Taylor Swift is planning to record some of her earlier songs again, to regain control of her catalog, she says. Does this mean fans will be hearing a new rendition of “Teardrops on My Guitar?”
The “You Need To Calm Down” singer shared that to regain control over her earlier songs, those which propelled her to stardom, she will be recording them. Her catalog was recently sold in a blockbuster business deal and she feels slighted about it.
In an interview with CBS News, her plan will offset this deal. She did not like this deal in the first place, because it puts her earlier hits in the hands of a talent agent she did not particularly has a good relationship with, music mogul Scooter Braun.
Braun specifically got the rights to the “Blank Space” singer’s masters and more when his company, Ithica Holdings bought Scott Borchetta’s Big Machine Label Group for a price of $300 Million. Swift’s first six albums - all massively successful, was with Big Machine Label Group.
When the deal pushed through, Swift took to Tumblr to accuse Braun of “manipulative bullying” and said she only knew of the deal the same time as everyone else in the world. This is a great loss for her because not knowing about the deal deprived her of the chance to buy back her music. Usually, artists who own their masters can have control of this music and earn more money from them.
She has a solution to this now. Asked by Swift about recording past songs so she can regain control of her master recordings, she said yes. Swift said it is an “absolute” plan.
Earlier, when she wrote about the Braun debacle, she explained that her decision to move to Universal Music Group was primarily motivated by the knowledge that her future could be sold off by Scott Borchetta.
“I walked away (in November, to Universal Music Group) because I knew once I signed (a new) contract, Scott Borchetta would sell the label, thereby selling me and my future," she wrote. "Thankfully, I am now signed to a label that believes I should own anything I create," she added.
According to the Guardian, Swift’s decision may not be motivated by profits or rights at all. She certainly does not need more money from licensing new versions of her earlier music, even though she can certainly make more when that happens. Instead, analysts have it that her dislike of Braun is so big that she will do anything to prevent him from benefitting from the originals. Swift’s power in the music industry can also not be underestimated, considering the number of her loyal fans, who will likely buy her old songs, even if they were sung to and danced to, long past.
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