Big Machine's Borchetta: 'We Are Not For Sale'

Scott Borchetta

Hours away from official first-week sales figures that are predicted to be in the record-breaking 1.3 million neighborhood for TAYLOR SWIFT’s latest album, “1989,” there are rumblings about a possible sale of SWIFT’s label home, BIG MACHINE RECORDS.

ALL ACCESS asked BORCHETTA about these rumors when they originally surfaced last week, with BORCHETTA responding, “If you notice, any time we put a TAYLOR album out this little item comes up again. We are not for sale, but TAYLOR's great new album ‘1989’ is!”   

Nonetheless, SATURDAY’s (11/1) NEW YORK POST reported that BIG MACHINE is on the block for a reported asking price north of $200 million.

The potential deal and its actual value becomes complicated, because while SWIFT still owes BIG MACHINE one new album and possibly a Greatest Hits package, there’s no word on whether she’ll remain at her first and only label home -- which BORCHETTA launched in 2005 -- after fulfilling her remaining obligation.

One rumored sticking point in SWIFT's potential separation is her existing catalogue and whether she or BIG MACHINE ends up with it. That too, could influence valuation of any sale.

The potential sale of BIG MACHINE also came up in 2011, when BORCHETTA appeared on CNBC’s “POWER LUNCH” and was asked about a possible sale to SONY. At the time, BORCHETTA said, “That’s a great rumor, isn’t it?” When asked about a price tag, he responded, “What about $200 million? That’s a good starting place, isn’t it?” And, when asked about potential suitors, BORCHETTA said, “The wonderful thing about our company and the independence that we have is that we’ve created our own winning culture. And I think it’s a culture that is in high demand. So there are a lot of people interested in sharing our culture.”

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