Taylor Swift is an American singer-songwriter. She started when she was only 14. She is the most awarded female in history. She is releasing her rerecording of her 4th album “Red” on Friday, November 12. Some sites state that it will be available for streaming at midnight.

The track consists of the 16 original songs PLUS 14 songs from the vault that her old label didn’t let her release originally. It also includes guest performances from artists like Phoebe Bridgers, Ed Sheeran, and Chris Stapleton. 

So why is she rerecording?  Basically, when Taylor was 15, she signed a deal that conveyed the ownership rights for the recordings of her first six albums to Big Machine Records. This meant Big Machine would own the masters to her future music from now on, but if she wrote the song, she would own copyright. After the release of her sixth studio album, Taylor and Big Machine apparently entered brief negotiations but failed to establish a new deal for more albums of hers to be released through them. Not long after, rumors began to spread around the industry that she wanted to have ownership of her first six albums. In 2018 Swift announced her new label was with Republic Records and Universal Music Group, and she stated, “I’ll own all of my master recordings that I make from now on.” In 2019, she found out via the internet that her records were sold to Ithaca Holdings LLC, owned by music manager Scooter Braun without her consent. Big Machine could accept the master use license, but Taylor was the songwriter to all her music. Therefore she does not own her old album recordings, but she does own the composition rights to her music. She blocked the use of her old music being used in movies and commercials.

Then again in late 2020, Taylor’s masters were sold to Shamrock Holdings, rumored to be sold for $300 million without her knowledge. She released a long statement on Twitter about it, which included her mentioning her rerecording albums.

Possibly by the end 2022, we should have all 6 of her original albums. Taylor has made it clear she’s not doing the re-recordings to make more money; she’s raising awareness for any future artists to be aware of the contracts they’re signing, allowing them to have more power and financial freedom over their own work. Until she makes any new announcements, we will be happily streaming Fearless (Taylor’s Version) and Red (Taylor’s Version).  

Have fun streaming!