1 of 1 Cover of “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” Photo: Disclosure Cover of “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” Photo: Disclosure
Taylor Swift releases this Friday (27) “1989 (Taylor’s Version)”, a rerecording of one of her most famous albums at 1 a.m. (Brasília time) to be precise.
Announced in August, this is the singer’s fourth rerecorded album, released on the same day as the original, nine years apart.
The 2014 album earned the singer the Grammy for Album of the Year, as well as Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Video for the track “Bad Blood.”
In November, Taylor plays six shows in Brazil: on the 17th, 18th and 19th at Nilton Santos Stadium in Rio de Janeiro and on the 24th, 25th and 26th at Allianz Parque in São Paulo.
Why is she planning to rerecord her first six albums?
When an artist takes their old songs into the studio, it’s normal to create different versions that showcase something new.
After all, it doesn’t make sense to hear the same person sing and play everything the same way. But for Taylor Swift, the strategy is to copy herself. She is remaking her first six albums, a plan announced in 2019.
The singer does not own the recordings of her first six albums. The rights were owned by the record label Big Machine. The contract was signed in 2004 when she was 14 years old. The inexperienced artist had little negotiating power and the clauses with the record company were generous.
Her situation is not uncommon among pop stars, who have little control over their early work because they have signed similar contracts.
But the way she has tried to get around this is unusual and could have an impact on the music industry so much so that Ashanti also announced similar plans for her first album in 2021.
Who owns the recordings today?
Big Machine was purchased in 2019 by Scooter Braun, Justin Bieber’s manager. Taylor Swift doesn’t get along with him and said she was “bullied” by Braun, which is why she was outraged when he became the owner of her recordings.
Things got even worse when, a year later, Braun resold Taylor Swift’s catalog for $300 million to Shamrock, a company founded by Roy E. Disney, Walt Disney’s nephew. “This was the second time my music was sold without my knowledge,” she lamented.
The owners of the original recordings have a share of the profits from streaming and, more importantly, can control its use in other works, even if it is a film by Taylor himself. Because she is a composer, she also has the right to veto certain uses and receives a portion of the proceeds.
A clause in the old contract with Big Machine provided the loophole for Taylor’s current project: from the end of 2020, she received the right to rerecord the compositions recorded on the first five albums.
With the new recordings, she regains full control over her work as the author and owner of the new audio recording. Now it’s a matter of convincing fans as well as film and advertising producers to listen to and use the new versions.
At the end of 2019 G1 declared war, see video below:
Pop Week No. 64: Taylor Swift and her managers go to war