Why did Taylor Swift remake Fearless?

If you’re a casual Taylor Swift fan and you opened up Spotify this morning, you were probably surprised to see that a new version of her second studio album, Fearless, had been added. But if you follow the Grammy winner on social media and watch her every move, this wasn’t a shock at all. The 31-year-old songstress has been promoting this new-ish album on her Instagram after re-recording the songs originally released in 2008, along with adding brand new tracks.

So why exactly did Taylor decide to re-release one of her most beloved albums, dubbing it “Taylor’s Version”? It all comes down to her drama with renowned music manager Scooter Braun. In case you missed it, Braun’s Ithaca Holdings acquired Scott Borchetta’s Big Machine Label Group in 2019. Why does that matter? Well, in the process, Taylor Swift lost her masters to someone she hates.

Why doesn’t Taylor Swift own the rights to Fearless?

As reported by Rolling Stone, Taylor Swift’s deal with Big Machine Label Group expired back in 2018, after which the singer signed a new agreement with Republic Records and Universal Music Group. In negotiations, Taylor had left the rights to her previous albums with Big Machine Label Group, while any future music would be owned by her. Conflict arose when Scooter Braun purchased the masters of Taylor’s older music, as the two stars weren’t exactly the best of friends.

As any pop culture fan would know, Taylor Swift has had a longstanding feud with Kanye West. Scooter just happens to be the former manager of Kanye, and Taylor hasn’t shied away from expressing how much she disliked the 39-year-old music entrepreneur. Taking to her Tumblr after finding out the news of the acquisition in 2019, the singer wrote:

"Some fun facts about today’s news: I learned about Scooter Braun’s purchase of my masters as it was announced to the world. All I could think about was the incessant, manipulative bullying I’ve received at his hands for years.Like when Kim Kardashian orchestrated an illegally recorded snippet of a phone call to be leaked and then Scooter got his two clients together to bully me online about it. (See photo) Or when his client, Kanye West, organized a revenge porn music video which strips my body naked. Now Scooter has stripped me of my life’s work, that I wasn’t given an opportunity to buy. Essentially, my musical legacy is about to lie in the hands of someone who tried to dismantle it.This is my worst case scenario. This is what happens when you sign a deal at fifteen to someone for whom the term ‘loyalty’ is clearly just a contractual concept. And when that man says ‘Music has value’, he means its value is beholden to men who had no part in creating it.When I left my masters in Scott’s hands, I made peace with the fact that eventually he would sell them. Never in my worst nightmares did I imagine the buyer would be Scooter. Any time Scott Borchetta has heard the words ‘Scooter Braun’ escape my lips, it was when I was either crying or trying not to. He knew what he was doing; they both did. Controlling a woman who didn’t want to be associated with them. In perpetuity. That means forever."

What are music masters?

If you’ve been hearing the term “masters” a lot and aren’t sure what that actually means, you’re not alone. Some of this music jargon is a bit confusing if you’re not in the business. A “master recording” refers to the original recording of a song. So with Scooter’s company acquiring Big Machine Label Group, he also purchased Taylor’s masters. Given the bad history between them, you can understand why she was so upset.

Why is there a new version of Fearless?

So this brings us to the real question. Taylor Swift decided to re-record Fearless under the name of “Taylor’s Version” because she wanted to create a version of the iconic album that she could own herself. Taking the power back from Scooter Braun and Big Machine Label Group, the award-winning star is now in control of her music, specifically an album that is so important to her and her discography.

Taylor Swift would probably urge you to listen to the new Fearless rather than the original, and we’d agree. We fully support this bold move to take back what is hers!