Writer, Madeleine Hanson
Most people spent quarantine on the couch binging Netflix, but Taylor Swift spent her time recording in her new home studio. Taylor Swift has been very busy over the pandemic and has released two albums since July, a documentary on Disney+ and has been re-recording her first 5 studio albums.
At the end of July, she surprised fans with a new album called Folklore. This album came less than a year after she released her album, Lover. Along with the album, a music video for Cardigan also premiered on Youtube. In September, she performed Betty at the Academy of Country Music Awards. She also released F
olklore: Deluxe with one additional song called, The Lakes. In September, Taylor Swift got together with her writers, Aaron Dessner and Jack Antonoff, for the first time throughout the whole writing process of Folklore, and recorded the album at Long Pond Studio, New York. On November 25th, Taylor Swift released Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions on Disney+, where she explained the meaning behind her songs.
Less than 5 months after Folklore was released, Taylor Swift released an album called, Evermore. She also released a music video on YouTube for her song, Willow. She released Evermore: Deluxe that has two additional tracks, It’s Time To Go and Right Where You Left Me. Between the 2 albums, in less than 5 months, she has released 34 songs.
At the American Music Awards Taylor Swift won artist of the year. She accepted the award over a video, to her fans. She couldn’t be at the awards show because she was in the studio re-recording her masters.
In November, Taylor Swift could officially re-record and do whatever she wanted with her first 5 studio albums, which were previously owned by Scooter Braun. Taylor Swift had been working with Big Machine Records since 2006 when she released her first album. Their agreement ended once Scott Borchetta, the CEO, sold her music to Scooter Braun without Taylor Swift being informed. Scooter Braun is the manager of Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande, but Taylor Swift has never liked him. She became very passionate about artists having the right to their own music. Taylor Swift has been excited to re-record her masters since the summer of 2019. Taylor Swift can now enjoy recording and is free to do whatever she wants with her music, as it is now owned by Shamrock holdings and they have been very flexible. Now that she has been re-recordings she has been able to revisit her old music.
In an interview with Good Morning America she talked about her experience while recording.
“It’s been the most fun doing Love Story because my voice was so teenaged” -Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift’s music has changed so much over time. She has created country, pop and alternative music throughout her albums. It will be exciting to find out and listen to how she re-creates that music. While, she is busy re-recording her masters and probably already recording a new album. We can definitely look forward to seeing a lot of Taylor Swift in the future.
