Why Taylor Swift Is Re-Recording Her Entire Catalog

Highlights

• Twitter was flooded with explicit deepfake images of Taylor Swift in late January, leading to the hashtag #ProtectTaylorSwift trending. Twitter/X did not take immediate action to stop the spread.
• Taylor Swift re-recorded her albums after the rights to her music were sold without her consent. The re-recordings have been successful with fans and have driven down the value of the original records.
• Record labels are scrambling to draft new contract clauses to prevent artists from re-recording their music in the wake of Taylor Swift's successful re-recordings.

Born in December 1989, Taylor Swift is a multi-Grammy award-winning American pop and country music singer/songwriter.

Widely beloved for her musical versatility and frequent artistic reinventions, Taylor has achieved massive success in her music career, collecting various Grammy Awards.

In 2023, Taylor Swift was making headlines almost constantly, for a constellation of reasons.

Updated, January 2024: Taylor Swift remained in the news into 2024, and in January, made headlines for a far less pleasant reason than her touring success or her blockbuster Eras Tour film.

#ProtectTaylorSwift trended on Twitter in late January, after obscene "deepfakes" generated using artificial intelligence (AI) spread rampantly on the platform.

Fans and Twitter users in general tweeted about the issue, in an attempt to stop the spread of the content:

On January 25th, technology news site The Verge reported that Twitter (or X) had been "flooded" with explicit, fake images of Swift.

According to the outlet, the "term ‘Taylor Swift AI’ was trending [on Twitter/X] in various regions, with one post gaining more than 45 million views before it was eventually removed."

The outlet added that users started pressuring the platform to take protective measures:

"Swift’s fan base has criticized X for allowing many of the posts to remain live for as long as they have. In response, fans have responded by flooding hashtags used to circulate the images with messages that instead promote real clips of Swift performing to hide the explicit fakes."

The New York Post's Page Six indicated that on January 25th, deepfakes of Swift continued circulating:

"Doctored graphic photos of Taylor Swift, which were created with artificial intelligence, were circulating on X [the morning of January 25th], leading her dedicated army of fans to flood the platform with positive posts about the singer. The phrase 'Protect Taylor Swift' quickly began trending in the wake of several X-rated images being re-shared on social media from various NSFW websites."

At the time of publication, Twitter/X had not acknowledged the Taylor Swift deepfakes, nor taken any perceptible action to stop their spread.

The New York Post contacted Swift's representatives for comment, but did not receive an immediate response.

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Her massively successful Eras Tour and the cinematic release of a feature-length film about it were among predominant developments involving the multi-talented musician.

However, she also made headlines for a matter unrelated to blockbuster tour dates or the associated film – Taylor's re-recording and re-release of material in her existing catalog.

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Why Taylor Swift Is Re-Recording Her Albums

Until June 2019, when Taylor disclosed her intention to re-record her first six albums, the concept of "re-recording" was largely a music industry "niche" issue, which remained out of popular discourse and the public eye for the most part.

However, following the impressive success of Taylor’s re-releases (which have seen her accumulate billions of streams and revenue), the process and the reasons behind it have drawn broader interest.

Swift's decision to re-record her albums came after former manager Scooter Braun purchased the rights to her first six records in 2019, a sale she said happened without her consent.

Swift's catalog was later sold to Shamrock Capital, for $300 million in 2020.

As for why, Taylor Swift herself provided a detailed explanation in a June 2019 Tumblr post, published before Braun sold her catalog to a private equity firm in 2020.

In the post, a clearly distraught Swift detailed myriad reasons Braun's acquisition of her masters was upsetting for her, citing personal conflicts with Braun, Kim Kardashian, and Kanye West as secondary factors.

Swift's post is worth reading in its entirety, as she details the intricacies of record deals and recording rights at length, from the perspective of a high-profile recording artist:

However, she indicated that she learned of the sale through the news, in the same way (and at the same time) as her fans.

Her Tumblr post was a response to what she described as "today's news" (about Braun buying her masters) and she said:

This is my worst case scenario.

This is what happens when you sign a deal at fifteen to someone for whom the term ‘loyalty’ is clearly just a contractual concept.

And when that man says ‘Music has value’, he means its value is beholden to men who had no part in creating it.

Swift's post included a screenshot of Braun "bullying" her on Instagram.

In a particularly emotional excerpt, Swift continued, emphasizing the violation of her wishes by both Braun and Big Machine Records CEO Scott Borchetta:

When I left my masters in Scott’s hands, I made peace with the fact that eventually he would sell them. Never in my worst nightmares did I imagine the buyer would be Scooter.

Any time Scott Borchetta has heard the words ‘Scooter Braun’ escape my lips, it was when I was either crying or trying not to.

He knew what he was doing; they both did. Controlling a woman who didn’t want to be associated with them. In perpetuity. That means forever.

Taylor's 'Worst Case Scenario' Turned Out Well

Though Taylor initially described the sale to Braun as her "worst case scenario" in 2019 (and her consent was violated irrespective of the outcome), she managed to leverage situation to her advantage.

The move has seen the Grammy-winner release new versions of her albums, including Red, Speak Now, Fearless, and most recently, 1989.

Swift added "Taylor’s Version" at the end of each title, to make it easy for fans to differentiate between the re-recordings and original versions (the latter of which were bought and sold by Braun).

Initially, the "Taylor’s Version" re-recordings were recorded, so she could regain ownership rights.

But the project also unexpectedly created cultural moments out of old material – while at the same time driving down the value of the original records that were sold away.

In short, a true "worst case scenario" became a "win-win situation" for Swift ... but it certainly wasn't effortless on her part.

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Taylor’s Re-Recordings Became A Huge Success

The pop star’s efforts have greatly paid off, as fans have embraced the re-recordings with a groundswell of support, love, and sales.

Swift's re-recordings have arguably become much more successful than the originals. All the re-recordings that the star has released have all made it to Billboard's Top 200, evidencing their success.

1989 (Taylor’s Version) had already sold over a million copies less than a week after its release. What’s more, Taylor officially became a billionaire in October 2023:

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The change to Taylor Swift's net worth included $500 million of her revenue from music royalties and touring, and another $500 million from the growing value of her music catalog.

Based on the most recent available data as of November 17th, 2023:

Record Labels Probably Aren't Celebrating Taylor’s Re-Recording Success

While Taylor’s fans have received the releases very well, the move has caused an uproar among some record labels.

The star’s hard-won success has made them realize that the prospect of artists re-recording their music is a risky affair ... for the labels.

Following the success of Taylor Swift’s re-recordings, record labels considered efforts to keep artists from re-recording for long periods or worse, ever.

According to Billboard, several powerful labels, including Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, and Sony Music Entertainment, scrambled to draft novel contract clauses to prevent artists from re-recording their music as Swift did.

Those overhauled contracts could constrain artists from re-recording their music for up to three decades, or 30 years; under existing practices, the period is between two and seven years.

Record labels invest heavily in the artists they choose to sign (and their music catalogs), and stricter exclusivity clauses would minimize risk. News about record labels prolonging the periods that artists would have to wait before they can re-record their releases was first highlighted by the Wall Street Journal in late 2021.

According to the paper, new agreements extended the time restrictions to double the initial period; Universal Music Group reportedly rolled out new guidelines following Taylor’s initial run of re-releases.

Other Artists Are Following Suit

Swift is not the first artist to re-record her work, as major artists (including Neil Young and Frank Sinatra) have done so in the past.

However, Taylor’s success in regaining the ownership rights to her master recordings has motivated others (like 98 Degrees) to re-record existing music.

In summation, Taylor Swift’s incredible re-recording successes are the result of her flipping a setback around in her favor – providing a blueprint for other artists, and a headache for major record labels.

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