Taylor’s Version

        On April 9, Taylor Swift is releasing the first of her re-recorded albums, “Fearless (Taylor’s Version).” When she released her new edition of “Love Story” back in February, some music fans were a bit confused; the song sounded almost exactly the same as the 2008 version. What they don’t seem to realize is that the purpose of the re-released albums is not a matter of remixing older music, it is an artist standing up for herself and reclaiming her own work.
        Taylor Swift signed with Big Machine Records releasing her debut album “Taylor Swift” in 2006 when she was only 16 years old. Her first album paved the way for six more albums with Big Machine Records. After 13 years of working with the record company, Taylor signed with Universal Music Publishing Group after “Reputation” was released in 2017 and that is when everything began to spiral. Big Machine Records was bought by Ithaca Holdings LLC in 2019 and Scooter Braun took over. Taylor Swift was barred from being able to use any of her music produced with Big Machine Records, the music she had worked so hard on for the majority of her career. This stems from a problem in the contract she signed with Big Machine Records when she was only 15 years old. She made sure not to make the same mistake with her new recording label and will have ownership of her own music. In addition to singing, Taylor Swift was involved in writing her music, famously putting together “Speak Now” without the usual amount of co-writers. In all, Taylor has a reputation for being heavily involved in her music creations and the bad blood between Taylor and Scooter created a chasm. To make matters worse, Scooter Braun did offer to sell back her masters (for an undisclosed amount) if she would stay silent and stop talking about him negatively. Taylor and her legal team refused to sign the non-disclosure agreement. In an act of retaliation, Scooter Braun had Taylor Swift’s masters sold yet again to another company, Shamrock Holdings. Taylor was not informed of the arrangement until Shamrock Holdings reached out to inform her of the sale. In a twitter post, Taylor says that this is the second time her masters were sold and she had been given no opportunity to buy them herself. She also goes on to say that the contract between Shamrock Holdings and Scooter Braun will allow Scooter to continue to profit off of her Big Machine Records albums.
        Taylor Swift was not able to acquire master recordings through the “Reputation” era so she is taking matters into her own hands and fighting back in the best way she can. With the release of “Lover,” her first self-owned record, she made it no secret that the atrocities committed by Scooter Braun would not stand. If big artists like Taylor Swift can be banned from playing their own music because they switched labels, imagine how many smaller musicians struggle with similar problems! She started by using music in “Lover” to make slights against Scooter Braun, found in her song “The Man.” Taylor is no stranger to working her real life difficulties with people through her music and in this case, it is not surprising. She also took another dig at him through a Match.com commercial produced by Ryan Reynolds featuring her re-recorded “Love Story.” These references are reminders to the music community that this is still a conversation that is being addressed; however, her boldest resolution comes in her promise to re-record her albums that she made under Big Machine Records. In doing this, she will be reclaiming the music she wrote as well as reclaiming her dignity and control over her work. Now she has much more autonomy because she herself will have direct authority over her work as seen with the albums she already has complete ownership of: “Lover,” “Folklore,” and “Evermore.”
        As she re-records her previous albums “Taylor Swift,” “Fearless,” “Speak Now,” “Red,” “1989,” and “Reputation,” based on what Taylor has shown in her “Love Story (Taylor’s Version)”, fans can expect most of the music to remain true to the original form. The Swiftie fandom is powerful enough to back her re-recordings and have already shunned Scooter Braun and Big Machine Records because of their policies regarding Taylor Swift’s masters.
        While the music itself isn’t likely to experience much change, the re-releasing of these past albums is opening another door for Taylor Swift. She is choosing to release old songs that hadn’t made it onto the original albums. The Taylor’s Version album is set to include all her original songs, including the extras from the album’s platinum version, as well as six new songs and one remix for a total of 27 tracks. She is still featuring Colbie Caillat on “Breathe” and is bringing in the talents of Maren Morris and Keith Urban on her new songs.
        This whole ordeal has been a rollercoaster ride for me as a fan. I have been listening and following Taylor Swift’s career since her first album and it was devastating when she couldn’t perform her iconic songs because of the ownership of her masters. Swifties everywhere have rallied behind Taylor in her quest for ownership of her music. Together it has been a journey that reminds us that music is property and there are people who certainly treat it as such. Musicians and artists get screwed over by their labels and only a few actually have the power to fight back. Taylor reclaiming her music is not only a business move, but hopefully a move towards more autonomy and control for musicians. It helps bring awareness for artists to pay attention to the contracts put in front of them. Read the fine print and know who controls the intellectual and artistic property. In this newest era, Taylor Swift is cementing herself as her own person and a voice for women in the music industry. Watching her change from the girl under Big Machine Records to the woman with ownership of her own music has also involved seeing her shed the opinions of others. She has allowed herself to speak her mind and call people out for their slights. She has become a feminist voice, fighting against all those who have tried to fit her into a specific box.