Catherine Merrit ’21 & Annemieke Exton ’21
For so many Oak Knoll girls, Taylor Swift has been one of the defining music artists of their upbringing––from singing the country songs of her first album released in 2006 to playing and replaying her new albums on Spotify. The senior class exclusively used Taylor songs for LipSync their freshman year.
Taylor is a classic artist, to say the least, and she’s definitely earned her fame and success. Her latest album Evermore was released in December of 2020. Fans are currently awaiting what will be the latest of 10 albums, Fearless: Taylor’s Version. This album is a re-recorded version of Taylor’s older album of the same title which was sold to investors and had left Taylor unable to own her own work.
Taylor has re-written and re-recorded every single song she has released with her record label. Taylor has tried for years to get the ownership of the master recordings, fighting to have financial recognition for her songs, albums, streams, and videos. Scooter Braun owns this master recording and refuses to give or sell it to Taylor. While this is arguably a smart financial tactic for Braun as a businessman, many agree that doing so to someone who has given so much of herself to the music industry is a few steps too far, as Swift is believed to have revolutionized country, pop, and practically created a new genre. Moreover, she signed with Big Machine Records when she was a young teen. Often in the music industry, teenagers are scammed out of their talent with sneaky record labels and producers. Taylor fell victim to this when she was only an emerging artist. She has respectfully tried to earn her rightful share, but to no avail. It is not so much about financial compensation as it is about principle. After her offers being rejected countless times and fighting for her name for years, she decided to take matters into her own hands. She is now producing her music and releasing it without her original label. She left them behind and is now coming out on top. She couldn’t find a way around so she found a way through.
Not every artist wants to re-record every song from albums starting in 2006, but Taylor is confident that her fans will have her back the entire way. Everyone who has listened to her at some point is eager to hear these nostalgic sounds come flooding back to the radio. “Love Story” is the first and only re-recorded song out yet, and it is already at the top of the charts. A song from 2009 (11 years ago!) is completely blowing up even more than it had the first time. She has always given everything she has to her fans, and getting to experience ‘Taylor Swift’ and every album that she blessed this world with all over again is every Swiftie’s wildest dream coming true.