Last Friday, September 17, 2021, Taylor Swift released her song “Wildest Dreams (Taylor’s Version)” and to any local listener, one could hit play and find themselves confused. Hasn’t this song already come out? Well, that is partially true.
“Wildest Dreams” was released as one of the hit singles from Swifts album 1989. Back in 2015, this song topped charts, was a radio hit, and a fan favorite. So why would she re-release the same song nearly six years later?
In 2018, Swift’s old record label Big Machine Records and the rights to all her music up to date had been sold to producer Scooter Braun. This gave Braun all ownership rights of the master recordings of Swift’s music. Therefore anytime someone wanted to license a Taylor Swift song, they had to go through him. Braun was now the person who decided how her music was used, not Taylor.
After her deal with Big Machine was up that year, she made the switch to Universal Republic Records, where she made the deal to have full ownership of the music she made with the new label. Following the deal, Taylor released Lover, folklore, and evermore: three albums fully owned by her.
She then made the big decision to re-record her masters in an effort to regain the rights and ownership of all her old songs. This meant that she was planning on re-recording six albums (104 songs) under her new label and new contract. It was a big claim, but so far, she’s made it a reality.
On April 9, 2021 Taylor Swift released Fearless (Taylor’s Version), a complete re-record of theoriginal 2008 country album. For the most part, every song is the exact same, if you listen closely there may be an extra riff or note, but the songs didn’t change.
The exciting part is that with every re-release, Swift is adding a handful of songs that didn’t make it onto the original album. These songs are called “Vault Tracks”. For example, a few days before the release of Fearless (Taylor’s Version), Swift gave her fans the second single of the album You All Over Me (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault). This ballad was written by a young Taylor Swift, but was tucked away and never released to the public, until now. The new album included six vault songs.
Fans and music listeners have lots of different opinions about Swift’s choice to re-record her already released music. Some say she’s chasing her old fame, others say it’s a bold decision in an effort to save her name. As a life-long fan of hers, I think this is a great thing. Her music has had so much success and made so many marks on pop culture. If what it takes to get the credit she deserves is for her to renew her entire discography, then I’m on board. Especially because it isn’t just a boring carbon copy of the original albums. She still finds a way to keep it fresh and interesting by adding new music in the process.
Her second re-recorded album Red (Taylor’s Version) is set drop on November 19, 2021. And since her latest release “Wildest Dreams (Taylor’s Version)” is from the album 1989, not Red, fans speculate if a different album could drop before then. When it comes to Taylor Swift, anything could happen, but what I’m looking forward to most are the 10 vault tracks included in the Red re-recording.
Now, as the re-recordings drop one at a time, we get to relive the timeline of Taylor Swift’s career in ways we never have before. Her music is the gift that keeps on giving, and I think that’s pretty awesome.
So, next time you see Swift’s released a new song, and it sounds a little too familiar, you’ll know the reason why. The phrase “Taylor’s Version” isn’t just about her anymore. It’s about inspiring young, new artists to have complete ownership of their creativity.
