Today, Explained - Taylor Swift rewrites her story

Episode Date: April 9, 2021

One of the biggest pop stars in the world is rerecording her first six albums at the artistic peak of her career. The Atlantic’s Shirley Li explains Swift’s gambit to reclaim her catalog. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Visit connectsontario.ca. A bunch of your dad's favorite songwriters have been selling off their songs. Late last year, Bob Dylan sold the rights to more than 600 of his songs to Universal Music for an estimated $300 million. Shortly after that, Neil Young sold 50% of the rights to his 1,000-plus songs to a British investment firm. Stevie Nicks sold off 80% of her publishing rights. Lindsey Buckingham went with 100%. And just last week, Paul Simon sold off his entire catalog to Sony.

COVID has probably expedited the thinking for a lot of these legends. Touring's out, merch is out, everyone's sitting at home streaming, which has dramatically increased the value of back catalogs. Instead of dying and having everyone come out of the woodwork to fight over the rights to their music a la Prince, Aretha Franklin, and Tom Petty, artists are cashing out before they dip. Call it end-of-life planning. But all the while, one of the biggest singer-songwriters working in popular music today,

maybe the biggest, is doing something very different. At what you could argue is the artistic peak of her career, Taylor Swift is re-recording her first six albums. You know it used to be mad love And she's doing it because she's in a very different place than the singer-songwriters of yore. Taylor Swift doesn't own the rights to her first six albums. So take a look what you've done. But by re-recording them and convincing fans to listen to the new versions, she can win back the rights to her music.

Cause baby now we got bad blood. Shirley Lee wrote about Taylor Swift's gambit for the Atlantic. She says it's a big deal for two reasons. Reason one. I think it's important for the Atlantic. She says it's a big deal for two reasons. Reason one, I think it's important for the business at large because this is something that a lot of musicians and artists wouldn't really attempt to do. So if she can really do this, re-record everything, and have it be successful, that's kind of a proof of concept for other pop stars to do the same thing, to own their work fully. Reason two. Creatively speaking, it's interesting to see how an artist reinterprets their previous work. And for her, as someone whose music is diaristic, is based on her life,

it'll be interesting to see how she reinterprets the past Taylor. Full disclosure, Shirley's a fan. They call themselves Swifties. I am now a Swifty, and I have been a Swifty in the past, but I will say that my Swiftiness has waxed and waned over the years. She's had a long career. It's true. She's only like 31, and she already has like, what, nine albums? So let's talk about where this story begins. How does Taylor come to want to re-record the first six of them. The timeline is a little bit blurry here,

but let's just say around the time of her peak, her world domination with the album 1989. That was back in like 2014. She drops that album. This one's got like blank space for all the people at home. Yes. Maybe not paying full attention, but caught a couple songs here and there?

This one has Blank Space. This one has Shake It Off. This is when she becomes Taylor Swift, pop star, and she's building up her squad. And she ends up becoming perhaps a little overexposed. Shortly before the Grammy Awards, shortly before she wins Album of the Year for a second time in her career, Kanye West, who she also has a very long history with, he's the artist who interrupted her acceptance speech way back when in 2009. Yo, Taylor, I'm really happy for you. I'm gonna let you finish. But Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time. One of the best videos of all time.

But they made up. It was all good. Now before this Grammy, he releases a song called Famous. In which he claims that he made her famous because of that incident in 2009. But basically, she takes offense to the fact that he claimed that he made her famous and also the fact that he calls her a bitch in the song. Not to mention the video features like a bunch of naked mannequins in bed with Kanye West and his wife, including Taylor Swift. Yeah, yeah. So she didn't like any of that.

And during her speech at the Grammys, she expresses how she, her fame, her success is not owed to anybody else except for herself. There are going to be people along the way who will try to undercut your success or take credit for your accomplishments or your fame. He and his wife then release a video in which she can be heard over the phone approving the lyrics. I mean, yeah, I mean, go with whatever line you think is better.

It's obviously very tongue-in-cheek either way. Yeah. And I really appreciate you telling me about it. That's really nice. Oh, yeah. I feel like I just had a responsibility to you as a friend, you know, and I mean, thanks for being like so cool about it.

But not specifically the lyric that calls her a bitch. That feud is back on. What happens next is Taylor kind of disappears. Everyone is going onto her social media feeds, leaving the snake emoji calling her a snake. Kim is calling her a snake. Her reputation, which is then the name of her next album, is, you know, destroyed in her perspective, in Taylor's perspective. And I think we have to go through all of this because Kanye at that time, as far as we know, was managed by Scooter Braun. And who is Scooter Braun?

Scooter Braun is a music executive who manages a lot of artists you probably have heard of or have listened to. Justin Bieber being the big one. Ariana Grande being another one. More recently, Demi Lovato. So he has a lot of influence in the music industry. And he's got a relationship with Kanye West at a time when Kanye West has a lot of beef with Taylor Swift. Yes. In terms of what Scooter Braun's looking for, he's a businessman. He's a big music executive. He's

always looking for opportunities to expand his portfolio. And Scott Borchetta, the owner of Big Machine Records, Taylor's old record label, she was basically Big Machine. She was the main artist over there. And Scott Borchetta is looking to, I guess, unload, you know, an artist who is no longer really operating in the country space. Hmm. Because at this point, Taylor's made this transition to being a full-fledged pop star. Yeah, at this point, Taylor has pretty much shed her country roots. She's gone full-blown pop. So what happens next? So when, in 2019, Scooter Braun then purchases Taylor's library, her first six albums owned by her old record label,

Taylor sees this as something that she cannot stand for. How much does it cost to buy the rights to Taylor Swift's first six albums, including 1989? Hundreds of millions of dollars, about a reported 300 million. And how much of that does taylor swift get zero she responds with a letter that she posts to social media explaining how scooter brawn to her is someone who has been a bully in the past and who would be the last person that she would want owning her music and making money off of it? Scooter's team wanted me to sign an ironclad NDA stating I would never say another word about Scooter Braun unless it was positive, before we could even look at the financial records of BMLG, which is always the first step in a purchase of this nature. So I would have had to sign a document that would silence me forever before

I could even have a chance to bid on my own work. My legal team said that this is absolutely not normal and they've never seen an NDA like this presented unless it was to silence an assault accuser by paying them off. He would never even quote my team a price. These master recordings were not for sale to me. So how do Taylor Swift's fans respond? So most of Taylor Swift's fans rallied behind her. They saw Scooter Braun as the big bad. They needed to protect Taylor's work. They saw Taylor as kind of this David against Goliath being this entire music industry in the way that it doesn't prioritize artist ownership over their own creative work. But the thing is, this is the internet. So things escalated quite quickly.

And as with any passionate fandom, a subset of fans were aggressive towards Scooter Braun and towards Scott Borchetta. How aggressive do these Taylor Swift fans get? Well, some of them ended up, you know, pummeling Scooter Braun with death threats. Taylor Swift fans, the Swifties issue death threats? His family with death threats specifically. Yeah, and so Scooter had to come out with a statement, I believe an open letter to, well, to advise Taylor Swift basically to get a control over fans.

I assume this was not your intention, but it is important that you understand that your words carry a tremendous amount of weight and that your message can be interpreted by some in different ways. While I'm disappointed that you've remained silent after being notified by your attorney four days ago of these ongoing threats, I'm still hopeful we can fix this. Hmm. It sounds like she doesn't have a lot of love for Scooter Braun, but is he really doing anything terribly untoward here? I mean, or is he just a businessman doing business things? Oh, man. I think if you ask a hardcore Swifty, it's the former. If you look at it from a business perspective, it's very much the latter. It's Scooter Braun being the businessman he's always been. He sold Taylor Swift's back catalog.

Huh. A little over a year after he acquired the rights to Taylor Swift's back catalog, he sold them to a private equity firm called Shamrock Capital. So then he made about $300 million off of that deal. So again, businessman doing business. So wait, Scooter Braun doesn't even own Taylor Swift's back catalog anymore in present day, what, April 2021? He doesn't fully own it, but he catalog anymore in present day, what, April 2021? He doesn't fully own it, but he is still making money off of it. In the deal with Shamrock,

he managed to still be siphoning off some of whatever profits come from licensing that old music. And she's not going to stand for it? Yeah, she's not going to stand for it. So the next step she takes is she decides to re-record those first six albums. She can't own the old stuff, but because of the terms of her contract, she can own all the new versions if she re-records them? Yeah, all of the music that she had already released, she decides to go back in the studio, try to bring back her old collaborators from more than a decade ago, and re-record those songs. She does not want Scooter Braun making any money off of her earlier work. She wants to be the one owning her songs, licensing her songs,

and ultimately devaluing the songs that Scooter Braun now owns. Huh. So for the time being, Scooter Braun's still getting paid off Taylor Swift's songs. She doesn't like it, and she's going to do something about it. Yep, that is the plan. What you don't know, what you don't know. Someday I'll be living in a big old city. And all you're ever going to be is mean. Someday I'll be big enough so you can't hit me. And all you're ever going to be is mean. Why you got to be so mean?

After this space, whether this plan's gonna work. You, with your switching sides And your wildfire lies and your humiliation You, have pointed out my flaws again As if I don't already see them I walk with my head down trying to block you out. Because I'm never in for you. Support for Today Explained comes from Aura.

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BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario are you ready for it i guess the million dollar question surely or maybe the 300 million dollar question in this case is taylor swift is going to re-record her back catalog. Will it work? That is the $300 million question. So far, it's working. Really? We already know? Well, so far, she's released one re-recording,

and that is Love Story, parentheses, Taylor's version. We were both young when I first saw you. I closed my eyes and the flashback starts. I'm standing there on a balcony in summer air. And that, when it was released, topped the US iTunes chart. It topped the charts. You have to remember, she's a massive, massive star. I would argue that if, you know, anybody lower than that tier of A-plus list attempted this, you probably wouldn't see this happen. You wouldn't see a re-recording top the chart immediately. I'm glad you brought this up, Shirley, because I believe Rolling Stone Magazine last year,

the one before that, released a small but thorough piece of journalism about the band Wheatus. Do you remember Wheatus? Do you remember Teenage Dirtbag from the soundtrack to the movie Loser with Jason Biggs, Shirley. Do I remember? And maybe we'll be. Well, Teenage Dirtbag, like I feel Taylor Swift is for you, was a huge part of my growing up. And and apparently they lost the masters like it wasn't the label's fault. It wasn't the management's fault. It wasn't the band's fault. But just no one could find the masters to this song so that when people wanted to license the song, the band actually couldn't do much when they wanted to remix the song. The band couldn't provide the original tapes. So the lead singer went and

re-recorded the song and I wanted to support him. He like found all the old instruments they use and we're trying to figure out, oh, what is that thing that happens in the bridge and all this stuff? But it just didn't sound as good. That's disappointing. Is Taylor Swift going to be dealing with the same thing or does she have some sort of, you know, superpower of recreation here? I do think that Taylor has the capability of making these re-recordings sound just as good. She's become a better singer. She has more control over her voice.

She is also someone who has a lot more influence than the Taylor Swift in the very beginning of her career. So she is able to recruit whatever artists she wants onto these re-recording albums. So all of this is just to say that I'm afraid Taylor Swift is a much bigger star than Wheatus and does... Oh, shots fired out here. And she does have the power to make these re-recordings work. You know, another recent example of someone doing something like this is Cat Stevens, who re-recorded Father and Son.

And there's this great episode of the podcast Song Exploder about this re-recording in which he kind of sings the song as an older Cat Stevens to a younger Cat Stevens. From the moment I could talk I was ordered to listen Now there's a way And I know that I have to go away And the song changes. It's got like a lot more strings. It sounds a little more schmaltzy. But is that what Taylor's doing here? Is it let's do a faithful re-recording

as best we can of the original six albums? Or is it let's have Taylor Swift plus 10-ish years re-imagine her original music? It's somewhere in the middle between those two notes, it's closer to the faithful end of the spectrum. So far, just given what we've heard from her first re-recording, she has faithfully, you know, re-recorded the song itself in terms of production, in terms of the lyrics. But I think she understands fundamentally that the people who are going to be seeking out these re-recordings are not people who are new to Taylor Swift. The people who are going to be listening to this album as soon as it drops. And the first one drops tomorrow. Yeah. Those people are the ones who have been Swifties for a long time and want to hear how she thinks about her music now. And so, again, I know I'm speaking in kind of abstract terms, but it's largely faithful with the difference being that she is kind of playful with it.

You know, she's not a teenager anymore singing Love Story. Her interpretation of the song does sound more mature, not just because her vocals have matured, but because of the way she's playing with her tone when she's singing. So she gives a little clip to certain words. I keep waiting for you, but you never come. It's this in my head. She sounds warmer.

It's not as pleading of a song. Marry me, Juliet. You never have to be alone. I love you and that's all I really know. I talked to your dad. Go pick out a white dress. It's a love story. Still, though, it does seem like a bit of a risky venture, even if you're one of the biggest pop stars in the world,

because it's just going to take a ton of time, right? I mean, what's the potential payoff here for Taylor? Well, here's the thing. Taylor's music is very specific to her, right? Her music has always been diaristic. It is about her life. She's written all of her music or co-written it. So I think she feels a sense of ownership over her music in a way that a lot of other artists might not. She wants to feel ownership. She wants to stop feeling like her music and her soul got sold off to someone she dislikes and has considered a bully throughout her career.

On the business end though, this does allow her to be the one owning the music and licensing the music and profiting off of the music. She has always been an advocate for artist ownership. Over the years, I think she's written op-eds about how important it is for artists to be compensated for their work when they land on streaming platforms like Spotify. She's always thought about it from a business perspective. And presumably, if someone wants to license Shake It Off for an upcoming Care Bear movie,

if they go to Scooter Braun for the original version, Taylor Swift will come out and say, they're going to Scooter and not me for my new version. Swifties, attack! Well, so far, it doesn't seem like she has done that because a Care Bears movie has not happened. No, but it does seem like what she could do is re-record Shake It Off immediately

and say that this is the version that I would like to be used. And I am the artist who wrote this song. I'm the artist who recorded this song. I'm the one who's singing it. Please use this one instead. And as a very powerful musician, chances are the powers that be would listen. Yeah. Yeah. That seems to be what's happening. But it will ultimately be up to fans about which version to listen to, the old version or the new version, right? And there's something very powerful here when it comes to nostalgia. If your ear is keen enough, you're going to hear a difference. And both versions might end up being on streaming platforms like Spotify

or Apple Music or whatever it's called at this point. And fans will have the ultimate choice here. Is that right? Yeah, that is right. I think, you know, her most devoted fans have seen this as a chance to take a moral stand. So they're going to be the ones who are really looking at which version they'll be listening to. They've probably already removed, you know, the old versions off of their Taylor Swift playlists. And I think what we're seeing with Taylor's music is that she understands it's not just the song. She really wants to get her fans on board with the idea that she is in this process with them. That nostalgia is not just about the art itself, but it's about your connection to the art. I think this entire endeavor is an example of how Taylor Swift is not just an artist,

but also a shrewd businesswoman, which I think has always been there, right? Her father is a businessman. She's picked up some tricks, I think, over the years. But I think this just goes to show she's both able to go tit for tat with a businessman and continue to be a creative storyteller through her music. Surely Lee's a staff writer at The Atlantic where she writes about culture. You can find her work at theatlantic.com. I'm Sean Ramos for him.

This is Today Explained. I'll be the man. They say I hustled, put in the work. They wouldn't shake their heads and question how much of this I deserve. What I was wearing. If I was rude, could I be separated from my good ideas and power moves.