Big Machine, the record label of Taylor Swift, Rascal Flats and Tim McGraw, is on the block, The Post has learned.
Owner Scott Borchetta, who started the label in 2005, is looking for a price in excess of $200 million, sources said.
While Borchetta has been building out the label of late — he just signed a new joint venture with Reba McEntire and Cumulus Group — the sale process is being clouded by a number of factors, including the fact that Swift is nearing the end of her contract with the label.
The 24-year-old singer has just one album left on her current contract.
Plus, Swift’s family owns a piece of the label.
Without Swift, the label’s value is likely worth a lot less.
Swift, the centerpiece of the Nashville, Tenn., label, has stunned the record industry yet again with first week sales of her latest album, “1989,” forecast to hit 1.2 million units.
If those forecasts prove correct, “1989” will be the first platinum album of the year.
Sales of the new offering may even top first week sales of her prior album, “Red,” which hit 1.2 million.
One of the hottest acts in the music business, Taylor could be the first artist in history to have three albums sell more than 1 million units in their first week.
A tireless promoter, Swift appeared on ABC’s “Good Morning America” and staged a live concert for Yahoo! and iHeartMedia this week to promote the album.
The lanky artist does not stream her new music and drew some criticism from Spotify users for its absence this week.
With music labels suffering from a drastic decline in iTunes downloads year-to-date, Swift’s performance is dominating music industry headlines as a rare piece of good news.
The young singer, who recently moved to an apartment in Tribeca and is fronting a “Welcome to New York” marketing campaign, has moved away from her country roots and could opt to take her business in-house.
To keep her, Big Machine may have to pony up an advance of between $10 million and $20 million, some music executives said.
Only with Swift back under a long-term contract will Borchetta get his high sale price, the executives said.
Big Machine is also nearing the end of its distribution partnership with Universal Music Group.
Lucian Grainge’s UMG, naturally, could be a likely buyer of Big Machine, sources said.
The two companies also have a joint venture label called Republic Nashville and jointly began a sister label called “Dot Records” earlier this year.