My favorite part of that whole situation is that the music label tells the artist "you're screwed because of *legalese*, and you should just calmly take it" and then when the artist finds a legal way to screw them over, suddenly it's "They are negatively impacting us and they are the worst person ever for it!" I ain't even a Taytay fan and I love that she did that.

Olivia Rodrigo said that witnessing the Taylor Swift masters dispute made her realize how cautious she needed to be while breaking into the mainstream music industry. Olivia said that she refused to sign a label until she found one that would allow her to own her own masters and give her a fair deal in royalties, licensing, and revenue because she didn’t want her music to be given the same treatment that her Taylor’s _Taylor Swift, Fearless, Speak Now, Red, 1989, & Reputation_ albums received.

She took out her entire music catalog out of spotify before so that they agree to pay artists more and it worked. Same goes with Apple Music. She made a deal with UGM that they give more profit to their new artists as well. She did a lot for the new generation of artists, her impact is undeniable. Truly an artist of the decade or maybe century. For dummies who’s says she’s money hungry have no logical thinking at all. All of her music that she owns (since lover) are all available for free on UKposts. Her biggest income is not from streaming, she doesn’t to need that anyway. If she wants money that much why did she remove her entire catalog from Spotify for years? especially during her peak era too

Taylor actually did reach out to all the musicians that played instruments on the first master recording for the re-recordings. And almost all of them participated in the project. It’s really cool that he could tell that that was the case.

To people saying, "Taylor Swift isn't the first one to introduce re-recordings, some musicians did it way before that," yes she isnt the first one but she definitely has the biggest impact considering how huge her fan base is. KUDOS to her!

i think one important caveat to remember is that Taylor was the primary songwriter to all of her music so she retained publishing rights to every song she released under her former label. THIS is the reason why she was able to do what she did with rerecording. This same situation will not apply if artists don't write their own songs.

I'm a huge Taylor Swift fan but my mom never bought me the Taylor Swift albums I wanted. Now I'm glad that I don't because now I get to buy all her re-recorded albums and fulfill my childhood dreams while also supporting Taylor Swift. It's a win win situation.

Salvador Dali did a similar thing with his art after he lost control of it. He signed tens of thousands of blank canvases, and then encouraged people to buy them and print his most famous works to dilute the value of the real ones.

I love that she not only remade her albums, she upgraded them with more experienced vocals and all of the improvements in instruments and recording technology that she didn’t have on the first go-round. Being able to improve on her existing creations and make them work for her financially sounds like a win 💰 win to me. Kudos to Taylor 👍🏾

You're lowkey promoting Taylor Swift's version and i love you for it. She's the queeennn!

Even as a non-Swiftie, a mere casual listener, I have a lot of respect for Taylor Swift. She put in the work to own her music as not let her old company win, I always admire people who stick it to the man. She's a great artist and businesswoman, and her passion shows.

Taylor actually did request a lot of the same musicians and team help with her reproduced albums. One of my fave things about them is how she brought them back. I love in the Vault songs how she's bringing other artists she loves to sing with her. It's not just about money or making a label happy for her anymore. She's getting to really enjoy what she's doing. I love that for her 😭❤

I think while this legal battle was difficult for Taylor it did bring a huge level of awarness to artists and the public about the importance of owning your masters. She definitely impacted the music industry course and I respect her a lot for the strength that she's proven while doing so. She's quite the unique combination of artistic talent and business prowess

One thing that I feel like often gets missed when talking about this is that Big Machine wasn't some big company taking a chance on this unknown teenager. She met Scott Borchetta when he was working for another label and planning to set up Big Machine. She took a chance on them just as much as they did on her - she had bigger labels who offered her development deals (where essentially they'd work with her towards the goal of releasing a record when she was 18, but not yet) but Big Machine, since they were just starting out, was in a position to take a leap and offer her a record deal. She on her end also took a leap by signing with this brand new, unknown label. Big Machine's success can almost entirely be attributed to Taylor Swift. Not only did her music make up 50% of their overall net worth, but the other artists that got big on that label absolutely benefitted from Swift's success - from 2008 onwards, signing with Taylor Swift's label was a way more attractive proposition to other artists than signing with Big Machine without Taylor Swift would have been. Both Swift and Big Machine took a risk with each other, and both benefitted massively. It was a mutually beneficial partnership, and both sides owed each other, though I'd argue that post-1989, Big Machine benefitted from Swift far more than she did from them. But when it came time that Borchetta wanted to sell Big Machine, they tried to treat Swift like an unknown 15 year old instead of the reason for their success. Letting Swift buy her masters would have been tough for Big Machine initially, but there was a LOT of value in maintaining a positive relationship with an artist this big with this much proven longevity (and essentially the only artist who still sells substantial amounts of physical albums in addition to being a streaming giant). It would have left the door open for partnerships down the road, and she may have been amenable to some sort of deal that benefitted Big Machine while still giving her ownership of her masters. Even if they didn't offer her the chance to buy her masters, selling them to literally anyone who wasn't Scooter Braun would have at least kept the relationship cordial, rather than prompting Swift to go scorched-earth (which should have been utterly unsurprising for anyone, but especially Scott Borchetta, one of her closet collaborators for over a decade). I disagree with the argument in general that artists signed the contracts so they have to live with every unfair, exploitative provision within them, but I can at least follow the logic when it comes to a big label expending resources on someone who may or may not succeed, when they could be pouring those resources into more surefire successes or their already successful clients. Big Machine, though, was a startup that would have been taking a risk on anyone, because they weren't big enough to attract anyone except risky newcomers. Their gamble paid off big time, but if not for Swift, it is extremely likely they would have folded early on, or puttered along for a while with micellaneous country acts until eventually having to shut down. Tl;dr Taylor Swift took a chance on an unknown label and Big Machine bit the hand that fed them to success.

Funniest thing about this whole case: Scooters Braun seriously underestimated Taylor's parasocial relationship with her fans. I believe I read somewhere that he scoffed at her decision to rerecord her albums basically telling her that no one would ever buy them again. Dude, she's not a top selling artist (man or woman) because she's just a pretty blond.

I’m so glad she fought for her rights.

Even before her fights over her first six albums, Swift fought digital streaming platforms over royalties and won. She has been fighting for the rights of songwriters and recording artists, big and small, for ages.

She writes, sings, directs, acts, put on an epic show AND makes power moves. It’s a shame that media only talks about her dating life which is honestly nobody’s business. How much more does a woman gotta do.

It's so funny to me how the Carlisle Group and the other private firms thought it'd be a good idea to partake in the backstabbing of the person they wanted to profit from lol. All of them though, Scooter and Scott as well. My guess is they were used to silencing artists with legal action and threats. They didn't know just who they were stealing from (pun intended)... This is the same girl who declined a contract with SONY at 14 because she refused to release songs she hadn't written, and because she didn't want to get lost in a big label. THAT is the person they were trying to steal from.

I'm not much of a listener of Swift's music, just not my thing, but she's absolutely a genius for doing this. So much respect for her. What an absolute badass.

Fun fact, if a giant mouse hadn't perverted copyright law beyond all recognisable relation to its original intent, pretty much none of this would matter.

By getting the original musicians back she is ensuring they are not being screwed over by the new recordings - that shows true character in my opinion and a new respect for Taylor Swift. No matter what version of the song is used, the musicians remain unaffected in any income and bragging rights :D

Watching this over a year later and Fearless (Taylor's Version) and Red (Taylor's Version) have now out streamed the original versions of the albums, her impact is truly undeniable.

Heard Dolly Parton talking about her song "I will always love you" and how Elvis was going cover it... but Elvis wanted 50% of the publishing rights to the song to do the cover. She turned Elvis down, and the rest is history. As she says in interviews about Whitney's cover of her song, you can give Whitney the credit, just give Dolly the money.

"What is she trying to prove by doing all this?" Lemme tell you... Olivia Rodrigo owns her music bcoz she learned from Taylor Swift. The Music Industry everybody!

I'll buy her new versions. She deserves to benefit from her brand. She is a breath of fresh air in terms of supporting her friends and staff. She could be a much different individual with her success, but she is a classy lady. I'd love to meet her in persona.

Not surprising that she's one of, if not the most, successful singer of our time. Not only is she talented and very down to earth, she's also smart and rebellious against the abusive/exploitative higher ups

Taylor Swift is legendary

Taylor Swift has always impressed me as a musician, and as a person. Now I respect her all the more as a businesswoman. Well done T Swizzle!

"Get a good lawyer." Best advice you can get. But I would imagine it is challenging for an emerging artist who is desperate to make a name for themselves and has little room to make demands as to what their recording contract states. Actors, for example, have unions that work to ensure that contracts are fair and that actors are not exploited. Do music artists have the same protections? If not, perhaps the long term solution here is to organize.

As a law student, I really appreciate this in depth analysis of the Taylor Swift situation. None of the other UKposts videos abt it makes it as clear cut as you do. Great job!

"Get a good lawyer" are wise words for everyone

Taylor Swift is actually extremely smart for adding even more new songs (From The Vault) to the re-recordings because it automatically increases the value of her version of the album since fans get more songs of listen to. Edit: buy Taylor's version - Fearless TV, RED TV. 🧣❤

The music industry is so predatory and abusive historically, it's astounding.

She's extremely smart to also add the from the vault songs, it's a more incentive to buy and increases the value. While others have done it before her, due the swiftie fanbase she has a huge impact along with more and more people aware. Taylor also has a recording studio in one of her houses, no need to actually pay a studio to help her if she can do it at any given point.

i fully 100% agree that there's no point to listening to the original versions if we have the re-recordings, bc they always sound immensely better -- better mixed, better produced, her voice is stronger and more mature... it's a very big and noticeable difference. out of all the re-recordings we've gotten so far, my favorite is red, partly because 10 min all too well is absolutely insane. but mostly because the whole re-recorded album just sounds absolutely incredible.

This women is very smart, no wonder she is still so successful after more than 16 years in music industry

I never bought any Of Taylor Swifts music but since 2020 I bought all her post-Big Machine albums and will be buying all of her re-recorded albums. Her work drive is extremely admirable and I use her music to motivate me every time I get tired of studying for an exam. After all if Taylor Swift can work this hard, surely I can too. :)

I’m a proud OG Swiftie and I remember mentioning in my Intellectual Property Law exam her feat with respect to new and small artists getting paid during the 3-month trial period on Apple music and Spotify as a pre-condition to putting her catalog back to their streaming services. I love her for that and for so many other reasons. Artists are the creators of their arts and they should be paid for it. It is not greediness for artists to demand what they deserve. Imagine great composers then dying poor, obscure and starved to death (e.g. Vivaldi)? Unless it is a charitable act, artists should be paid in an amount equivalent to their work’s worth. Businessmen’s greediness should not have a place in any industry that involves art.

Taylor is amazing for this & this is special because she isn't re-recording her music after 30-40 years but right at the moment she was allowed to. She is at the peak of her career (yes, even after so many years!) and she is showing that art has value and that she is right every step of the way doing this. I love how she got 'revenge' on scooter and Scott because it was just a very nasty move. It's also amazing to see all the fans (me included!) come together and buy and stream her Taylors Versions because we all believe in her so much! I still hope one day she gets the chance to buy her own, original masters, but until then she is setting legendary steps in the music industry and you can't deny that fact. Looking back at '1989' when she removed all her music from streaming to better the payment to ALL artists before her, and coming after her she basically put her own power and art to better the lives of future generations!

I knew Taylor was awesome, but didnt realize she was this awesome.

It's a curious problem, when you're first starting a new business, publishing a new album or book, etc...that is exactly when you need great lawyering. But you can't afford great lawyering until you've made tons of money on your business or book.

Part of the appeal of re-recording the albums is that as the composer, Taylor has the legal right to deny sync licenses, which means that if someone wanting to use the original recordings tried to go through Shamrock, she could use her position as the composer to deny them the ability to use the original masters. This is why Taylor encourages artists to write their own music; the amount of legal leverage that that has provided for her has been invaluable. Even though she hasn't finished re-recording the albums, she has the ability to cut off a significant portion of the revenue the originals would have generated. I remember reading somewhere that her team is denying sync licenses for Shake it Off and Blank Space near-daily, which is just so crazy omg. And for what it's worth--Fearless was her second album and Lover was her seventh album (sorry, I'm pedantic and annoying and I had to lol).

Say what you will about her but she is not just talented and intelligent, but she has balls of steel. She refused to back down and took charge of her own destiny in the best way possible. She didn't bother to get even, she got better.

Another big part of this, is for the first time in history the Artist can reach out to their fan base directly with Twitter and such. This means that the artists voice louder than ever before and they don’t have to go through the old “filters” that they used to have to navigate, great video!

FYI: Fearless was not Taylor’s first album, her self titled debut was, fearless was her second

Red blew Fearless out of the water which says a lot about her choices. Patiently waiting for Reputation to be re recorded since it’s my favorite.

I've never been a huge Swift fan, but honestly her fighting the good fights in copyright and against harassers has made me buy my first copy of a Taylor's Version album

Hey all. I’m a professional working class musician and have soooo much to say about all this. First! Thank you Legal Eagle!!! The legality surrounding music is intentionally designed to be hostile towards musicians. And, I know what a lot of you are thinking “just don’t take the contract” and as a person who has turned down several bad record deals, I have to say… there’s not really a good* alternative for us. Though, hundreds of thousands of us do take the route I did- playing 5-9 shows a week that are 4hrs long. It’s not really sustainable either. But that really is the state the industry these days. Band camp is AWESOME, but 70% us never make enough to even pay the bills. I’m a lucky exception. As far as Taylor’s new recordings! I INSTANTLY heard the increase in quality. Better guitar tones, better mastering, and better mixing were immediately evident. I’m not an avid listener of Taylor Swifts Music, but I’m really really really proud of her business savvy nature. I’ve seen a lot of my fellow pros get locked into oppressive contracts, and am really happy to see her challenge the status quo

I've never been a fan of Taylor Swift's music, but I can recognize that she is a mega-talented songwriter. I am a huge fan of her career arch though. She continues to impress and inspire me :)

She really did come back stronger than a 90s trend in every possible aspect. Soooo proud to be a Swiftie.

I was never a Taylor Swift fan. I heard some of her songs on the radio and I didn't hate them or anything, I just never really listened to her. Then I read all about her fight with Scooter Braun and Big Machine and how she decided to re-record her albums to cut them out and, as an old musician who was in a band who actually turned down the only record deal we were ever offered due to unreasonable terms, I was nothing but entirely impressed with this woman. This is just about the only time I've ever heard of an artist finally sticking it to the f*cking vultures that prey on creative people's hopes and dreams. Well done Taylor! You are a hero!

As soon as he played the recorded track, I could hear the difference, it was clearer, and overall sounded better. I am by no means a Swifty, but mos def have mad respect for her and her efforts.

I've never liked Taylor Swift's music, it's not my genre at all, but now I admire her as a person: she had the balls to take fight for her rights

Everything I see about Taylor just makes me respect her more as an artist and a human. I adore this woman and she deserves all the best the world can give her!

I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. I’m sure it sucked for Taylor in the beginning when all this happened but now she is the one who is laughing her way to the bank. She is a GENIUS for doing this. Girl’s got bigger balls than Scooter! ❤

Paul McCartney said to Michael Jackson "you make the real money from publishing", then Michael bought the Beatles publishing rights.

LOL. It just warms my heart the people who screwed a naive teenager get their comeuppance from that same now much wiser woman.

I love the fact that you worked with Beato on copyright claims! Doing the Lord's work!!

I've always wondered why she chose to re-record her albums and copy it exactly how it sounded back when it was first released and your video made me understand why. I never realized there are a lot of legal stuff going on behind every artists and record labels when they released a song. And indeed, Taylor is smart enough to re-record her albums immediately after the feud.

I am so proud of Swift and I am actually really glad, now, that I've never, personally, bought any of her records yet... so that I can buy these new ones!

This was a really entertaining and informative analysis of the whole situation, and it really makes me respect Taylor Swift, even if I'm not really a fan of her music. I can appreciate her talent and intelligence though. She is literally setting an example for future artists, but I also fear she is teaching the record labels that they need to do a better job wrapping the artists in restrictive contracts. I wouldn't be surprised if after this move that record labels move to not only getting the rights to the recording, but to the composition license as well. It's becoming more important than ever that new artists get a good lawyer.

Her singing has improved dramatically both her voice and her artistry. In addition, on RED, she offered the 10 minute version of "All to Well" and the 10 songs from the vault that did not make the original album cut including "Run" featuring Ed Sheeran, one of my favorite TS song.

17:37 Bruh, LegalEagle chops his onions in a business suit. I imagine he also goes to beaches, theme parks, campgrounds, fairs, and wrestling matches also in a business suit xD

Good for her. I've always been impressed by what I heard about her in the news (like that time she sued a former employee for 1 cent for groping her). Setting a great example for everyone. Hopefully she, or witnesses to this, can set up some sort of young musicians legal aid so that literal children don't keep getting exploited by big companies.

Wow Taylor really outdid herself. Haven’t listened to her in years but I’m going to listen to her remade albums. Thank you for breaking this out so simply and so entertainingly.

0:33 cant believe you had to scar me with the memory that Taylor was in cats

Honestly the best thing that come out of all this drama is my tears ricochet. Seriously a work of art

I've been an on and off fan of hers for years... I've never been the biggest fan, but I've never really disliked her music. The one thing I've always known about her.. when she stands for something, she sets her mind on it, and works hard to achieve it. She really has changed the music industry.. seemingly for the better

In other words, guys, go buy and stream the re-recordings and make sure to never never support any of the old versions once all re-recordings are released.

I’ve never been a fan of Swift; not my kind of music. But I fully support her going to battle with oppressive power structures and standing up for not only herself, but for the rights of the artist writ large. Good for her.

In 2006, a DJ friend of mine wanted to release a cover of "Waiting for a Star to Fall" by Boy Meets Girl but the record company refused to release the master copy ( because they wanted to release their own remix). So he contacted original singer and songwriter and he re-recorded the vocals specifically for this remix. And my guess is that is probably not the first time this has happened considering how tightly master copies are held and the propensity for shenanigans to circumvent them. That being said, Taylor has weaponised the process and shown other artists a pathway ahead. More power to her.

*When you are a law school student and a classically trained musician.* Thank you, LegalEagle! Favorite video so far!

Thanks for covering this. Had a recording contract myself after joining a band years ago, started to dig into what I signed and learned that it was exclusive and the label would get rights to anything I recorded as an artist, not just with that particular band. I was able to get out of it, but boy are they designed to fleece artists.

Taylor is such an inspiration. Out of all the hard times she stayed true to herself and kept pushing. She deserves ALL the love she is receiving. 💝💝💝💝

I honestly started listening to some of TS music just out of sheer respect for her "don't be mean to me cause I'm way better at this" approach.

The new version is better. Just her vocals alone have become smoother. The transitions between her registers ahhhh so good.

Good for her! Artists should have control over what they create.

Can you do a video on how Frank Ocean legally changed music? The way that he was able to get out of his contract and go independent and keep all of his money is amazing.

Please do more on music law and how musicians can be more informed about it. Musicians get so discouraged and used by labels that they usually end up being broke while labels take all their money - which means they can't afford legal action and they wouldnt even know where to begin if they did. Please help musicians like me to be more aware of what we need to sign and not sign. Thank you for this video - it has already made an impact in more people's lives than you know! Take care, EJ :)

This was super interesting. I’m glad Taylor has found a way to regain control of her music. I found the bit about Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney a bit misleading, as McCartney and Yoko Ono were given first dibs and offered the chance to buy back the Beatles catalog before anyone else, but they decided the 40 million price tag was too high. (Paul was worth hundreds of millions at the time, and made about 40 million in royalties alone each year. But he told friends the catalog was “too pricey.”) After they passed on the purchase, the catalog was up for grabs. Jackson found out about it and offered to pay anything. They told him it would be 47.5 million, (seven and a half million more than the price offered to McCartney and Ono). Jackson snapped up the deal, which from a business standpoint, was brilliant; he ended up making about a billion off licensing and royalties. McCartney felt betrayed when he found out about the purchase and severed their friendship. I love the Beatles, but I can’t side with McCartney on this. He had his chance and didn’t take it; he had only himself to blame. He did end up getting control of their catalog again, but it took a long time and a lot money. I’m not a huge MJ fan, but I don’t see him as the bad guy in that particular scenario.

I am a massive Taylor Swift fan so Im in-the-know of this situation, but I never knew the deep situation like this. Thanks for the analysis. Im incredibly proud of her innovation in the Music Industry legality-wise My fav song is Wildest Dreams for those that are curious. I recommend it, her version was just released recently

Taylor has a lot of pull in the music industry hell I should say the world she is a very powerful woman. They know everything she touches is gold because of the Swifties that follow her. She has her own army! You don't mess around with that!

"What advise would you give to anyone who wants to become a singer?" "Get a good lawyer."

As others said, her music isn't really my cup of tea. However, I'm becoming a fan of Taylor Swift as a person. She deserves a lot of respect.

That's how you kick your label in the balls, Love everything about it. There was a time, back around 2009 I had a label deal laying on the table in front of me... and when I read through it and realized that we'd be losing money to take the deal, I walked away completely disillusioned and didn't touch my instruments for several years. I'm glad she played it smart.

I love that you brought Rick into the mix! Lol

This is so heart warming 🥰 I'm utterly blown away by this woman. What a force to be reckoned with

All the absolute badassery by Taylor aside, can we just appreciate the mental image of Devin always having a gavel when he does things? Plus a suit. Fantastic.

Haven't really listened to Taylor's music since I was a teen but DAMN. YOU GO GURL! So proud! Congrats on this and all your future success from your childhood home state. Thanks for covering this, LegalEagle!

Amazing episode! I am a musician myself, so this was excellent info. Kudos to Taylor Swift for taking charge of her catalogue, and kudos to LE for bringing in Rick Beato! Way to go!

I took a Music Business class in university (I am a media student), It had 2 parts so I spent an approx 8 months in that course. I learned more in this video about legal business in the music industry then i did in 8 months in that class

I'm not a fan of Swift's music, just isn't my style, but I'm glad she stood up for herself and came out on top. I understand artists need to work with other companies but the artist should be the primary person to benefit from such business transactions. Like how UKpostsrs work with editors but the editors don't get to own the video.

That face when Rick hears just the first snare from the re-records is so telling, heh. The new album really is an improvement on the original. So many points to Swift for actually managing to get one up on the music industry for once!

I love when Devin does these colabs! I watch Rick’s channel frequently and his music knowledge is very impressive

This video is awesome! Nice to see how the whole rerecording situation works from de legal point!

This video definitely changes my preconceived notions of her. I always knew labels were bad, but wow... Good for her for sticking it to the man! This is a good lesson for any artist looking to get started. Makes me think of those talent shows on TV... 100K and they own you!

I listened to Fearless (Taylor's Version) on Napster right after it came out, and while I didn't do an A-B test I was fairly certain that the new version sounded fuller and more mature. Glad to hear Rick Beato back up my incredibly amateur opinion.

This is clearest explanation that I’ve heard. A lot of people struggle to explain the differences between publishing and recording 4:38

Love her or hate her, Taylor did a major industry changing thing for every young and existing artist. She is a force to be reckoned with.