When Taylor Swift performed at the 2019 American Music Awards, it was apparent from the beginning that the 29-year-old was declaring war against her former label, Big Machine Records. Adorned in a shirt that contained the names of the six albums recorded while under contract with Big Machine, Swift sang the chorus to “The Man,” the fourth single from Lover, Swift’s seventh studio album and first not released by her former label.
Even though opening with “The Man” seemed strange to some, it seemed to voice Swift’s own battle over control of her past recordings, which were now owned by Scooter Braun’s holding company. Earlier that year in an interview with Tracy Smith on CBS Sunday Morning, Swift alluded to the possibility of re-recording her music from her first six albums.
When questioned on this by Good Morning America’s Robin Roberts, Swift revealed:
“Yeah, that’s true and it’s something that I’m very excited about doing because my contract says that starting November 2020, so next year, I can record albums one through five all over again. I’m very excited about it. I just think that artists deserve to own their own work. I just feel very passionately about that.”
Then came the COVID-19 pandemic and a tweet from Swift near the end of April stating, “Not a lot going on at the moment.”
Not a lot going on at the moment pic.twitter.com/NaRCqgCH4Y
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) April 27, 2020
While it seemed the tweet and accompanying picture was an innocent statement of the isolation of the pandemic, three months after the tweet Swift announced the surprise pending release of her eighth studio album, folklore.
When Braun sold Swift’s masters to Shamrock Holdings, the singer took to Twitter to give full disclosure to her fans on her intentions.
Been getting a lot of questions about the recent sale of my old masters. I hope this clears things up. pic.twitter.com/sscKXp2ibD
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) November 16, 2020
On Sunday, Swift once again tweeted “not a lot going on at the moment” with a black and white photo of herself, which sent fans into overdrive deciphering what Swift was planning.
not a lot going on at the moment pic.twitter.com/54uGPH1ysF
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) November 22, 2020
It would not take long to get the answer. After Swift was revealed as the winner of the American Music Awards 2020 Artist of the Year, Swift appeared via video explaining her absence from the awards show because she was re-recording her music in the original place she recorded it.
What are your thoughts on Taylor Swift re-recording her first six albums? What do you think the first re-recorded album Taylor will release? Let us know in the comments or on our social media accounts.
Sources: ETOnline, CBS, BBC, Taylor Swift Official Twitter Account, ABC Official YouTube Channel
