A Victory For Taylor Swift; Education For Musicians

You know what? Good for her! Taylor Swift finally owns the rights to her first six albums. This is the biggest story in music for the week (month) so we might as well discuss here.

Taylor Swift has fought years to get the rights to her music back. When her former label Big Machine was sold in 2019, along with the deal went the master recordings to her first six albums. Investor Scooter Braun acquired the masters when he bought Big Machine. He later sold the masters to investor firm Shamrock Capital for $300 million. Swift was able to buy back her music from Shamrock Capital for an undisclosed price, but she did admit the success of the Eras tour is what enabled her to make the purchase.

Owning the master recordings of songs gives artists more control and ability to leverage their product for fees from licensing deals.

I've always thought it was scummy that most musicians do not own their master recordings. It may have made more sense in the beforetimes when everything cost a fortune - especially studio time - and new acts needed label money to get going. We've all read the horror stories of our favorite bands being in label debt for years, even after having hit releases. With streaming, things are quite different and now anyone can produce an album with some software and a laptop.

The hot thing for big musicians to do these days is to sell their catalogs for a huge lump-sum, forgoing royalties in the future. That is different from owning master recordings but is still a way for an artist to cash in on a designated amount of money. The thing with the Taylor Swift dispute is just how smartly she fought the Braun deal - vowing to re-record those first six albums. These re-recordings are known as "Taylor's Version" and were massively successful. A smart play to hit back where she could. It's a wonder we don't see more artists do this, except for the fact that it is expensive and you need to be in top form musically to pull it off.

Of the big bands we love, Motley Crue owned their master recordings from their Elektra days. It is mentioned in The Dirt but what the band had to do to get them was never exactly revealed. They eventually sold their entire catalog to BMG in 2021 for $150 million.

U2 and Metallica also own their masters. Both those catalogs are worth a fortune!

Nikki Sixx Announces Animation Project (Kinda)

An update from Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx after his cryptic social posts earlier in the week. Apparently Nikki is doing an animation project and yes, there is a music component. Plus Cinderella's Fred Coury is involved too? Sign me up. The music that comes from this project just might be epic.

In my fever dream, the animation is all about an 80s Sunset Strip Glam band and all the members just happen to be... cats. I guess we will see, but I sure would like to see a feline version of Vince Neil. Just saying.

He Means 'Wait' But...

What do you think Nikki Sixx has up his sleeve now? New Motley Crue music? New SIXX:AM music? Another book soundtrack? A full tour announcement for after the (postponed) Las Vegas residency? Give me your guesses!

What til you hear what’s coming.

— 📷 (@NikkiSixx) May 20, 2025

Rumor RoundUp: Motley Crue Edition

I don't usually do posts like this because I think it is tacky but... the fact that two separate Motley Crue members have relationship issues spread across the internet today is wild to me. First, I am shocked that Sixx Sense (the radio station) founded by Motley bassist Nikki Sixx is sharing the story - but apparently Vince Neil and his longtime girlfriend have split.

Then, news that Motley drummer Tommy Lee and his wife of six years Brittany Furlan are on the outs. Apparently, the couple have been fighting over Tommy's drinking. Motley has shows coming up, so I hope Tommy can get it together for his own health and the band.

But wait, there's a twist here! Apparently Brittany was being catfished by someone impersonating Ronnie Radke, the singer of Falling In Reverse. Like this is all insane. Social media sucks.

Happy Easter Then!

🙃

Def Leppard, Motley Crue Announce Destination Festival

Well this is new and out of the blue. Rock the Tides fest will take place November 7-9 in Riviera Maya, Mexico. The event is a destination festival with everything happening at an all-inclusive resort called Barcelo Riviera Maya. I've never been to that resort, but I have been to the area of Mexico a few times. Very beautiful water. 

In addition to headliners Motley and Leppard, Bret Michaels, Dorothy, Extreme and more will perform. Looking at packages online, it seems to be around $3k or $4k a person on double occupancy. Not cheap for three days in Mexico, but you're paying for the entertainment! I'm sure this will sell-out pretty quickly, assuming people still have jobs and/or savings considering the way the economy is looking these days. Pre-sale starts next week. If you are attending this, please let me know in the comments!

Turning out to be a busy year for Motley Crue, isn't it?!?

Holy Crap, Tomorrow Is Record Store Day!

If it wasn't for the sponsored Motley Crue ad below that popped up in my feed, I would have completely forgotten about Record Store Day this year. I've got so much going on, it just slipped my mind - but the big event is tomorrow! I want to give my favorite local shop, Omega Music, some love!