30 Songs Behind The Taylor Swift Phenomenon. Continues: tomorrow.

Caffè Lattè looks back on:

30 KEY SONGS BEHIND THE

TAYLOR SWIFT

PHENOMENOM

XXI
April 2021

FEARLESS

TAYLOR’S VERSION

Taylor Swift’s dispute over the ownership of her back catalogue with former label Big Machine Records led to the singer / songwriter re-recording her sophomore album ‘Fearless’. She signed with the company back in 2005. Swift is ubiquitous now, but she was an unknown singer in Nashville at that time.

By the time her contract expired in 2018, she was a pop music phenomenom; breaking chart records, attracting massive sales and selling out stadiums. Swift rightly sought greater control of her catalogue. Her search for a better deal led to a change in labels.

Swift switched from Big Machine to Universal’s Republic Records. Part of her new deal was ownership of her future masters. Big Machine retained ownership of the recordings on her first six albums. But that label sold to Ithaca Holdings, owned by Scooter Braun. Swift has claimed that the manager bullied her on a number of occasions. He then sold her masters to Shamrock Holdings, reportedly for $300 million in 2019.

In retaliation, Swift proceeded to re-record her early albums, beginning with ‘Fearless’. Originally issued in November 2008, the new version of that disc dropped in 2021. This had been her first #1 album anywhere and the re-recording reached the same peak, topping charts in the U.S.A., Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The new ‘Taylor’s version’ featured collaborations with Keith Urban, Colbie Caillat and Maren Morris.