Big Machine CEO Scott Borchetta Booed For Praising AI During Commencement Speech

Big Machine founder and CEO Scott Borchetta drew boos during his commencement speech at a graduation ceremony for Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) earlier this month.

The reaction came after Borchetta encouraged new graduates to embrace artificial intelligence (AI).

He took a "tough love" approach during parts of his speech. According to the Tennessean, Borchetta told students that parts of what they learned early on in their college careers might already be obsolete.

Why Was Scott Borchetta Booed During His MTSU Commencement Speech?

"Streaming rewrote the economics. Social media rewrote the discovery model. AI is rewriting production as we sit here," Borchetta said from the stage.

That's when the boos started.

"I know it. Deal with it," Borchetta replied flippantly, before smiling and adding, "Like I said, it's a tool."

That didn't seem to quell the boos — if anything, they got louder — and Borchetta doubled down. "You can hear me now, or you can pay me later...Hey, then do something about it, okay? It's a tool. Make it work for you, " he told the crowd.

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Borchetta did close his speech on an encouraging note, reminding new grads that their "judgment" and "taste" cannot be replicated by AI modules. "The mechanisms change. If they do, you adapt, and when the moment calls for it, walk away and build the next one," he said.

AI has been a topic of multiple commencement speeches this graduation season. Speakers at the University of Central Florida and the University of Arizona both drew boos from crowds for encouraging students to embrace the technology.

At the Kansas City Art Institute fashion designer Jeremy Scott began his commencement speech with AI-generated text, to prove a point. He ripped up the speech and told the crowd, "It can't have an original idea."

Who Is Scott Borchetta?

Borchetta founded Big Machine Label Group in 2005, and his flagship artist was Taylor Swift. Driven largely by Swift's success, Borchetta's label rose to fame and expanded into multiple different imprints.

Prior to founding his label, Borchetta was a race car driver and a record label executive. He is the owner of the NASCAR Xfinity Series team Big Machine Racing.

Why Did Scott Borchetta Have a Feud With Taylor Swift?

Swift left Big Machine Records in 2018 when her contract expired, signing a new deal with UMG. The following year, Borchetta sold Big Machine to Scooter Braun's Ithaca Holdings (though Borchetta retained his CEO position), including the masters recordings of Swift's first six records.

Read More: Taylor Swift Blasts Former Label Head For Selling Her Music

This set off a long and highly publicized feud between Borchetta and Swift, who viewed the sale as a betrayal and said she'd been trying to buy her masters for years.

Swift also described Braun as an "incessant, manipulative bully" who had been mistreating her for years, and accused Borchetta of knowing exactly how devastating it would be to her to sell the masters to Braun in particular.

Read More: Taylor Swift Bought All Her Old Music Back

This dispute is what led Swift to re-record the Taylor's Version records of her old albums, before she ultimately was successful in buying all her old music back — as well as all of the music videos, concert films, album art, unreleased songs and anything else created by or for her, ever.