he doesn’t follow conventional rules and let’s artists do what they want. And in this case, he eventually did. Do I think this is some huge deal? No. But when you take this and combine it with what Justin Moore said in virtually the same time period, and I think it is evidence that Scott Borchetta is tightening the screws on his artists more and more over time. It probably still is not as much as other Music Row labels do, but it is evidence of an increasing pattern. That’s all I’m saying.
October 30, 2013 @ 11:49 pm
I suspect that Borchetta has built his own self mythology to a degree. Big Machine is far more like other labels than unlike they are just better at it.
October 30, 2013 @ 11:26 am
Watching Moore’s EPK clip was difficult. It was like watching someone on trial taking the stand to defend themselves. What an idiot.
At this point, I wonder why Scott Borchetta doesn’t just start a pop division of his label instead of crashing views with his established ‘country’ artists?
Interesting that Swift enlisted Vince Gill, Alison Krauss, Sam Bush and others for a ‘special version’ of “Red” for the CMAs! She’s either pandering to the country audience or performing her song the way she intended it to be before Borchetta intervened?
October 30, 2013 @ 11:37 am
Wow, when I read the quotes from the EPK, I expected him to be saying them in kind of a laughing, humor-filled way ”¦ then I watched the video. He sounds like he REALLY does not like that song at all. I haven’t heard it, and now I kinda wonder just how awful it is.
October 30, 2013 @ 11:45 am
Oh god, I just listened to it. He has every reason to feel ashamed to have anything to do with that song and to try to direct the blame for it onto the cowriter. Just listening to that song made me feel embarrassed. I think this may have topped “!994” as the worst song in my opinion. Just ”¦ blehhh!
October 30, 2013 @ 2:10 pm
Whether one considers “1994” or “I’d Want It To Be Yours” worse depends strongly on whether one pays more attention to music or lyrics.
Lyrically speaking, Justin Moore’s song is worse than “1994”. At least “1994” tells a story, while the lyrics of “I’d Want It To Be Yours” are purely sexual. On the other hand, the music on “I’d Want It To Be Yours” is far better than that of “1994” (which is completely rap).
October 30, 2013 @ 1:08 pm
Big Machine needs Taylor far more than she needs Big Machine. I hope she uses that fact as leverage more often.
October 30, 2013 @ 1:16 pm
Bruschetta with Tomato and Basil…
Bruschetta with Tomato and Basil Italian bruschetta (pronounced “brusketta”) is a wonderful way to capture the flavors of ripe summer tomatoes, fresh garden basil, and garlic.
Bruschetta with Tomato and Basil Recipe
Prep time: 15 minutesCook time: 10 minutesYield: Makes 24 small slices.
INGREDIENTS
6 or 7 ripe plum tomatoes (about 1 1/2 lbs)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
6-8 fresh basil leaves, chopped.
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 baguette French bread or similar Italian bread
1/4 cup olive oil
October 31, 2013 @ 5:20 am
Bam!
October 30, 2013 @ 1:43 pm
Given that Justin Moore’s style of music has become the norm in mainstream country, he is no longer the “anti-Nashville”, but rather a personification of Nashville. Perhaps a new musical style is needed to cater to anti-Nashville sentiment.
Could it be…traditional country???
October 30, 2013 @ 2:04 pm
It sounds like Scott and his giant partner label Universal, which took Taylor’s music global, saw bigger dollar signs in making her the next huge pop selling Britney Spears. Taylor said she met with many producers before finding that Nathan is the right one for her. Switching from a pop country producer to pure pop producers is a sure way to make country go pop. And he did do it again with Cassadee Pope:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frame_by_Frame_%28album%29#Personnel
Dann Huff ”“ production
Nathan Chapman ”“ co-production (tracks 1, 3 and 6)
Max Martin ”“ co-production (track 9)
Shellback ”“ co-production (track 9)
Scott Borchetta ”“ executive producer
Cassadee Pope ”“ vocals, executive producer
Granted, Cassadee was a pop artist to begin with, should have been signed to a pop label, and her new album is pop.
What it boils down to is music executives using huge country radio to sell pop, displacing country artists and music and starting the trend of more country artists going pop. I also suspect Scott and/or Universal is behind getting Billboard to change their Hot Country chart rules to include pop airplay. The change happened just in time to help We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together Again.
October 30, 2013 @ 4:09 pm
I agree completely with all that you said except that can you really say that about Shania? It was her choice to step out of the spotlight and today is still a mighty big deal with what she does. She was in no way traditional country, but she straddled the line eloquently in a way that no other artist has done. Frankly, she does not deserve to be given the same stigma as the others since she has yet to attempt a formal career comeback.
October 30, 2013 @ 9:57 pm
I’d like to apologise first if I come across as an ignorant fool on this comment.
Taylor following Reba/Dolly path would be just as disappointing as going full on generic pop for the rest of her career for me personally. Then again it’s back to my (sort of) stupid liking of artists who burn very very bright even if it’s just for a short time.
Plus if you listen closely and read some of her interviews, she’s always been closer to being the alternative instead of being purely pop or country. It’s kind of obvious from listening to ‘Red’ alone. Sans three pop singles, it’s pretty much a damn good traditional pop album with alternative sound popping up left and right. I hope she takes notes from the likes of Emmylou Harris, Kate Bush, and Fiona Apple for the future. For sure girl is smart. Girl is talented. It’s just that she’s afraid about being abandoned by her fans, which is something part of her issues.
(PS: Trig, ever consider to use Disqus or Livefyre for comment box?_
October 30, 2013 @ 10:17 pm
Personally I don’t care what she does with her music my comment I think you were referring to about Reba/Dolly was purely on longevity and being among the all time greats. Dolly is almost 70 and she is still somebody that people care about and I would think any artist would want that on some level and that is very hard to do in pop music. Not seeing anything alternative about her either in either attitude or musically. Pretty down the middle whether as a country artist or pop artist and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that but that’s just my opinion.
October 30, 2013 @ 10:38 pm
Yahuh. It’s back to personal preference. Reba/Dolly are just a bit much for me. Then again I’m not really into Country to begin with (though I love me some alt. Country in the vein of Whiskeytown/Ryan Adams & Uncle Tupelo.) For now, I’m taking her word on leaving once people starts to stop caring though.
I don’t know, every now and then I hear some alternative influence, though maybe it’s just me. Attitude wise, she’s like that one loner who just lives in her own world (I have a soft spot for those kind of people, so…. yeah.) No anti-A or B, just doing her own thing. And musically, I’m just comparing it to the current scene of alternative, pop, and country. It’d be a different story though if I compare her stuffs to the likes of the Replacements or the Smiths.
October 30, 2013 @ 10:57 pm
That’s a fair point she probably isn’t that much different from Lorde, Capital Cities or Imagine Dragons which dominated Alternative this year. Showing my relatively advanced age I guess when I think of alternative I’m thinking like you mentioned Smiths, The Cure along those lines. Not sure I think that is a good thing that lines have been so completely blurred. Just degrades genres that lose their own rich identities. I guess that is part of Trigger’s Mono-Genre.
October 30, 2013 @ 11:29 pm
The Mono-Genre theory is actually happening to all kind of genres out there imo. It’s just that since Country music is very strong in honouring the past and have always stayed true to the roots most of the time, this kind of contradictions is easier to spot than in other genres (i.e: Punk & Post-punk.)
These days, majority of people are putting good music first and genre matters second. Personally, I’ll always give a pass to anything that is good. But I do wish if one wants to do Punk, go full on Punk. Want to do Country? Go full on Country. Just do what you want, but do it like how it’s should be done & true to the roots. Not just passing your own stuffs as Punk/Rock/Country/Pop by iTunes label. :/
October 31, 2013 @ 12:52 pm
“The Mono-Genre theory is actually happening to all kind of genres out there imo.”
Which pop and rap artists are making pure country songs? Which radio format plays pure country songs? Only country radio plays other genres (pure pop and pop/rap songs) and barely plays its own genre anymore. Pop music already takes up a few radio formats. We didn’t want it on another or to lose country. I started listening to country radio to hear country music, not pop.
October 31, 2013 @ 5:17 pm
Hey, Trigger, I do realize that with more signs Scott Borchetta is encroaching on artist freedom, I think that Big Machine Records should have a pop music record label department outside of Nashville. I bet Scott Borchetta would love the idea for making a new pop music record label department for Big Machine Records. That would be awesome. With a new pop music department outside of Nashville, Taylor Swift can now make new pop music developed by the new Big Machine Records pop music record label department. Taylor Swift will love that idea. So I think Big Machine Records should make a new pop music label department in Los Angeles and named it, Big Machine Records Inc. The real Big Machine Records which was found in 2005 should be renamed Big Machine Records Nashville. There, no more pop music in Nashville crisis. When Taylor Swift want more country, she should do that on the original Big Machine Records. When makes pop music, then she should make pop music on the new Big Machine Records pop music department. With the new Big Machine Records pop music department, Taylor Swift can now release her country music without the crossover appeal to the music department outside of country music department as special events. This can be done, spring next year. I hope this helps, Trigger.
November 4, 2013 @ 4:45 pm
Having known Scott many many years ago, I feel I have to defend(ever so slightly) his position, at least where it come to the multiple genre’s of country music. I knew Scott back when he worked for MTM Records in the eighties. Ironically I got to know Scott from working with a Hair Metal band he was involved in.
Scott has developed into an amazingly shrewd, and brilliant biz guy. He has taken some artists and developed them in ways that we may not agree with, but that creates major success on a level that might not be reached if the were strictly “traditional” country. Taylor Swift may not be my first choice for country music, but she has a definite, undeniable appeal that reaches across major expanses of music lovers. We have to keep in mind that even in the sixties, and early seventies, the people whom we’ve come to admire for creating the “Nashville” sound were considered as off base, and out of touch with true country music as it seems Scott is now. The truth is that Country music is such a versatile platform, so easily adapted into multiple genres, that Mr. Borchetta is just pushing the edges of what is considered the norm for most of us.
Please forgive me if I’ve stepped on anyone’s toes here, I’m simply giving my perspective. Great website by the way, and I look forward to following it closely.
November 4, 2013 @ 5:09 pm
Articulate rebuttal. Dissent, differing viewpoints, and criticism is always welcome here.
February 3, 2014 @ 10:00 pm
The artist creates.
More business people are coming in and strategizing how to make the most money out of an artist.
Labels are service providers.
Building your art and band independently without a major label takes guts and hard work.
February 3, 2014 @ 10:25 pm
Rachel, you have a valid point in principle. But I think these days there are many commercial “artists” who think like business people. They care more about the money than the music.