RED (Taylor's Version) Review

It’s no secret that Taylor Swift is one of the most famous singer-songwriters to date. Her relatable lyrics, elaborate tours, and down-to-earth charisma have stolen the hearts of fans worldwide. But, one of Swift’s greatest talents still goes overlooked by the masses: her business savvy.

In 2005, Swift signed a record deal with Scott Borchetta, CEO of Big Machine Records. This contract gave the label ownership of every body of work she released while under that label which is the norm in the music industry as signing a new artist is a huge financial risk. Big Machine became Swift’s home for the next 10+ years and she developed a close and trusting bond with Scott Borchetta. While Swift tried to buy sole ownership of her masters for years, Big Machine refused to sell them unless she agreed to stay with the label for ten more years. She refused, knowing that Borchetta planned to sell the company very soon and did not want her career left in the hands of a stranger for the next decade. In 2018, Swift left Big Machine Records and moved to Republic Records who offered her a contract that granted her full ownership of all her work going forward. But, her first albums six albums would still belong to Big Machine.

In 2019, Borchetta sold Big Machine Records to Scooter Braun for $300 million. Braun is a well-known executive in the music industry who manages names as big as Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande and who has had a contentious relationship with Swift for years. In an interview with CBS Sunday Morning, Taylor said about Borchetta, “I knew he would sell my music. I knew he would do that. I couldn’t believe who he sold it to because we’ve had endless conversations about Scooter Braun and he has 300 million reasons to conveniently forget those conversations”. Now, the man who publicly bullied Swift alongside Kanye West and Justin Bieber and, according to her, tried to dismantle his career would control where her life’s work was used and receive most of the revenue from streams. While Scott Borchetta argued that Swift knew about the deal in advance and had been offered the chance to buy her own masters, she maintains that she didn’t find out until the news hit the internet. Swift put out a statement calling this her “worst case scenario”. Songs she wrote on her bedroom floor as a child or in her high school math class were no longer hers. She now would have no say in how her life’s work would be treated. Additionally, while Swift is owed songwriter royalties, she worried about getting cheated out of her fair share by the record label.

Swift’s weighed her options and came to a conclusion that would change the course of her career and the music industry forever. Braun owns the original recordings, but, as the songwriter, Swift owns the publishing rights. So, by re-recording and releasing albums 1-6, she could make the originals obsolete and, therefore, gain sole ownership over her albums. This move was a huge risk and one that could only be successful with the support of a strong fanbase.

Swift’s legal battle brought the issues regarding artists and ownership of their work to the forefront: something musicians have struggled with forever. For example, in 2016, Frank Ocean famously bought himself out of his contract and purchased the rights to his own masters, deciding to release his album Blonde independently to escape his record label Def Jam. Artists like Swift and Ocean not only are informing the general public of the reality artists face, but they're inspiring new artists fight to own their work. Olivia Rodrigo took a lesson from Swift and ensured that she would own her own music prior to the release of her first studio album, Sour.

On Friday, Swift released her latest rerecording - her 2012, experimental, country pop classic Red. According to Swift in the album’s foreword, “Musically and lyrically, Red resembled a heartbroken person. It was all over the place, a fractured mosaic of feelings, that somehow all fit together in the end. Happy, free, confused, lonely, devastated, euphoric, wild, and tortured by memories past. Like trying on pieces of a new life, I went into the studio and experimented with different sounds and collaborators.” Red (Taylor’s Version) includes 30 tracks total with 9 never before released songs “From The Vault”. The album also includes the original, 10 minute version of Swift’s most critically acclaimed song, “All Too Well” which was accompanied by a short film starring Sadie Sink and Dylan O’Brien.

Red (Taylor’s Version) is full of everything fans and critics love about Red: the genius lyricism, enchanting storytelling, and pop perfection. The mod-podge album carries you through the whirlwind of a relationship, from the sweet beginning to the cruel end. In Taylor’s Version a few of the cutesy, pop tracks leave something to be desired. For example, on the chart-topper “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together”, Swift came up short at recreating the electricity of the original track’s production and her matured voice changes the tone of the once upbeat breakup anthem. That being said, practically every other rerecording blows the original out of the water. A few must listens are “I Almost Do”, “Sad Beautiful Tragic”, and of course “All Too Well (10 Minute Version)” which just broke the record as the longest song to hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100.

The best part of Red (Taylor's Version) is how it brought people together. Long-time supporters rejoiced in the nostalgia and former fans were driven to rediscover her music. Swift took to Instagram to tell fans, "Just a friendly reminder that I would never have thought it was possible to go back and remake my previous work, uncovering lost art and forgotten gems along the way, if you hadn't emboldened me. Red is about to be mine again, but it has always been ours".