I started seeing jokes about “Scooter’s Version” (or should it now be “Hedge Fund’s Version”?) and for me 1989 is the breaking point. Taylor is now a billionaire (or close to it) so in terms of her interests, absolutely no one should feel guilty for preferring an original version of one of her songs. For me that’s “The Moment I Knew” from the Red cycle. I have always loved that song and I just can’t accept the new version. I actually am okay with 1989 (Taylor’s Version) and I also liked the new version of Speak Now. But it’s going to be very individual for how one chooses.
In general I do support this project in that I have seen so many artists screwed over by their record companies. A country artist I enjoy, Jamey Johnson, hasn’t put out new music (that he wrote) in years because of a dispute. Patty Griffin passed on the song Truth No. 2 to The Chicks because the record company refused to release her album for over a decade. That Taylor has screwed over her old record company makes me smile.
I am with you on the money grab. Have fans considered just not buying it? Or giving themselves a budget? Because there’s something to be said for choosing not to be fleeced. I say that as a super U2 fan who owns some rare LPs I found digging through Strawberry Records back in the day.
This was an interesting read! Personally, this the first TV where I feel like I wouldn't mind so much that my Alexa will default to playing them on Spotify because they are more pleasant to the ear with better production and improved vocals, but I understand if people are really drawn to that Max Martin Crunch. "Say Don't Go" is growing on me, but for me, the standout Vault track is "Is It Over Now?" Although for sure, it sounds very Midnights-y and the idea that these Vault tracks are truly...From the Vault is suspect.
I get that part of the motivation is fitting all of these into the Eras tour era, but I do think the whole re-recording project would make more sense if it was gradual, maybe even tied to anniversary years for each album. As someone who is only a casual Swift fan, it feels like the quantity of material to absorb has almost become too great and I imagine the capitalism criticism would be less prominent if fans actually had a chance to build their savings back up again before Taylor swooped in with another album to buy.
My friend who works for Warner Brothers (which I don’t believe has any skin in this game, but wherein the executives discuss stuff like this and have cynical views of the industry) is very cynical about the whole Taylor’s Version thing and insists that there was a deal Taylor could have taken, although it may have included some nondisparagement related clauses. This is all a big cash grab as far as he is concerned.
Pretty sure it did come out a few times from Taylor’s camp that she wasn’t willing to sign nondisparagement clauses & Scooter/Scott refused to remove those from the deals. So sure, there were deals - but back to Miles’s point about morals.
Of course that’s what a suit at a record company would say! Importantly new record contracts now prohibit what Taylor is doing now. The loophole has been closed. That tells you how threatening they found what she did.
Surprising because it's not new. Most contracts let the writer/artist own the publishing and the company own the actual recordings. I believe Aimee Mann was one who rerecorded her songs on her own after her label rejected her album. Def Leppard did it before they worked it out with their label. I assume it has to be the scale that has changed things.
Reports have recently emerged that labels are trying to extend the window before rerecording is possible, although lawyers are pushing back against those contracts.
Another fantastic Taylor Swift article. As a fellow Swift scholar, I've really appreciated these articles, even if it's pretty far from what I subscribed for initially. Your thoughts always make me want to explore more of my own (even though my focus is a lot more racialised than yours appears to be). Definitely a lot to think about here. This version of 1989 really did feel like a breaking point for the project. The vault tracks don't add much and the rerecordings just seem inferior. More dominated by Antonoff's style of production, which has felt pretty tired for the last few years.
As someone who does not follow or listen to Swift but have absorbed enough from the general culture…I am just learning that like the Scooter thing is related to the Kanye thing…I do not know the Kanye thing really. I thought Scooter was like specifically taking advantage of her. Idk, the whole rerecording thing seems less nobler than her fans make them sound like…if anyone has an explainer please let me know.
I am struggling with how to feel about the Taylor Version projects. I am what you would call a Swiftie in that I enjoy her music, usually to the point of having her be my top Artist on Spotify several years in a year, and went to the Eras tour twice. I own no merch other than the bootleg A Lot Going On Right now shirt I bought on Amazon, only because I thought it was fun. I'm the same age as Taylor, and was aware of her music during the first four albums but never really listed until 1989. 1989 was a defining album for me - it came out during my last year of law school and it was literally THE only music I listed to while studying for the bar exam all of the summer of 2015. After becoming a fan, I went back and listened to the prior records, but only cared for Red. (I'm not a country music listener, though I've started to enjoy some of the crossover artists popping up in the rock-country sphere.)
Fearless TV didn't make much of an impression on me. It was fun to listen to and I liked Mr. Perfectly Fine, but I don't think it got more than a couple of listens. Red TV was a revelation. I had already decided All Too Well was my favorite Taylor song - the 10 minute version, and the short form that followed, elevated it to a piece of true true artistry. I liked the rest of the vault tracks and thought they were additive while the rerecords of the music I enjoyed but didn't really know gave me a greater appreciation. Speak Now TV was fine - I liked a lot of the songs more than I remembered. I didn't care much for the vault (though that changed when I went to the first LA concert and saw 'I Can See You' live - now it's a favorite on repeat). 1989 TV is just eh for me. Other than Style, my untrained ears can't really tell the difference between the versions unless you play them in comparison mode line-by-line. And the vault tracks are pretty meh - I couldn't pin why they weren't clicking, but reading this article makes me feel like they were lost from Midnights, not 1989. And Midnights isn't my favorite, though it does have some great ones.
So a long post to basically say it's nice to have an excuse to revisit. It's not costing *me* any money other than the Spotify premium subscription I'd pay for anyway, so I think I'd rather have them than not. And it's great she can profit financially - the record companies make enough. I don't get the complaints that the prior records were "stolen" though - that's just how the industry works. You get taken advantage of until you get the clout to do it on your own terms - like any other industry in the world. I'll listen to the TVs when I remember to update my playlists on Spotify, but I'm not in a rush to do so on 1989. Very intrigued by the rumored Karma "lost" album, though, that I had never heard of before.
Also I'm really digging Gen V and I've been loving how fast it's moving! I completely disagree that it feels like a really long pilot! A really long pilot would have spent the entire damn season revealing the existence of The Woods!
I think my issue is that they’re not giving us any sense of them as actual college students, which…seems like it will be what the show becomes once they deal with this origin story? It just seems like every character got swept up in this scenario to the point they have no other real grounding in the story world.
Oh, I don't think they ever intended to give us any sense of them as actual college students given the reveal of God U's origins in the most recent episode. I am curious what kind of second season they're setting up, however. I've been enjoying the YA dystopia vibe the show has compared to The Boys, and I hope it continues to carve out its own distinct identity within this universe.
It may just be an inevitable byproduct of a TV show with the trappings of an actual TV show that ultimately has no desire to be a TV show: I get that the lore reveal complicates it, but I'd have much rather seen this play out as a serial thread through an 18-episode season than an 8-episode movie.
And see, I like that it's not an 8-episode movie! It's been refreshingly episodic, with each episode having a different focus and vibe, as opposed to just advancing multiple disparate storylines. Not as dramatic as, say, Mrs. Davis or anything, of course, but it stood out to me in an age when most shows are just long stories in chunks.
You know, Episodic Medium turned into a hard core Taylor Swift Substack so gradually I didn't even notice.
lmao, he threw in the Gen V observation at the end so all good
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I started seeing jokes about “Scooter’s Version” (or should it now be “Hedge Fund’s Version”?) and for me 1989 is the breaking point. Taylor is now a billionaire (or close to it) so in terms of her interests, absolutely no one should feel guilty for preferring an original version of one of her songs. For me that’s “The Moment I Knew” from the Red cycle. I have always loved that song and I just can’t accept the new version. I actually am okay with 1989 (Taylor’s Version) and I also liked the new version of Speak Now. But it’s going to be very individual for how one chooses.
In general I do support this project in that I have seen so many artists screwed over by their record companies. A country artist I enjoy, Jamey Johnson, hasn’t put out new music (that he wrote) in years because of a dispute. Patty Griffin passed on the song Truth No. 2 to The Chicks because the record company refused to release her album for over a decade. That Taylor has screwed over her old record company makes me smile.
I am with you on the money grab. Have fans considered just not buying it? Or giving themselves a budget? Because there’s something to be said for choosing not to be fleeced. I say that as a super U2 fan who owns some rare LPs I found digging through Strawberry Records back in the day.
Saying this as someone who is a big fan of some of her music: I genuinely wish I never had to hear the name Taylor Swift ever again
This was an interesting read! Personally, this the first TV where I feel like I wouldn't mind so much that my Alexa will default to playing them on Spotify because they are more pleasant to the ear with better production and improved vocals, but I understand if people are really drawn to that Max Martin Crunch. "Say Don't Go" is growing on me, but for me, the standout Vault track is "Is It Over Now?" Although for sure, it sounds very Midnights-y and the idea that these Vault tracks are truly...From the Vault is suspect.
I get that part of the motivation is fitting all of these into the Eras tour era, but I do think the whole re-recording project would make more sense if it was gradual, maybe even tied to anniversary years for each album. As someone who is only a casual Swift fan, it feels like the quantity of material to absorb has almost become too great and I imagine the capitalism criticism would be less prominent if fans actually had a chance to build their savings back up again before Taylor swooped in with another album to buy.
My friend who works for Warner Brothers (which I don’t believe has any skin in this game, but wherein the executives discuss stuff like this and have cynical views of the industry) is very cynical about the whole Taylor’s Version thing and insists that there was a deal Taylor could have taken, although it may have included some nondisparagement related clauses. This is all a big cash grab as far as he is concerned.
Pretty sure it did come out a few times from Taylor’s camp that she wasn’t willing to sign nondisparagement clauses & Scooter/Scott refused to remove those from the deals. So sure, there were deals - but back to Miles’s point about morals.
Of course that’s what a suit at a record company would say! Importantly new record contracts now prohibit what Taylor is doing now. The loophole has been closed. That tells you how threatening they found what she did.
Surprising because it's not new. Most contracts let the writer/artist own the publishing and the company own the actual recordings. I believe Aimee Mann was one who rerecorded her songs on her own after her label rejected her album. Def Leppard did it before they worked it out with their label. I assume it has to be the scale that has changed things.
Reports have recently emerged that labels are trying to extend the window before rerecording is possible, although lawyers are pushing back against those contracts.
Another fantastic Taylor Swift article. As a fellow Swift scholar, I've really appreciated these articles, even if it's pretty far from what I subscribed for initially. Your thoughts always make me want to explore more of my own (even though my focus is a lot more racialised than yours appears to be). Definitely a lot to think about here. This version of 1989 really did feel like a breaking point for the project. The vault tracks don't add much and the rerecordings just seem inferior. More dominated by Antonoff's style of production, which has felt pretty tired for the last few years.
There is no celebrity I want to see canceled more than Taylor Swift.
As someone who does not follow or listen to Swift but have absorbed enough from the general culture…I am just learning that like the Scooter thing is related to the Kanye thing…I do not know the Kanye thing really. I thought Scooter was like specifically taking advantage of her. Idk, the whole rerecording thing seems less nobler than her fans make them sound like…if anyone has an explainer please let me know.
Wow this is long
Not even close to the longest album cycle deep dive, tbh.
I am struggling with how to feel about the Taylor Version projects. I am what you would call a Swiftie in that I enjoy her music, usually to the point of having her be my top Artist on Spotify several years in a year, and went to the Eras tour twice. I own no merch other than the bootleg A Lot Going On Right now shirt I bought on Amazon, only because I thought it was fun. I'm the same age as Taylor, and was aware of her music during the first four albums but never really listed until 1989. 1989 was a defining album for me - it came out during my last year of law school and it was literally THE only music I listed to while studying for the bar exam all of the summer of 2015. After becoming a fan, I went back and listened to the prior records, but only cared for Red. (I'm not a country music listener, though I've started to enjoy some of the crossover artists popping up in the rock-country sphere.)
Fearless TV didn't make much of an impression on me. It was fun to listen to and I liked Mr. Perfectly Fine, but I don't think it got more than a couple of listens. Red TV was a revelation. I had already decided All Too Well was my favorite Taylor song - the 10 minute version, and the short form that followed, elevated it to a piece of true true artistry. I liked the rest of the vault tracks and thought they were additive while the rerecords of the music I enjoyed but didn't really know gave me a greater appreciation. Speak Now TV was fine - I liked a lot of the songs more than I remembered. I didn't care much for the vault (though that changed when I went to the first LA concert and saw 'I Can See You' live - now it's a favorite on repeat). 1989 TV is just eh for me. Other than Style, my untrained ears can't really tell the difference between the versions unless you play them in comparison mode line-by-line. And the vault tracks are pretty meh - I couldn't pin why they weren't clicking, but reading this article makes me feel like they were lost from Midnights, not 1989. And Midnights isn't my favorite, though it does have some great ones.
So a long post to basically say it's nice to have an excuse to revisit. It's not costing *me* any money other than the Spotify premium subscription I'd pay for anyway, so I think I'd rather have them than not. And it's great she can profit financially - the record companies make enough. I don't get the complaints that the prior records were "stolen" though - that's just how the industry works. You get taken advantage of until you get the clout to do it on your own terms - like any other industry in the world. I'll listen to the TVs when I remember to update my playlists on Spotify, but I'm not in a rush to do so on 1989. Very intrigued by the rumored Karma "lost" album, though, that I had never heard of before.
Also I'm really digging Gen V and I've been loving how fast it's moving! I completely disagree that it feels like a really long pilot! A really long pilot would have spent the entire damn season revealing the existence of The Woods!
I think my issue is that they’re not giving us any sense of them as actual college students, which…seems like it will be what the show becomes once they deal with this origin story? It just seems like every character got swept up in this scenario to the point they have no other real grounding in the story world.
Oh, I don't think they ever intended to give us any sense of them as actual college students given the reveal of God U's origins in the most recent episode. I am curious what kind of second season they're setting up, however. I've been enjoying the YA dystopia vibe the show has compared to The Boys, and I hope it continues to carve out its own distinct identity within this universe.
It may just be an inevitable byproduct of a TV show with the trappings of an actual TV show that ultimately has no desire to be a TV show: I get that the lore reveal complicates it, but I'd have much rather seen this play out as a serial thread through an 18-episode season than an 8-episode movie.
And see, I like that it's not an 8-episode movie! It's been refreshingly episodic, with each episode having a different focus and vibe, as opposed to just advancing multiple disparate storylines. Not as dramatic as, say, Mrs. Davis or anything, of course, but it stood out to me in an age when most shows are just long stories in chunks.