Taylor Swift started her very impactful career on October 24th, 2006, when she released her debut album “Taylor Swift,” with 15 tracks and a total of 53 minutes and 29 seconds. Since then, her career has grown enough for her to sell out stadiums all around the world, and ten top-selling albums and her name is known around the world.
Taylor Swift signed a deal with Big Machine Records when she was 15, giving the record label ownership of her masters. They owned her first six masters; “Taylor Swift (2006)”, “Fearless (2008)”, “Speak Now (2010)”, “Red (2012)”, “1989 (2014)”, and “Reputation (2017)”.
In 2019, Big Machine Records was bought by Scooter Braun. Scooter Braun is a music executive and talent manager with his company, SB Projects. In an interview, Swift said, “ I couldn’t believe who he sold it to, because we’ve had endless conversations about Scooter Braun. And he has 300 million reasons to conveniently forget those conversations,” when she found out that Scooter Braun bought her masters from Scott Borchetta, the founder of Big Machine, for 300 million dollars.
When Swift tried to buy her master’s in 2019, Big Machine Records offered a deal where she had to re-sign with them. She would then earn one album back at a time for each new one she turned in, which she declined. She tried to negotiate for rights to her master’s but was asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement that stated she wouldn’t say anything negative about Braun, which she also declined. She wanted to work with Shamrock Holdings but didn’t like that Braun would profit from her in the new deal. She later signed with Republic Records, allowing her to own her masters going forward.
Swift’s desire to own her music caused her to start re-recording those first six albums. Her contract with Big Machine Records said she had the right to re-record her music in November 2020. Swift writes her songs herself. Therefore, she owns the publishing rights, meaning she has the rights to actual compositions rather than just the recordings.
She started re-recording her music in 2021. She added (Taylor’s Version) to her music, letting people know she owns that song version. Her first re-release was her 2008 album “Fearless” in 2021. This album includes 26 tracks, including the 6 (From The Vault) tracks. (From the Vault) tracks are songs Swift wrote when she wrote the original album but did not release them. In “Fearless (Taylor’s Version),” she collaborates with Colbie Caillat, Marren Morris, and Keith Urban.
In 2021, she re-released her 2012 album “Red”. This album has 30 tracks, including the 9 (From The Vault). She has many collaborations featured in this album, such as Gary Lightbody, Ed Sheeran, Phoebe Bridgers, and Chris Stapleton.
At her Nashville show on May 5th, 2023, she surprised her fans by announcing the re-release of her 2010 album “Speak Now”. On Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), it has 22 tracks, including the 6 (From The Vault) tracks. Her collaborations in this re-release are with Fallout Boy and Hayley Williams.
At her California show on August 9th, 2023, she took the opportunity to announce her version of her 2014 album “1989”. The “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” release date is October 27th, 2023. It will have 18 tracks, including the 5 (From The Vault) tracks. It has not been announced yet the names of (From The Vault) tracks and if there are any collaborations.
Swift has two more albums to re-release before she owns all her music, “Taylor Swift (2006)” and “Reputation (2017)”. Fans are guessing that her next re-recording will be “Reputation,” speculating that her first album, “Taylor Swift,” will be the last to be released due to its significance
Taylor Swift significantly impacts her fans through her music, personality, story, and message. Her re-recording and re-releasing of her music can inspire people to pursue their dreams and get through hard times, showing her perseverance and independence. Taylor has become one of the most well-known female artists of our century, which is just one reason why.
