Her voice is a familiar sound. Nothing lasts forever but this is getting good now, because Taylor is re-recording her first 6 albums! This weekend, Taylor Swift dropped “Red (Taylor’s Version),” transporting everyone back to 2012 and vibing to breakup anthems.
Why did she re-release her album??
Basically, she doesn’t own the masters (the original recording) of her masters. 15 year-old Taylor was living in Nashville. She was just a girl with a guitar who enjoyed writing country songs. An unknown artist signed her first record deal with label Big Machine in 2004. This deal gave them the rights to her first six albums in exchange for cash advance. Such deals aren’t something peculiar in the music industry. This standard legal arrangement grants the record label the ownership of the copyrights of the recordings. Which is why, when she left Big Machine in 2018, her masters didn’t.
She knew she was leaving her master behind, but the only other option was to resign with the label and ‘earn’ one album back for every new one she released. She said she tried to regain ownership of those six albums, but Big Machine didn’t give her the opportunity. The label, however, denies it. So she went ahead and signed a deal with Universal Music Group, which granted her ownership of her master recordings henceforth (beginning with the Lover era).
All the proceeds from people streaming her old songs are not hers. Having ownership of her work is also deeply personal to Swift. To make matters worse, her records were sold to Scooter Braun’s music company as part of a $300 million deal in 2019. This was described as the “worst case scenario” by her as alleges that she was bullied by Braun for years. Last November, Braun further sold the masters of all six albums. She responded by saying, “this was the second time my music has been sold without my knowledge.” Long story short, it was a bad time 😉
Now, she’s re-releasing her first six albums as “Taylor’s version.” What makes them even more special is that Taylor’s version of the album contains tracks that didn’t make it to the final album while she was with Big Machine. She has already released Fearless (Taylor’s Version) and Red (Taylor’s Version).
She OWNS these albums now and their original compositions. She has control over her work and also financially gains from it (finally).
By releasing her old albums , Taylor is making a statement, undoubtedly. However, she is also changing the music industry. Her versions have been so popular that they’ve amped up tensions between other artists in their labels. A lot of musicians are watching Taylor pull off something historic and are thinking about doing it themselves.
Imagine if you were a new artist today and are signing a deal with a label. Wouldn’t you look into your contract and ownership details after Taylor’s story? I know I would.
Artists, old and new, want ownership of their master recordings. It gives them control over their music and massive financial benefits. In a typical record deal, a label can take 80% of streaming revenue, with just 20% going to the artist. However, when they own their masters, artists get to keep around 80-95% of the revenue. Artists will look at clinching a deal where they own their songs, putting the label in a tough spot.
The rise of streaming services (like Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music etc.) has threatened the role of music labels since releasing music on a wide scale has become so much easier. Artists are also finding an audience for their music on Instagram, TikTok etc. often fueling bidding wars between labels who want to sign them. With an increasing number of artists with such leverage- the ability to record, release and find an audience for their music- labels have to modify their contracts.
In the new deal she negotiated with Universal, she owns her work. Anything she records under this contract, will be owned by Taylor Swift and Universal Music licenses for a period of time. They’ll handle distribution, promotion, logistics and things like that but at the end of the day, the music and masters are owned by none other than Taylor herself. Only a few artists can bag a deal like this. She has a strong presence in the industry, a large fanbase and credibility. Being a big star helped her in negotiating such a deal.
Taylor’s success with the recordings is a good example of why Universal Music Group has been trying to protect its rights with other artists who might want to re-record their songs later. Generally, an artist can re-record their songs 2 years after their recording contract ends or five years after their last recording is delivered, whichever is longer. Universal increased this to five and seven years (respectively) and is only letting artists re-record two songs in the seven years after that period. Essentially, they have doubled the amount of time before an artist can re-record their music. Only after 14 years can they re-record their albums. They have done so in order to protect themselves because most of the money has been made in the first 10 years.
So the labels have shielded themselves from artists creating competitive recordings at the time the song is earning the most revenue. They have some other changes as well such as increase in royalty payment to artists and more transparency into how royalties are calculated. At the end of the day, they have to keep the artists happy! Universal happens to be the largest and most influential music label. So other labels will probably follow suit with similar changes in their contracts.
How successful is “Taylor’s Version”?
More than you’d think. For starters, both, Fearless (Taylor’s Version) and Red (Taylor’s Version), were number 1 albums. Her versions of the song are outperforming their original counterparts. “Fearless (Taylor’s Version)” has been streamed three times as much as the original since its release.
TikTok definitely contributed to the success of Wildest Dreams (Taylor’s Version). It has been used in nearly 70,000 TikTok videos viewed over 2 billion times! The original has less than 7,000 videos. Her fans understood the assignment.
She’s breaking records… “Red (Taylor’s Version)” broke Spotify’s record for the most-streamed album in a day by a female artist, the day it was released. She broke a second Spotify record as the most streamed female artist in a single day. Her music totaled over 122.9 million streams on Friday, approximately 75% of which came from “Red (Taylor’s Version).”
“All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version) (From the Vault)” soared in at No. 1 on Billboard Hot 100. It’s the longest No. 1 song by runtime, beating Don McLean’s “American Pie.” So bye bye Miss American Pie.
4 No.1 albums in 16th Months. No other solo artist has knocked out that many No. 1 albums so fast in history. With “All Too Well” as the top song, it’s like 2012 all over again! Maybe what’s past is not past 😉
How far will labels go to protect their revenues? Are other artists willing to go as far down the path as Taylor, to re-release their classics? There are a lot of questions burning red. Although, only time will tell.
The Echo-nomist 
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