Pharrell calls Taylor Swift’s Scooter Braun feud ‘unfortunate’

‘There’s a system in place that’s just all wrong,’ the ‘Happy’ singer/producer says in new interview

Pharrell weighs in on Taylor Swift's 'unfortunate' Scooter Braun feud (Getty Images)

Pharrell Williams has a few thoughts surrounding Taylor Swift's feud with mega-manager Scooter Braun, who famously purchased the singer's former record label Big Machine Records, along with all of her pre-'Lover' masters.

"It’s really unfortunate, you know. There was room for him to make his acquisition because that’s just the way the business is, and I felt for her and not being able to be in control of it," the "Happy" singer/producer said in an interview with Variety.

"There’s a system in place that’s just all wrong. He’s a businessman and he also represents artists, so from his point of view he’s just making an acquisition of something that he felt would be a good investment. But the artist should have the opportunity [to retain ownership], and I don’t know whether she did or she didn’t.

I just know that the system is wired in ways that is oftentimes not always fair to the creator. I think it should be the norm that the creators retain their rights."

Swift, who just released her ninth studio album, Evermore, is currently re-recording all of the albums she made for Big Machine.

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Williams also opened up about how he was able to negotiate a deal with Columbia Records to give him ownership of his own masters.

"It was a huge milestone, but it shouldn’t be, and we shouldn’t be celebrating that because I shouldn’t be one of let’s call it dozens of people who own their original recordings," he said. 

"A master recording is the original, and every other copy is the slave. We got them to take that out of their language in all the contracts for the Sony companies. It’s all over the place – you know, master bedroom – so there’s a lot of language that we need to change."