The Big Issue - UK (2021-03-01)

FROM 01 MARCH 2021 BIGISSUE.COM | 37

Why, then, should anyone go out of their way to seek out the “Taylor’s Version”

of songs which have been at their fi ngertips for years? Swi�t will be relying on the

loyalty of her fans, asking them to do what no fanbase has willingly done before

• abandoning nostalgia and the songs they love, precious moments in time, for
  shinier copies.
  But Swi�t knows as well as anyone that if any fanbase would do so, it’s hers.
  Beyond skilful songwriting, the star has cultivated the world’s most successful
  girl-next-door brand. � e way she communicates, typing press releases-disguised-
  as-diary-entries to her 148 million Instagram followers, allows fans to see her as a
  friend. � at’s no slight – her career has been a masterclass in protecting oneself
  while giving the illusion of candour, and making a fair chunk of cash in the process.
  It’s a manner which complements her seemingly confessional music perfectly. And
  it has set her up to command the loyalty of millions who may well feel they’re doing
  a favour for someone good, or pitching in to overpower shrewd industry giants –
  when, to her credit, that’s exactly what Swi�t is.
  � e truth is that it’s business. � ere are certainly questions to ask about how
  frequently men get the fi nal say on work built o�f the backs of women, how all
  women learn to pick their battles if they want to get ahead. And that the most
  famous extremely wealthy, white and straight woman can’t even retain full control
  of her material speaks to where power lies. But then again, we can’t all hit the studio
  to start from scratch when we’ve had to compromise at work.
  Swi�t’s career is built on a remarkable talent for storytelling. If you took her
  material at face value you’d believe nothing was o�f-limits, simultaneously building
  vivid, fantastical narratives and absorbing the latest media scandals into the worlds
  she builds, leaving fans to follow the threads. Her re-recording adventure will,
  hopefully, be successful. But either way, it’s another plot twist in the extraordinary
  public life of someone who knows just how to keep the world hooked.

@hannahjtw

CULTURE

|

MUSI

C

F

ew of us could say we created much of

note as teenagers. Art, songs, stories –

overly earnest stepping stones on the

way to fi guring out who we are, at best.

Certainly nothing we’d be keen to not just revisit

but recreate and release to the masses, frontal

lobes fully formed.

� at’s not an issue for Taylor Swi�t, who

apparently has time to spare a�ter surprise-

releasing two of the most critically acclaimed

albums of the past year, Folklore and Evermore. � e

world’s biggest pop star, now 31, has pledged to

re-record her fi rst six albums right back to her

2006 self-titled debut, released when Swi�t was 16.

It’s the result of an ownership dispute, a tangle

of multimillion-dollar recording contracts and

copyright claims.

Swi�t released that run of albums, up to and

including 2017’s shadowy Reputation, under label

Big Machine. � at contract ran out in 2019 and

she moved label, signing with Universal/Republic

(on the condition she would retain the rights to

any future recordings). Seven months later, Big

Machine Label Group – and all the recordings

under its ownership – were bought over by Ithaca

Holdings, Scooter Braun’s media company.

Braun is one of the most powerful behind-

the-scenes fi gures in pop, managing the likes of

Justin Bieber and Kanye West, the latter of whom

has been part of a well-documented on-o�f feud

with Swi�t herself. She blames Braun for much

of this, and previously accused him of “incessant,

manipulative bullying”.

It meant the master recordings of almost all

of Swi�t’s work were under the control of, to be

frank, one of her least favourite men in the world.

� e star retained some veto power over how her

masters were used but still feared her work

being exploited.

� at’s why she is, in essence, making copies.

Swi�t is adamant that she will re-record all six

albums and release them on her own terms.

She certainly doesn’t need the cash, but says

the principle of owning one’s own work is that

important to her – perhaps with a side of getting

one back on the man who played a part in

transforming her from sweetheart to snake.

Love Story (Taylor’s Version) from 2008’s

Fearless album is already out there. In sound it

doesn’t diverge much from the original Swi�tie

classic, and she stays true to the wide-eyed

romance of the original. But the later in her back

catalogue she gets, the less scope there will be to

present something new. � e production value and

pop sensibilities of big-hitters 1989 and Reputation

wouldn’t sound out of place on a 2021 radio

playlist. Or streaming service.

Swi�t retribution

Taylor’s refreshed material

will put her in competition

with nemesis Scooter Braun

The pop icon can stay in

control of her career by

re-recording old albums,

says Hannah Westwater

Taylor

remade

Image: Evan Agostini/Invision/AP/Shutterstock