It is no secret that Taylor Swift currently is one of the biggest names – if not the biggest name – in the music industry. From her highest grossing tour “The Eras Tour” to her enthusiastic fans attempting to predict when the next album she will release comes out, Taylor Swift is a mastermind.
Swift is rerecording her first six albums; “Taylor Swift,” “Fearless,” “Speak Now,” “Red,” “1989” and “reputation” so that she can fully own all her music. During this re-release process, she rebrands the albums as “Taylor’s Version” to indicate that she owns the version along with unheard tracks from when she originally wrote the album, known as Vault Tracks. So far, she has released four out of her six albums, with only “Taylor Swift” and “reputation” still left to release with no dates announced.
But as Swift re-releases her albums with multiple color and cover variations, a consumer has to ask: are Taylor’s Versions worth the money?
I believe they are worth it. Today, in an age of music streaming, less people will be inclined to purchase a physical CD or vinyl record when they can continue to pay their streaming fee and have the album included.
Additionally, each album is reinvented with Vault Tracks to distinguish it from the original. These songs help to show Swift’s mindset when she was writing the album to begin with and showed her creative processes that did not make the original album. The vault tracks help to enhance the album because they still give listeners the new music they crave from Swift even if they do not want to listen to the entirety of the original album.
The final reason I believe Taylor’s Versions to be worth it is because it is more ethical than listening to music owned by a record label. Swift has been very vocal in the past about the pressure of the music industry and the rarity that comes from artists owning their art. Because Swift owns her music, she is in control of its distribution and licensing and ultimately has the final decision of where her music goes.
Overall, no matter if you love or hate Taylor Swift, you cannot deny she is a force in the music industry and should be commended for her hard work and dedication to rerecording her old music so she can fully own her library.
