Bangladesh, Nov. 23 -- Taylor Swift won her third consecutive artist of the year prize at the American Music Awards, but she missed the show for a good reason: She said she's busy re-recording her songs' masters after her catalog was sold.

In a video that aired during Sunday's awards show, the pop star said "the reason I'm not there tonight is I'm actually re-recording all of my old music in the studio where we originally recorded it. So it's been amazing. And I can't wait for you to hear it."

Last year music manager Scooter Braun - who manages Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande - announced that his Ithaca Holdings company had acquired Big Machine Label Group, the home to Swift's first six albums. This month Braun said he has sold the mast...