Over this past weekend, international music icon Taylor Swift re-released her award-winning album Red. Originally released in 2012, it sold 7.5 million albums. Rolling Stone placed it in their top 100 albums of all time. Now Swift is re-recording her first six albums in response to the sale of her catalog.
Taylor Swift doesn’t own the masters to her first six albums due to the contract she signed with Big Machine Records when she was 14. In 2018 Swift left Big Machine Records when they told her to gain ownership of her albums she would have to produce an album for each album she wanted back. Swift, who is the writer or co-writer on all of her music, has repeatedly said that she believes artists should own the work they make.
In 2019, Big Machine Records sold to Scooter Braun. At that time Braun would allow Swift to buy her masters back if she signed an NDA that states that she wouldn’t speak out against Braun, despite a years-old feud between both parties. This led to Swift deciding to re-record her music.
Earlier in the year, Swift released Fearless (Taylor’s version) which included the original songs from the beloved album plus six songs “from the vault.” Now Swift has released Red (Taylor’s version) which now includes a total of 30 songs. Fans were most excited for All Too Well (ten-minute version), which despite not being a single on the original album became the fan-favorite. In addition to the album, Swift released a short film and a music video.
Other well-known artists who did not own their work from the start include Prince, The Beatles, and many more. The impact of Taylor Swift’s re-recording goes farther than making her many fans happy. It sets a precedent for artists in the future where artists own their work.