Scott Borchetta is a wealthy American businessman with a fortune of $200 million. Scott Borchetta is best known as the founder and CEO of Big Machine Records, Taylor Swift’s former record company. Taylor was 15 years old when Scott discovered his performing at a cafe in Nashville.
Who is Scott Borchetta?
Scott Borchetta was born in Burbank, California on July 3, 1962, to Shari and Mike. In Los Angeles, his father worked as a promoter for many musical labels, including RCA Records, Capitol Records, and Mercury Records. Borchetta relocated to Nashville, Tennessee, with his father when he was 16 when his father established his own independent record marketing company.
Prior to establishing Big Machine, he worked for DreamWorks Records and MCA Records in Nashville. Borchetta now competes in the Trans-Am Series and owns the NASCAR Xfinity Series team Big Machine Racing.
Taylor Swift remained with Big Machine Records until 2018 when he signed a long-term contract with Universal Music’s Republic Records. Scott Borchetta agreed to sell Big Machine Records to talent manager Scooter Braun for $300 million in June 2019 through his holding firm Ithaca Holdings LLC.
Ithaca Holdings received the rights to Taylor Swift’s first six albums, as well as records by Sheryl Crow, Lady Antebellum, Thomas Rhett, and Florida Georgia Line, as part of the agreement. Big Machine was reported to generate $100 million in sales and $40 million in profits every year at the time of the transaction.
How old is Scott Borchetta?
He is currently 61 years old.
What is Scott Borchetta’s net worth?
The American businessman is estimated to be worth $200 Million.
What is Scott Borchetta’s career?
Borchetta worked in the mail room of his father’s record promotion company in Nashville and played bass in a country band. He acquired a job with MTM Records in 1985, where he stayed for three years. Borchetta then worked as an independent promoter for two years. He went on to work in talent development and promotion at MCA Records and DreamWorks Records.
Borchetta left DreamWorks Records in 2005 to start his own independent record company, Big Machine Records. He titled the label “Big Mach ine” after the Velvet Revolver song of the same name. The label’s debut artists were Jack Ingram and Danielle Peck.
Taylor Swift, who was 14 at the time, was then signed by Borchetta. He first met Swift in 2004 when he saw her sing at Nashville’s Bluebird Café and offered to sign her to his label once it was formed. Big Machine Records published Swift’s breakthrough song, “Tim McGraw,” in 2006, followed by her self-titled debut album.
Swift went on to become the label’s most commercially successful singer, collecting Grammy Awards for Album of the Year for 2008’s “Fearless” and Album of the Year for 2014’s “1989.” Big Machine was then sold to the South Korean music and entertainment corporation Hybe Corporation in 2021, with Borchetta continuing the label’s CEO.
Big Machine Records operates a number of imprints. Valory Music Co. was established in late 2007. Jimmy Wayne, Jewel, Thomas Rhett, Justin Moore, and Reba McEntire were among the artists who signed with the label. Big Machine collaborated with Universal Republic Records in 2009 to form Republic Nashville, which was relaunched as BMLG Records after Big Machine acquired full ownership of the company. Country musicians on its list include Lady A, Brett Young, and Riley Green. Big Machine announced the rebirth of the old label Dot Records in 2014, which it ran in collaboration with Republic Records until Dot was closed down in 2017. Nash Icon Music, an outgrowth of Cumulus Media’s Nash FM brand that concentrated on country acts from the 1990s and early 2000s, was Big Machine’s other imprint. In 2018, Nash Icon Records merged with Big Machine Records.
Swift had a huge disagreement with Big Machine in 2019 after leaving the label over ownership of the masters for her first six studio albums. Scooter Braun had recently purchased Big Machine from Borchetta for $300 million through Ithaca Holdings, making him the owner of the label’s masters and music videos, including Swift’s. This sparked extensive debate over intellectual property, artists’ rights, and the ethics of the music industry. Swift chose to re-record her first six studio albums in order to reclaim entire ownership of them in reaction to the heated debate.
Borchetta raced motocross and quarter midgets as a kid growing up in Southern California. He later returned to racing after working in the music industry and began driving legendary cars at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway.
Borchetta moved to the NASCAR SuperTruck Weekly Series in 1999, where he won three straight championships from 2003 to 2005. In addition, he competed in the Valvoline Cup Truck Series.
Borchetta met NASCAR crew chief Ray Evernham while filming an episode of the television series “AmeriCarna” in 2014, and he was invited to drive a 1972 Chevrolet Corvette in the Sportscar Vintage Racing Association. Borchetta went on to win the SVRA Group 6 national championship in 2020. The following year, he made his Trans-Am Series TA2 debut at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
