1989 (Taylor's Version)
| 1989 (Taylor's Version) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album (re-recorded) by | ||||
| Released | October 27, 2023 | |||
| Label | Republic | |||
| Taylor Swift chronology | ||||
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1989 (Taylor's Version) is the upcoming fourth re-recorded album by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, set for release on October 27, 2023, via Republic Records. It is a re-recording of Swift's fifth studio album, 1989 (2014). It follows her 2021 re-recorded albums, Fearless (Taylor's Version) and Red (Taylor's Version), and 2023 re-recorded album, Speak Now (Taylor's Version). The re-recording is a part of Swift's counteraction to her 2019 masters dispute. 1989 (Taylor's Version) was announced on August 9, 2023, at the last Los Angeles show of her concert tour, the Eras Tour.
Background
Taylor Swift released her fourth studio album, 1989, on October 27, 2014, under Big Machine Records. Inspired by 1980s synth-pop, Swift conceived 1989 to recalibrate her artistry to pop after critics disputed her status as a country musician. The album received positive reviews from music critics. It sold over 1.287 million copies within its opening week in the United States. Three of the album's singles—"Shake It Off", "Blank Space", and "Bad Blood"—reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Swift became the first artist to have three albums each sell one million copies within the first week, and 1989 was the first album released in 2014 to exceed one million copies.[1] 1989 topped the Billboard 200 for 11 non-consecutive weeks[2] and spent the first full year after its release in the top 10 of the Billboard 200.[3] At the 58th Annual Grammy Awards (2016), 1989 won Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album. The winning of the former made Swift the first female artist to win the award twice.
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Swift released one more studio album, Reputation (2017), under Big Machine, as per her recording contract, which expired in November 2018. She hence withdrew from Big Machine and signed a new deal with Republic Records, which secured her the rights to own the masters of any new music she would release.[4] In 2019, American businessman Scooter Braun acquired Big Machine;[5] the ownership of the masters to Swift's first six studio albums, including Speak Now, transferred to him.[6] In August 2019, Swift denounced Braun's purchase and announced that she would re-record her first six studio albums so as to own their masters herself.[7] Swift began the re-recording process in November 2020.[8] Fearless (Taylor's Version), the first of her six re-recorded albums, was released on April 9, 2021, followed by Red (Taylor's Version) on November 12, 2021.[9][10] She released her third re-recorded album, Speak Now (Taylor's Version) on July 7, 2023. All three albums achieved critical and commercial success, each debuting atop the U.S. Billboard 200 chart.
Swift began teasing 1989 (Taylor's Version) in early 2021 with a snippet of "Wildest Dreams (Taylor's Version)" featured in the trailer for the 2021 animated film Spirit Untamed, released on March 12, 2021. Swift released the re-recorded song on September 17, 2021 amid a viral TikTok trend involving the original 2014 recording of the song. On May 5, 2022, a snippet of "This Love (Taylor's Version)" was featured in the first trailer for the 2022 Prime Video original series The Summer I Turned Pretty. The song was released on digital platforms on May 6. A snippet of "Bad Blood (Taylor's Version)" was featured in the 2022 animated film DC League of Super-Pets.
On August 9, 2023, at the final Los Angeles date of her current tour, the Eras Tour, Swift announced 1989 (Taylor's Version) as her next re-recorded album, set for release on October 27, 2023, nine years to the date since the original release of 1989.
Release
1989 (Taylor's Version) is scheduled for release on October 27, 2023, making it Swift's fourth re-recorded album. It contains 21 tracks, five of which are designated "From the Vault", indicating unreleased songs that were written for 1989 but did not make the final track list in 2014.
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Welcome to New York" | |||
| 2. | "Blank Space" |
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| 3. | "Style" |
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| 4. | "Out of the Woods" |
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| 5. | "All You Had to Do Was Stay" |
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| 6. | "Shake It Off" |
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| 7. | "I Wish You Would" |
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| 8. | "Bad Blood" |
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| 9. | "Wildest Dreams" |
| 3:40 | |
| 10. | "How You Get the Girl" |
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| 11. | "This Love" | Swift |
| 4:10 |
| 12. | "I Know Places" |
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| 13. | "Clean" |
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| 14. | "Wonderland" |
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| 15. | "You Are in Love" |
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| 16. | "New Romantics" |
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Notes
- All tracks are noted as "Taylor's Version"; tracks 17–21 are additionally noted as "From the Vault".
References
- ^ Caulfield, Keith (November 4, 2014). "Official: Taylor Swift's 1989 Debuts With 1.287 Million Sold In First Week". Billboard. Archived from the original on December 7, 2014. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
- ^ Caulfield, Keith (February 11, 2015). "Taylor Swift's 1989 Spends 11th Week at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Chart". Billboard. Archived from the original on July 26, 2018. Retrieved February 7, 2019.
- ^ Caulfield, Keith (October 27, 2015). "Taylor Swift's 1989 Only Fifth Album to Spend First Year in Billboard 200's Top 10". Billboard. Archived from the original on October 8, 2020. Retrieved October 6, 2020.
- ^ Willman, Chris (August 27, 2018). "Taylor Swift Stands to Make Music Business History as a Free Agent". Variety. Archived from the original on August 29, 2018. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
- ^ Christman, Ed (June 30, 2019). "Scooter Braun Acquires Scott Borchetta's Big Machine Label Group, Taylor Swift Catalog For Over $300 Million". Billboard. Archived from the original on February 13, 2021. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
- ^ Grady, Constance (July 1, 2019). "The Taylor Swift/Scooter Braun controversy, explained". Vox. Archived from the original on February 11, 2020. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
- ^ "Taylor Swift wants to re-record her old hits after ownership row". BBC News. August 22, 2019. Archived from the original on August 22, 2019. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
- ^ Aswad, Jem (August 22, 2019). "Taylor Swift Performs on 'GMA,' Talks Re-Recording Big Machine Songs (Watch)". Variety. Archived from the original on November 8, 2020. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
- ^ Willman, Chris (April 20, 2021). "Taylor Swift's 'Fearless (Taylor's Version)' Debuts Huge: What It Means for Replicating Oldies, Weaponizing Fans". Variety. Archived from the original on April 21, 2021. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
- ^ Caulfield, Keith (November 21, 2021). "Taylor Swift Scores 10th No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart With 'Red (Taylor's Version)'". Billboard. Archived from the original on November 23, 2021. Retrieved May 6, 2023.