Why Is Taylor Swift Re-recording Her Albums?
Why Is Taylor Swift Re-recording Her Albums?
Taylor Swift has been on a mission to Re-record her music after businessman Scooter Braun bought the ownership to her first six albums back in 2019.
Swifts troubles started with her first record deal with Big Machine Label Group.
Why doesn’t Taylor Swift own her music?
At the time of signing, Taylor, 14, gave the company the rights to her first six albums. And in return, she received a cash advance.
It meant Big Machine Label Group owned the ‘master recordings’ of her songs. Therefore profiting from all copies of the master track on CDs, and tracks used on platforms like Spotify and Apple Music.
(Photo by Kevin Mazu Getty Images
Scooter Braun then bought Ms Swift’s first label, Big Machine in June, 2019, for $300 million (£237 million).
Braun also owns company, SB Projects, which manages several big artists including Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, Demi Lovato, David Guetta and the Black Eyed Peas.
Swift has accused Braun of bullying her for years and suggested he was out to “dismantle” her work.
She said: “Never in my worst nightmares did I imagine the buyer would be Scooter.
“Essentially, my musical legacy is about to lie in the hands of someone who tried to dismantle it.”
Scott Borchetta, who founded Big Machine, has denied parts of Swift’s story.
Can Taylor buy her music back?
Taylor tried to purchase her music back but Braun’s team said she had to sign a non-disclosure agreement promising she would not speak negatively of him in public again.
Ms Swift said: “So I would have to sign a document that would silence me forever before I could even have a chance to bid on my own work.
“My legal team said that this is absolutely NOT normal. And they’ve never seen an NDA like this presented unless it was to silence an assault accuser by paying them off.”
She said they would “not even quote my team a price”. And “these master recordings were not for sale to me”.
Been getting a lot of questions about the recent sale of my old masters. I hope this clears things up. pic.twitter.com/sscKXp2ibD
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) November 16, 2020
Braun has since sold the master recordings to Swift’s first six albums in November 2020 to Shamrock Holdings. But Swift says Braun will still profit from her music.
Taylor said the terms of the deal mean Braun will “continue to profit off my old musical catalogue for many years”. And his involvement means she will not forge a partnership with Shamrock Holdings.
Who owns Taylor Swifts New Music?
Taylor Swift signed with Republic Records in 2018, in a deal which meant she could keep the rights to her music.
She has since released three new albums and two re-recorded albums: Red (Taylor’s Version) on November 12, 2021. And Fearless (Taylor’s Version) on 9 April, 2021.
Re-recording them means she creates new ‘master’ versions of her old tracks that she has ownership of. So when those versions are played on Spotify and Apple Music, she profits from them.
But any old versions of her songs still belong to Shamrock Holdings. And so the company will continue to profit from the old tracks if people play them.
Why Is Taylor Swift Re-recording Her Albums?
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