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Taylor Swift label Big Machine not for sale, revisits alliance with Universal
By Chris Cooke | Published on Friday 3 July 2015
Bad news if you were hoping to buy yourself a big machine. Well, specifically a Big Machine. I’m sure there are still plenty of big machines you can buy. But Big Machine is off the market.
Scott Borchetta has spent much of the last year considering selling his increasingly high profile independent record company Big Machine, a prolific mainly country music focused outfit now best known for being the hub of the Taylor Swift phenomenon.
It’s thought Borchetta was initially approached by a possible buyer, and on the back of that interest sounded out a number of other possible bidders from the music, media and tech sectors, including both Warner and Sony Music, the latter having been linked to a possible Big Machine bid a few years back too.
iHeartMedia, Snapchat and private equity were also said to be amongst those approached, while even Apple was, at one point, rumoured to be interested in buying the music firm, though that never seemed likely, however much everyone wants the tech giant to “become a record company”.
Billboard muses that Borchetta may have been pushing for a higher asking price for his label than most potential buyers would be willing to spend, while sources say a condition of selling to a major would have been him taking a very senior role within his future parent company. But his decision not to sell may have been a simple change of heart.
The Big Machine man has, though, revisited his company’s alliance with Universal Music, which saw the major providing distribution services to the indie and collaborating in the JV Republic Nashville. It’s thought that Borchetta has now secured a better rate on distribution and will take complete ownership of the Republic Nashville business.