Why Taylor Swift is re-recording her old albums, from Reputation to 1989

Sign up to Roisin O’Connor’s free weekly newsletter Now Hear This for the inside track on all things music Get our Now Hear This email for free Get our Now Hear This email for free SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Enjoy unlimited access to 100 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music Sign up now for a 4 month free trial Sign up Enjoy unlimited access to 100 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music Sign up now for a 4 month free trial Sign up “I walked away because I knew once I signed that contract, Scott Borchetta would sell the label, thereby selling me and my future,” Swift wrote on her Tumblr account in June 2019. This is likely due to Clarkson being the first person to publicly suggest that Swift re-record each of her six projects originally released with BMR, writing on 13 July 2019: “@taylorswift13 just a thought, U should go in & re-record all the songs that U don’t own the masters on exactly how U did them but put brand new art & some kind of incentive so fans will no longer buy the old versions. And she did it and literally is, like, the best-selling artist I feel like of all-time now.” open image in gallery Kelly Clarkson receives a bouquet of flowers from Swift after each re-recorded album she releases Aside from newly added “From The Vault” tracks – unreleased songs that didn’t make it onto the original albums – the re-released records are nearly identical to the originals. “A few bits of middling production, or some slightly-too-good vocals, won’t change that.” Swift is currently preparing to release her first album of original material since 2022’s Midnights: her 11th studio LP, The Tortured Poets Department, is out on Friday 19 April.