Fearless (Kelly’s Version): Taylor Swift’s rerecordings are tremendous in the movement for artists to gain ownership over their music

As a self-proclaimed Swiftie, I was able to relive my elementary school glory days when Taylor Swift announced she’d be rerecording her first six albums. 

I was just three years old when Swift released her self-titled debut album, so I missed Swift’s curly haired, cowboy boots phase and was left to relive it by rewatching old YouTube videos and queueing Spotify tracks. The rereleases gave me a second chance to celebrate the drop of Swift’s early work firsthand.

What I didn’t understand was why Swift was rerecording her music and why it was only six out of her nine albums. After some research, it became clear that that this was the result of a miserable situation for Swift.

At the beginning of her career in 2005, a young and naive Swift signed to Nashville-based Big Machine Records. As with traditional music contracts, Big Machine owns the masters — original recordings — of all the songs Swift created under their contract, meaning that Swift essentially doesn’t own her own music.

In return for giving up ownership of their masters, artists are given an advance and percentage of the music’s profits. Newer artists, like Swift at the time, often do this because it’s rewarding in the short-term, since music can take years to profit from.

Swift went on to release six albums and achieve country and pop stardom with Big Machine as her label. When her contract with them expired in 2018, she switched to Universal’s Republic Records. Swift ensured she would own her future masters with her new contract. 

Master ownership is important because since Swift doesn’t own the masters from her first six albums, Big Machine can do whatever they want with them without having to consult her. In 2019, celebrity music manager Scooter Braun’s company bought Big Machine, and then sold Swift’s masters to another company for $300 million. 

Swift publicly insisted that Braun repeatedly bullied her and never allowed her to buy back her masters before the sale. She also promised to rerecord those original six albums — reclaiming the work she spent 13 years of her life creating by doing so. 

As of now, listening to any of Swift’s early albums, other than the recently-released “Fearless (Taylor’s Version),” will only make Braun richer. This goes to show that artists at all levels of their career are vulnerable to exploitation. There needs to be serious fundamental change in the music industry that prioritizes artists owning their own work, rather than labels exploiting them for a profit.

Until then, Swift is lucky to be at a point in her career where she has enough leverage to secure a more favorable record deal. Not only that, but she also has a global fanbase eager to support her and any music she releases, including her rerecordings. I know that I, for one, will only be listening to ‘Taylor’s Versions’ from here on out.

More emphasis on the “r” in “Fearless,” a new inflection on “mama” in “Fifteen” — the differences between the original “Fearless” and newly-released “Fearless (Taylor’s Version)” are subtle to say the least. 

Prior to the rerecording’s release on April 9, Swift went line by line through each song to choose what to improve on and what to keep the same, according to an interview with People Magazine. In addition to all of the original “Fearless” songs, Swift included six never-before released songs ‘from the vault’ for a total of 27 tracks.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ll happily listen to anything Swift releases. But if I’m being honest, I can see why some of the vault songs didn’t make the original album. “We Were Happy” and “Bye Bye Baby” are cute breakup songs, but I can’t be convinced that they’re anywhere near the lyrical genius of “White Horse” and “Forever & Always.” Let-downs aside, three vault songs in particular stood out to me: “Mr. Perfectly Fine,” “That’s When” and “Don’t You.”

Allegedly about Swift’s past relationship with Joe Jonas, “Mr. Perfectly Fine” is an upbeat breakup song about Swift being caught up on her ex despite him quickly moving on. Its rousing chorus makes it fit right in with classics like “Tell Me Why” and “The Way I Loved You” — perfect for screaming along to in your car. Swift doesn’t hold back with painfully honest lines like, “It takes everything in me just to get up each day // But it’s wonderful to see that you’re okay.” She even references cult-favorite song “All Too Well” with the lyric “Mr. Casually Cruel.” My favorite part of the track by far is the key change in which Swift stops saying “hello” and starts saying “goodbye” to her lover and his “casually cruel” ways.

“That’s When” is a duet, featuring country singer Keith Urban, that focuses in on the aftermath of a failed relationship. Swift said in a tweet that she asked Urban to sing on this track because she was his opening act back when “Fearless” was originally released and his work continues to inspire her “endlessly.” Urban’s voice blends with Swift’s beautifully, bringing an authentic country sound to the song. Lyrically, the song flows smoothly with the verses asking “When can I-I-I come back?” and the choruses answering “that’s when.”

To me, “Don’t You” is easily the saddest of the vault songs. Similar to “Mr. Perfectly Fine,” Swift describes her run-in with an ex that has moved on and found happiness  with someone new. However, in contrast with Swift’s anger towards her ex in “Mr. Perfectly Fine,” she confesses that she doesn’t hate him in this song. Swift acknowledges that there are hard feelings between the two when she sings, “And you can say we’re still friends // (But I don’t wanna pretend).” Although written 13 years apart, this line reminds me of “closure” off the album “evermore” in which Swift sings, “I know I’m just a wrinkle in your new life // Staying friends would iron it out so nice.”