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Taylor Swift is enjoying the most prolific and creative period of her career to date, with a sold-out, record-breaking world tour, multiple album releases, and newly acquired billionaire status. There is.
Much of this success is thanks to re-recorded versions of some of her biggest albums, from 2019's Reputation to earlier releases like Speak Now and Fearless.
The most recent of these re-releases, each labeled “Taylor's Version,” was released in 1989. The originals were released in 2014 and include “Blank Space,” “Bad Blood,” “Welcome to New York,” “Style” and “Shake It Off.”
Those who haven't followed Swift's career particularly closely may wonder why she decided to re-record so many of her already successful albums.
It started in 2019, when Big Machine Records, the music label that Swift was signed to from 2006 to 2018, discovered and signed pop star Justin Bieber to music mogul Scooter.・It started when it was sold to Brown.
In addition to ownership of the company, Brown also acquired the rights to the master recordings of all the music Swift made during her time at the label. This includes her first six albums: Taylor Swift (2006), Fearless (2008), Speak Now (2010), Red (2012), 1989 (2014), and her Reputation (2017).
Taylor Swift “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” Cover (AP)
This meant anyone who wanted to license Swift's old songs for a movie or TV show had to get Brown's permission and pay a fee.
Ms Swift said she was disappointed by the news that the master recordings had been sold, and claimed she had previously begged for the chance to buy back her work.
“For years I sought and begged for the opportunity to own my work. Instead, I signed up again with Big Machine Records and received one album at a time for each new album I submitted. I was given the opportunity to “earn” albums one by one.
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“Once I signed the contract, I knew it and left, Scott Borchetta.” [CEO of Big Machine Records] I'm selling my label and with it selling me and my future,” Swift wrote on her Tumblr account in June 2019.
“I had to make the excruciating choice to let go of my past. Music was written on my bedroom floor, videos were dreamed and paid for with the money I earned playing in bars, clubs, arenas, and stadiums. I did.”
The “Cruel Summer” singer also explained that she only found out about Brown's purchase of the masters after it was announced to the world. “All I could think about was the constant manipulative bullying I had suffered at his hands over the years,” she said.
“Scooter took away my life's work that I never had the opportunity to purchase. Essentially, my musical legacy was in the hands of someone who wanted to dismantle it. Swift said, calling it the “worst-case scenario.”
Justin Bieber (left) and Scooter Braun in 2020 (David Livingston/Getty Images)
Less than two months later, Swift announced that she would be re-recording her first six studio albums in order to gain full control and ownership of her past work.
What does Kelly Clarkson have to do with it?
Fellow pop singer Kelly Clarkson recently said she sends flowers every time the “Look What You Made Me Do” star releases a re-recorded album.
This is likely because Clarkson is the first person to publicly suggest to Swift that she re-record each of the six projects originally released on BMR, stating on July 13, 2019: is written in. A song that U doesn't own, mastering exactly how he made it, but adding brand new art and some incentive to keep fans from buying older versions. I'm going to buy every new version just to prove a point. ”
However, Clarkson claimed that Swift would have come up with the idea herself.
“But I love her kindness,” she told E! In November of last year. “She's a very smart businesswoman. So, she would have thought that. But when you see an artist that you admire and admire really want something, it really sucks and it's… It's special for them. If they're going to find a loophole, you're going to find a loophole. And she did it and I'm literally the best-selling artist of all time.”
Kelly Clarkson receives flowers from Swift every time she releases a re-recorded album (AP)
Aside from the newly added “From The Vault” track (an unreleased song that didn't make it onto the original album), the re-released record is nearly identical to the original.
Adam White felt that 1989 (Taylor's version) “lacks the yearning tension of the original album”, but wrote in his three-star review for The Independent that “this revamp is at least as good as the album. It serves as a reminder of the untouchable greatness of the world.” ”.
“This is some of the best pop of the 21st century. Potentially some of the best pop ever made,” he added. “Even if the production is a little half-baked or the vocals are a little too good, it doesn’t change that.”
Swift is currently preparing to release her first album of original music since 2022's Midnight, with her 11th studio LP, The Tortured Poets Department, due out on Friday, April 19th.