A big moment in music started this week, with Taylor Swift’s re-recording of her 2008 album Fearless made his debut. It’s snow Fearless (Taylor version) and the start was promising.
The full album will be released in April, but the first single, Love story, has been downloaded more than 10,000 times since its debut on Friday, according to MRC Data. Only three songs sold more this week.
The release is the first volley in an ongoing war between Swift, who wants to recover his master recordings of the old material, and the current rights holders, Shamrock Capital. They acquired the rights to Ithaca Holdings, owned by Swift’s artistic entrepreneur and archenemy, Scooter Braun.
Although olive branches have been extended by rights holders, Swift is determined to control the fate of her material.
Others have tried this trick through re-recording, including Def Leppard and Squeeze, all of which have had an average success. And who can forget Prince’s unfortunate Crystal Ball in the late 90s? The logistical nightmare of fulfilling direct mail orders for physical copies in the low bandwidth era sank this project, although Prince claimed financial success with it.
But Swift is arguably the biggest pop star in the world. This is sturdy ammunition in an experiment that can pave the way for it and potentially for others.
“This process was more rewarding and emotional than I could have imagined and made me even more determined to re-record all my songs,” said the singer, 31, in a statement on social media. She added that the release of the song “Love Story” – now called “Love Story (Taylor’s Version)” – her first single on the Billboard Top 10, would arrive just in time for Valentine’s Day.
Fearless (Taylor version) will be released on April 9 and will feature 26 songs in total, including hits like You belong to Me and Fifteen, along with six new tracks written when Swift was a teenager.
Now, interesting ethical dilemmas arise. Does the consumer buy the same song again? More importantly, if you are a television or film producer who wants to use some Taylor Swift songs, which version do you use?
What is interesting is the value that is being lost by the rights holders. If new versions become the chosen medium for use, what they have loses its main value. Swift has the contractual rights to control its publication, which is managed by Universal Music Publishing Group. As such, it can veto any use on TV, movies, commercials, video games and any and all media.
Streaming services may be prohibited from using the original masters. TikTok, Peloton and other establishments that do not have a record label license at the moment will have to cross that bridge.
“She can openly deny use on the editorial side, unless they use the master she wants,” said Mara Kuge, president / founder of Superior Music Corporation. “So she can include something in the publication license saying,” This use depends on the use of the 2021 master “.