Rock School; Taylor Swift - Big Machine

Adams, Adam Lee, Adamowski, Buehler, Burns, Burns, Burns. Scuse, I fall in love, I've got a fan, so paid, I'm a teacher. Hey Joe, where you going with that mic in your hand? It's time for school, Rock School, with your hosts Dr. Joe Burns. What Scooter Braun you mean? Yeah, it's about he's not married. Now, can you imagine the power couple they would be? Scooter Braun is married. I know, that's what I'm saying. It's too bad. Oh, I mean, it's too bad. Oh, you want him to pair up with Taylor Swift to create the super genetic child. The super power couple. Yeah, plus, is it? This is the Rock School radio show here on the Rock

School radio network. My name is Joe Burns, you are? Tammy Burns. Wow, third week of 2020. It's going so fast. It's practically over. Oh. Yeah. You know who Taylor Swift is, right? I do. Of course, everybody knows who Taylor Swift is. Kids are coming out of the womb, knowing who Taylor Swift is. Do you know another name? Scooter Braun, B -R -A -U -N Braun. Scooter Braun. Is that the dude that's taking her money? Well, she's going to tell you he's taking her money. He's going to tell you everything that he did is perfectly legal, legal, and it is. So, let's, you're kind of on the cusp of it. This is what I want to talk about today. On December 12, 2019, Taylor Swift gets a Billboard Music Award. She stands in front of the microphone and she just tears this Scooter Braun a new corn chute. It's good to be her, isn't it? Oh, yes. So, the question is, what is it? Uh -huh. What is she, oh, so upset about what is this over money? Is this over creative control? Is this over what? Blah, blah, blah. So, that's what I want to talk

about today on the Rock School show. This thing dominates in the world of music and pop music. Yeah, I get it. Lizzo puts out a thing and Billy Eilish didn't know who Van Halen was, but this is the thing that's really out in front. And a lot of people are taking sides because they simply like the artist. Well, I'm for Taylor Swift. Why? I like Taylor Swift. Hmm. As she got a point, is what she says true? And furthermore, what is it that she says is true? Do we have to pick a side? Yeah, you really should. I'll be honest with you. I think she's right on the money. Ooh. And I get that concept. You know, oh, you're like a classic rock disc jockey. You're not supposed to like Taylor Swift. It's not that I listen to her music, but legally in this world of streaming and ownership and such, she's on the money. Wow. So what I want to do is explain to you, who in the world is Scooter Braun? What is the overt concern? And where does it all run into? Legally, and how does it fit into this world of music that we have to live with right now? Get it? Well, I get it, but who in the world are you going to play?

Well, I'm going to start with Taylor Swift. Really? Yeah, I'm going to go all the way back to her first album. Oh. I want to play Tim McGraw for first album because last year, she left big machine records because they wouldn't give her control over her music. They just said, no, we're giving another contract. And so what she did, she went to, I believe, Universal Music Group. I'll check that during the song. But I think she went to Universal Music Group and they gave her permission to own her own music. And so this song, Tim McGraw, she'll never be able to get her hands on it. And again, it's because of legality. And I'll tell you all about that. But anyway, Tim McGraw, it's her first hit, Taylor Swift, here on Rock School. He said the way my blue eyes shine. But those Georgia stars just shame that night. And I said that's a lie. I'm just a boy in a Chevy truck. It had a tendency of getting stuck. I'm back

roads at night. And I was right there beside him. All summer long. And then the time we woke up to find that summer gone. But when you think, Tim McGraw, I hope you think my favorite song. The one we dance to all night long. And moon like a spotlight on the lake. When you think happiness. I hope you think that little black dress. Think of my head on your chest. And my arms faded blue jeans. When you think to my girl. I hope you think of me. September, summer, the tears. And thinking God that you weren't here. Just singing like that. But in a box beneath my bed.

It's a matter that you never read. The three summers back. It's hard not to find it all a little bittersweet. And looking back on all of that is. I hope you think, Tim McGraw, I hope you think my favorite song. The one we dance to all night long. And moon like a spotlight on the lake. When you think happiness. I hope you think that little black dress. Think of my head on your chest. And my arms faded blue jeans. When you think to my girl. I hope you think of me. And I'm back for the first time since then. I'm standing on your street. And there's a letter list on your doorstep. And

the first thing that you read. Is when you think to my girl. I hope you think my favorite song. Someday you'll turn your radio on. I hope it takes you back to that place. When you think happiness. I hope you think that little black dress. Think of my head on your chest. And my arms faded blue jeans. When you think to my girl. I hope you think of me. And I'm back for the first time since then. He said the way my blue eyes shine. But those judges start to shame that night. I said that's a lie. Okay, coming out of Taylor Swift, Tim McGraw. Again, there's a reason why I

played that one. It's off her first album. Okay. I believe she had six or seven albums with Big Machine and of all those albums, only one of them is no longer owned by Big Machine. She has access to it. Okay. So, let's figure this whole thing out. Who are these people? Let's look at the scorecard. You can't tell the players without a scorecard. It says here, Scooter Braun is a big wig in the music industry deals with promotions. Like I said before, relationships and ownership. I think you would call that branding today. Here's some of the biggies you probably know. He has a company called SB Projects, obviously Scooter Braun. He hooked up ludicrous and Pontiac, Kanye West and Adidas. He probably is best known for his relationship with Usher and through that relationship, he brought Justin Bieber to the world's attention. Wow. I get it. That right there, you should have him put on an ice float and sent out into the Arctic, but you can imagine the money. He

also broke the deal between Justin Bieber and Calvin Klein. Remember those black and white movies that he did or little commercials that he did? He owns Mythos Studios and he creates comic book movies or at least once too. He struck a deal with Amazon Studios so they're listening to his topics and for his, I want to give back to the world type thing. He organizes marches and causes as a matter of fact. If you remember the march for our lives student gun protest in Washington DC, he did that. I wondered how they got that together. Right. And he flew the kids out and all that kind of stuff. Goodness. These are high school kids. They couldn't just steal mom and dad's credit card and grab a first class seat. Once you said Justin Bieber, I remember the one of the movies that I had watched about him. This dude was there because he had, you know, discovered him. Exactly that. Huge. Huge, huge. Oh, yeah. Money just coming out of his ears. Yes. SB projects, again, Scooter Braun projects has purchased big machine records or legally big machine label group. The ownership of

Taylor Swift's early albums and here and where is where the problems begin. Okay. We're learning the players. We know who Taylor Swift is. Right. Who in the world is big machine records? It is a Nashville based joint venture between DreamWorks executive Scott Bortchetta and Toby Keith. Right. As in, how do you like me now? Now that I'm rich as heck, right? Other than Swift, the label has worked with, and the list goes on and on, but here are some of the biggies. Reba McIntyre, Rascal Flats, Sugar Land, and they also signed cheap trick. Good for them. My gosh. Well, it's Nashville based. We got to play something. So now we know the three players. We got Taylor Swift, we got Scooter Braun, and we've got big machine records, and Toby Keith is stuck in there tangentially. My goodness. Oh, I'm not going to play Toby Keith. No. But I will play Reba McIntyre. We got what's fancy on Rock School. Well, I remember it all very well looking back. It was the summer

I turned 18, but lived in a one room run down the shack on the outskirts of New Orleans. They didn't have money for food or rent to say the least we were hard -pressed. They mama spent every last penny we had to buy me a dance and drinks. Well, mama watched him comb the girl my hand, and she painted my eyes and leoned it. Then I stepped into a satin dance and dress, I had a split from the side, cleaned up to my ear. It was red, velvet dreaming, and it fit in me good, standing back from the looking glass there, stood a moment more a half broken, and it stood. She said, here she won't change things, you don't let me down. She said, here she won't change things, you don't let me down. Mama died a little bit of perfume on my neck, then she kissed my cheek, and then I saw the tears, well it up in her troubled eyes as she started to speak.

She looked at a pitiful shack, and then she looked at me and took a rag and break. She said your paws run down, and I'm real sick and the baby's gonna starve today. She handed me a hard sheeplock, if you said that I don't self -betrue, and I shivered as a watcher rolled to crawl across the toe of my high shoe, because I didn't like somebody else, it was tough, you're asking, mama what do I do? She said, just be nice to the gentleman fancy, there'll be nice to you. She said, here she won't change things, you don't let me down. Here's you want to change things, you don't let me down. Oh, forgive me for what I do, but if you won't have what it's up to you, I don't let me down. Now your mama's gonna move you up to him. Well that was the last time I saw my mom, but not a lift, that rickety shack. The welfare people came and took the baby mama down and I ain't been back. But the wheels are fake and

started to turn it for me, that was no way out. It wasn't very long till I knew exactly what my mama been talking about. I knew what I had to do and I made myself this song about. I was gonna be a lady someday though I didn't know when I'm out. But I couldn't see spinnin' the rest of my life with my head held down and shaved. You know I might've been born just plain white trash, but fate's who was on my name. She said, here's you want to change things, you don't let me down. She said, here's you want to change things, you don't let me down. If it weren't long after I'd been able to let me in, took me in on the streets. One week later I was born, it's here in a five -room hotel suite. Yes you are! A charm, the king, a congresswoman, an occasional aristocrat. And then I got me a Georgia mansion and an elegant New York town, elsewhere in the eight -good man.

Now in this world there's a lot of self -righteous, hypocrites they call me bad. They criticize my mama for turning me down, no matter how little we pay. But though I ain't had to worry about nothin' but not all 15 years. Well I can still hear the desperation in my poor mama's voice ringing in my ears. Here's you want to change things, you don't let me down. Oh, here's you want to change things, you don't let me down. Oh, forgive me for what I do, but if you won't have what it's up to you, and I don't let me down, honey mama's gonna move you up, can you? Well I miss you this. All right, coming out of Riva Macintyre, I'm surprised fancy is

five minutes long. I didn't realize that until I played it. I thought every country song had to finish it like 305 -307. Get on, say your piece and get off quick. That's the way I always saw it. You know what, it's too bad that he is such a strong individual and so is Taylor Swift. What, Scooter Braun, you mean? Yeah, it's too bad he's not married. Can you imagine the power couple they would be? Scooter Braun is married. I know, that's why I'm saying it's too bad. Oh, I mean it's too bad he's married. Oh, you want him to pair up with Taylor Swift to create the super genetic child. The super power couple. Yeah, you know what their kid wouldn't do anything when you're handed that kind of money. You know, you need to write songs. I'm good. Yeah. I'm so free. Yeah. All right, we know the players. Uh -huh. Scooter Braun, Taylor Swift, Big Machine Records. Here we go. In June of 2019, SB Holdings purchased Big Machine Records for a $300 million deal. Now, those of you who know more about this than you're letting on will say to me, no Joe,

technically, SB did not record it. It was a holding company through SB that recorded it or bought Big Machine Records. Yes, you're completely right, but I didn't think the money chain to buy Big Machine Records was worth the show. So yes, I understand all that was behind it. But what it comes down to in terms of Taylor Swift's mind is that now, SB Scooter Braun, the company he's in charge of owns Big Machine Records. You probably don't remember this, but gosh, it had to be a year plus ago. We were talking about streaming and this thing called windowing, where on Pandora and for a short while, you could do it on Spotify as well. What you would do is when the album came out, this is back when hard music really had still had a bit of a hold. Uh -huh. You could window it, meaning for the first two weeks that it's supposed to be on Pandora and Spotify, you kept it off. And the reason was you wanted people to go and buy the physical album. Gotcha. And Taylor Swift was one of those ladies that said, I don't want to do this. I just, I don't

think this is right. And the reason she was talking about is because Big Machine Records decided that they wanted to window the album. And at that point in time, I think we even announced that Big Machine Records was attempting to sell itself. Uh -huh. And one of its main big people is Taylor Swift. Right. And so that's, we had spoken of this earlier, I'm just bringing that back up. However, in June of 2019, SB Holdings, when they bought it, did not get any of Swift's latest music. Why? She had already left the label the year before to go to Universal Music Group. You looked it up. I was correct about that. It was Universal Music. Right, right. Now, when the deal was announced, Taylor was upset that she was not given the chance to buy her music and claimed Scooter Braun, the whole way during her time with Big Machine Records, was a bully to her. Uh -huh. And

mentally abused and all that kind of stuff. Okay, fine. I don't want to get into that. Right. Because I don't know anything about it. You remember, this is kind of that, uh, Michael Jackson Beatles thing. Right. The fact that someone else can buy your music. Yes. How is that possible? Well, you sign away the rights to your music. Taylor Swift signed her first contract to create the album Taylor Swift. Right. At 15 years old. Now you say, but there was a mother. There was a father. She couldn't have legally entered into a contract. You were completely right. But see, that's the way a lot of record contracts are done. Uh -huh. You hand over the music, the ownership of the music to the record company or to a publishing house. And they handle it. And in exchange, you receive an advance and then royalties on the music. Right. And we're going to get into this in a second. But all of that has changed because there is no royalty coming back. Nobody pays anything to stream music. I get it. We're paying 14 bucks a month to have a Spotify family

plan. Uh -huh. Taylor Swift ain't pulling down two bucks of that. No. You know, it's a hundred thousandth of a penny every time it goes. So what she wanted to do when she was a big machine records was buy her contract back. Because now she's a star up down through under. And big machine records says, no, we're not selling you your music. However, we will give you a new contract. And Taylor Swift said, okay, seven years. And big machine records said, no, ten years. Okay, seven years, explain. They wanted to sign her to a seven year deal. And I'm assuming an album every year and a half. Okay. Something like that. So they would have wished for in seven years, three albums, four albums from her. But well, she would have thought that big machine records wanted her for ten years, which would have been five or six albums. And then of course, the tour and all that kind of stuff. And she said, absolutely not. And split went over to Universal Music Group. What was the

big thing? Universal Music Group guaranteed that she would remain in charge of the ownership of her music. Okay. Okay. So that's where we are right now. Yes. Play another song. I'm gonna play a song by Jason Isbell. Okay. What's he got to do with this? Like I said, when people sign contracts, they basically give away the music. Yeah. And in exchange, the advance, in exchange, the promotion, in exchange, the what happened. You don't have much of a choice. If you come into the music business already a somewhat star, or you become a star and can renegotiate, you can do it. You can take over ownership of your music. Jason Isbell was with the drive by truckers. And when he quit the drive by truckers and was talking about becoming an independent solo artist, one of his things was, I must always receive ownership of

my music. And finally, somebody stepped up and said, yep, I got a whole list here of people, musicians, who are able to now own their own music. And Isbell is one of them. Don't want to die in a Super 8 Motel from South Eastern here on Rock School. Super 8 Motel Having such a sweet night audience was just right, drinking like a pirate dude. Don't want to sleep yet, but it's a good better race for hell than you. Do a couple rails and taste your own

tail and talk about a battle day. Drippin' in a t -shirt, tellin' me you're hard -hearted, honey, let me count away. In a big boy bustin' and screaming at his girlfriend, waving round a fun go back. Bass player, steppin' up, Randy Santa, call it cup, duckin' in a baby fat. I don't want to die in a Super 8 Motel. Just because somebody's evening didn't go so well. If I ever get back to Bristol, I better out sleepin' in the county jail. Yeah, I don't want to die in a Super 8 Motel. Well, finally got the room clear, bleeding from my left ear, feeling pretty bad for the maid.

Lost a couple drinks and my dinner in the sink, and I woke up with the bed still made. Lost a quiet morning and I wasn't quite breathin' my heart way up in my throat. Girls start screaming and the maid starts screaming and it looks like it's how she wrote. Well, they slide me back alive and they tell a formal wife and reveal me for a detailed light. So my blood, so my glory, it would make a great story if I ever couldn't remember it right. I don't want to die in a Super 8 Motel. Just because somebody's evening didn't go so well. If I ever get back to Bristol, I better out sleepin' in the county jail. I don't want to die

in a Super 8 Motel. I don't want to die in a Super 8 Motel. Okay, coming into the first break, talking about Taylor Swift, Scooter Braun, SB Productions, and Big Machine Records, what in the world is Taylor Swift so upset about? After she decided to go on Twitter and talk about how Scooter Braun was a bad guy and he bullied her and she doesn't own her music and all of that, everybody took sides on this. A Twitter war gets underway, people called Taylor a bully, people called Scooter Braun a bully and back and forth and back and forth and back and forth. Justin Bieber stepped up and Demi Lovato stepped up and supported Scooter Braun. But then again, all of the universal people stepped up and supported Taylor Swift and back and back the song Bad Blood. We used to be good, but now we have Bad Blood. I've heard that's about 10 different people. The

two that makes sense though is Scooter Braun and also Katy Perry because apparently she had a terrible little tiff with Katy Perry. And I really don't know what the tiff was about and apparently they made up in one of her songs. I think Taylor was dressed up like a box of fries and Katy Perry was a cheeseburger. Exactly. I'm not kidding about that. Call the mail. Is that what the kids are calling it today? I have no idea. However, Swift did make a statement on Twitter that perked up the ears of a lot of people. She said, well, if I can't own my music from big machine records, if you're simply going to continue keeping it from me, I'm simply going to re -record it to which people went, now hold on. You don't own it. How can you re -record it? Good question. Right. So the lawyer in me went, well, she can re -record it because she has enough money. I mean, you know, her, God, Scooter Braun, we own all the money. What she would do simply pay the royalties and that's absolutely not true. And that's

where we start to get into the legality of it. And we'll start with the legality of this and who can do what to whom and blah, blah, blah according to the law. This is nasty. It is. Who is listening to us on this here, Rock School Radio Show? KSKQ, Ashland, Oregon. Excellent. Happy New Year, all. I know it's the third weekend. I get it. It's almost over. Back in a minute here in Rock School. I know

it's the third weekend. I know it's the third weekend. I know it's the third weekend. I know it's the third weekend. Coming out of the break. Okay, let's talk about the legality of this. Who owns what, publishing and all that kind of stuff? This is an idea of the masters of songs. Now, you and I have talked about the mastering of a song. Right. You say there's a mastering of a song, which means you play with the compression, you play with smoothing it out and you bring it up to what they call radio or industry standard. That's mastering. The master of a song is the tape or the hard drive that holds the original files, which can be mixed, remixed, all that kind of stuff, remixed, remastered and all that. The mastering we're talking about here. When somebody says, I don't own or I do own the masters of my song, what they're using is industry shorthand

for owning the underlying rights to a song. If I own the master of a song, I have the ability to profit from that. Change it, redo it. I can if I wish. Anything, right? But it really means making money off of the song as it exists, being able to sell it, make a commercial with it. No one else can touch it. No, it's like copyright. Copyright is called copyright because you have the right to copy it. That's why it's called copyright. So it has the right to copy it. Is mastery owning the master? Is there a word like copyright for that or does copyright apply to that? It's owning the master. You do own the copyright, but owning the masters, not only do you own the copyright to the music, you own the ability to do with the song as you want. You can take it out in the street and burn it if you want. So master,

owning the master. It's industry shorthand. I gave all three of the thought processes. Two different things, though. Okay. What's that? No, I'm saying, are they two different things? The copyright in the master? Yeah. I think the copyright is inside of the master, but it gets loopy as heck and we start to talk about why she can re -record the songs that she doesn't own. Hang snug. Ooh. Owning the masters is more than just having the real estate. Again, it's being able to do with it as you please. The best way I can explain this is when Michael Jackson purchased the Beatles catalog. Yep. It was expected. This is the Beatles. This is sacred. You don't, you know, you don't dig up the Indian burial ground. Right. We don't need that on a commercial, right? About two years after he purchased it, he sold the song Revolution to sell shoes for, I think, Nike. I know, it was terrible. And that made people lose their mind. Why? Because there are certain songs you

want to destroy, it go ahead. Yeah. You know, I am fine. But this is the Beatles, man. You're treading on sacred ground here. But Jackson owned the masters. That's what he bought. I did. Yep. So here you go. Revolution. Beatles on Rockscore. I take two. Okay. I say you want a revolution. Well, you know. We all want to change the world. You tell me that it's evil or the sun. Well, you know. We all want to change the world.

And we'll talk about destruction. Don't you know that you can count me? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay, coming into the bottom of the hour, just a few minutes late because I will not shut up about this scooter

-bron thing. Here are a few more artists that own their masters, Rihanna. She grabbed all of her masters from death jam when she moved over to Universal. Frank Ocean simply bought them when he had the money. Ige Azalea said she will own the masters of her new album and every album forward, but the stuff that's previous for Ige Azalea, what is it? I'm so sump, my other. That was the big hit for her and I'm fancy. I'm so fancy. I can't remember. Jay -Z took back all of his masters when he became the president of death jam and chance the rapper stayed independent from the beginning. He's owned everything from the start and I can tell you for a fact, also that Don McLean owns the American Pie album, which is why when you say to him, what does American Pie mean? He says it means I don't have to work again if I ever have an idea on to him. All right, let's do seven days and 70 seconds. Here are the Rock and Roll dates, January 13th to January 19th. You got Monday,

Tammy. Go. January 13th, 2011, Ed Sheeran is signed to Atlantic Records. January 14th, 1984, Madonna goes national performing on American bandstand. In January 15th, 1967, Mick Jagger sings, let's spend some time together on Ed Sullivan. That's right, you can't say what you wanted to. January 16th, 1996, Wayne Newton plays his 25 ,000th show in Las Vegas. In January 17th, 2008, Donald Trump hires Gene Simmons from the Apprentice. January 18th, 1996, Lisa Marie Presley divorces Michael Jackson, and finally, January 19th, 1993. Fleetwood Mac, please don't stop and Bill Clinton's inauguration. And Bill Clinton has been sick of that song ever since. Oh, you're not kidding. I talked about all of these people who owned the songs. Metallica also took ownership of all of its masters in 2012 when it signed with Warner Music. LL Cool J made

a deal about 20 years ago to own everything. Prince made the statement, if you don't own your masters, the master's own you, and his second to last, I think it was. Record contract, he got them all. Nancy Sinatra owns all of her masters at the urging of her father. Yes. Joan Jett owns all of hers, and the one we got to play, you too, has always owned their masters, or at least that's what the people who are in charge of them said. Some say yes, some say no, but as of right this moment, you too owns all of them. Wow. All of our masters, of course, are in our mission. You too, here on Rocks Core. All

of our masters, of course, are in charge of their masters in 2012. All of our masters, of course, are in charge of their masters in 2012. All of our masters, of course, are in charge of their masters in 2012. All of our masters, of course, are in charge of their masters in 2012. All of our masters, of course, are in charge of their masters in 2012. All of our masters,

of course. All of our masters, of course, are in charge of their masters in 2012. All of our masters, of course, are in charge of their masters in 2012.

All of our masters, of course, are in charge of their masters in 2012. All of our masters, of course, are in charge of their masters in 2012. All of

our masters, of course, are in charge of their masters in 2012. All of our masters, of course, are in charge of their masters in 2012. All of our masters, of course, are in charge of their masters in 2012. All of our masters, of course, are in charge of their masters in 2012. All of our masters, of course, are in charge of their masters in 2012.

Taylor Swift, contrary to what some people might think, is actually the author or the co -author of her songs. This is not some blonde pop tart who, you know, somebody else write a song for her and she'll be cut and sing it. Oh, no, no, no. She's either the author or the co -author of all of her songs, which gives her publishing rights. She doesn't own the masters, but she has publishing rights, which, by the way, hangs on to the lyrics and the choral structure. Get it? Got it. Scooter Braun has got masters to the physical song, the finished product. Right. That means she can use her rights as the publishing, you know, part of it, to redo those lyrics, to redo those chords. I .e. re -record the song. No way. Yeah. So it won't

cost her anything to re -record them. And I'll make you $100 bet. That's going to be a big thing in her life. Okay, my first album's coming out again. You know what? What's that? And people will buy it. Right. And someone's going to say, well, she can't call the album, you know, Taylor Swift. Oh, yes, she can. She can call it revisited or something like that, right? She doesn't even have to add that. No. You can't copyright a name. I can't copyright Joe Burns. I can't copyright Tammy Burns. So she can name the album exactly the same thing. If I wanted to, I could write a song called Stairway to Heaven. It would be stupid, but I could do it. Wow. Who's listening to us? Oh, my goodness. Let me find out here. That's a W -O -U -B. Athens, Ohio. Excellent. Back in a minute here on Rock School. Coming out of the break, you might wonder why this even matters. Because as I've said

on this show, a Gajillion Times. And I think I'm going to do a show just on this. Music has no intrinsic value. Nobody wants it. Right. You and I pay $14 a month for the family to have Spotify. Right. We got it for Christmas, which is why I brought it up twice. And I will sit out in my shop or out in the studio. And I'll just simply stream album after album after album after album. It's nothing for me to stream four or five albums a day. And you think to yourself, what would it have cost you to buy that? I know, huh? See what I'm getting at? I do. So what do we care? I mean, so what he owns the master's. So what? Here's the thing. The master is even more important today because next to no one is making money off of music sales. It's not the song. It's the ability to promote using the song or the ability to sell and or pair it with something that makes it profitable. How many Apple commercials have you heard with the song where you go, that's catchy. What's that?

See what I'm getting at? Yeah. The idea that's my buddy Rusty and I who write songs together, we keep waiting for Apple to come calling. They haven't yet. You hear all the time about artists signing these crappy deals and getting messed over by labels. The point is to get the song out there so people can hear it. You remember right at the beginning of the internet boom when I was doing a website called HTML goodies. I do. I was around, I can't tell you how many other people building websites. And the point, a lot of them, this was not my point. But the point for a lot of them was in no way to create a website that was going to make them rich. It was to create a website that could be sold to a major place. Right, here's your $100 ,000 get lost, go build another website. And I knew people that did that. I lucked out and did it myself, but it wasn't my goal. So that's the point. I get it. Who cares? Music has no intrinsic value. Yes, but what the music can support does. And that's why owning the masters

is so gosh darn important. It sounds like a commercials man. It does. Erosmith, they own all of their masters. Tyler said so himself. Sounds like this on Rocks Goal. Music Somebody, I'm gonna take my soul, nobody. You're gonna get my body roll. Change, change, change, only you, baby. Change, change, change, only you, baby. You'll read it. You'll see he has a goal. To sleep. The

powder in the nose. Change, change, change, only you, baby. Change, change, change, only you, baby. Hey, Smith. Old Hank Pank. Pullin' down your niggas. Oh, you're gonna smack. Change, change, only you, baby. Change, change, only you, baby. Don't panic. Oh, Mr. Tyler. The zombie can't kill me. Follows a wild. Music Old Holesmith.

EMS. Bits, bits, bits. Got to do this, got to do that. Change, change, change, only you, baby. Change, change, change, change, change, move away, you better No, it's not here, it's where there's no us Out there, we pop out Or we know we don't see dogs in time, change, change, move away, you better Change, change, change, move away, you better See you me, yosses Beam ship did Why was I the same? Gonna keep it here I'm trying to change, change, change, move away, you better Change, change, change, move away, you better Change, change, change, move away, you better Say they

don't live, you better know who they are Change, change, change, move away, you better Change, change, change, move away, you better Change, change, change, move away, you better Coming into the last break, do you think that she, Taylor Swift, should be given back or be given the ability to buy her masters simply because she is the person who wins Wrote and recorded them or co -wrote and recorded them yes or no Yes Do you really? Yep Wow You said buy Yes, she should be given the ability to buy back Yes, I do Just because she's who she is So at this point in time, you think there should be a legal precedent that if you wrote and recorded the song, no matter who owns it, you should be able to get it back I think you should Or is it just because she's Taylor Swift? No, no, no, no, no, I think you should have the ability to buy it back Why not? That's what's coming up now Here's what is odd about this It used to be completely backwards Going to a recording studio used to be an

expensive venture That you would have to, as a band, you'd have to get signed You'd have to get signed Right, because at $150 an hour, I meant you just can't afford that kind of thing And they're just don't open their doors to anyone Well, guess what? Now they do And I know that for a fact, I've been to studio in the country twice I have been to JT Studios twice Right I've been to multiple studios just to simply tour them They're becoming a four public thing, whereas I'm sure they would have done it previous But bands who were going to do this for real, they couldn't afford it The thing is now they can Right this second, as we sit here You and I are just sitting in front of a credenza that's got my recording equipment in it And I am slowly but surely turning a building out back into a fully functioning recording studio And I'm telling you Again It's got again, it's brand new house It's going to be just as good as most major recording studios And if not just as good, let's remember the audience is okay with MP3

So all of the perfect stuff Right All of the gorgeous frequency and harmonics They're fine with not having as long as it's a good show So this is what's happening, gosh darn it The idea of a record company hiring you And then paying for you to do all this is A lot of the times these bands, these artists are coming to The record company With the songs already completed Yeah Because they spent the money to go into a recording studio Who needs them to come Right right right They cut me a heck of a deal to go into studio in the country I'm not going to say what it is because I don't want you to call this guy and say Okay well I want Burns's deal No no no no I brought a class So I got a special rate He gave it to me as an educational rates And you're not going to get it But the fact is I walked out with three songs Yeah But these people are coming to the deals with their music already

there So they own it already So how are record companies handling this? Well there are three things they tend to do They add long term ownership into the contracts Which means they're going to own you and whatever music you hand them Much longer than you actually are there If she, Table Swift, had signed one of these contracts Even though she left big machine music Big machine music would own their music that she's creating with universal That's long term Wow Get it Yeah You should be able to have the chance at it You should be able to buy it back Yeah It's not going to be cheap to buy it back,

right? No It's not going to be cheap to buy it back Very few people are going to be in this situation This is not something that everybody's going to be facing Here's a few more As I said, Prince owns his own music Joan Jett does, Frankie Valley in the four seasons They own it Johnny Mathis, Buck Owens, Iron Maiden, Garth Brooks, Motley, Crew, Bee Gees, David Bowie, the Frank Zappa, Estate, and Pete Townsend all own their own music And that wraps it up So now you know the idea of what's going on with Taylor Swift Whether you agree with her, whether you agree with him, they're both multi -gajillionaires I'm not sure I need to take a side in this Really? I just want Apple to Let me tell you, you don't have enough money to take a side I just want Apple to call me and sell the iPhone Pi with one of my songs So that'll do it, I'm Joe Burns I'm Tammy Burns The End Done Class is dismissed For once in my life, I have

someone who needs me Someone I've needed so long For once I'm afraid of I can blow well at least me Somehow now I've been strong For once I can test But my heart used to dream of Long before I do Oh, someone won't like you Would make my dream come true Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah For once in my life, I will let sorrow hurt me Not like it's hurt me before For once I have something I know won't deserve me I'm not alone anymore Oh, once I can see This is why you can't take it As long as I know I know I can make it For once in my life, I have someone who needs me

Someone I've needed so long For once in my life, I have someone who needs me Someone I've needed so long For once in my life, I have someone who needs me For once in my life, I have someone who needs me Not like it's hurt me before For once I have something I know won't deserve me I'm not alone anymore Oh, once I can see This is why you can't take it

As long as I know I know I can make it For once in my life, I have someone who needs me Oh, once in my life, I have someone who needs me