As famed singer-songwriter Taylor Swift continues to expand her discography as a prominent influence on the 21st-century music industry, you may be wondering why she is releasing a “Taylor’s Version” of her past albums. The short answer is, she is rerecording and rereleasing her first six albums, of which she does not own the original recordings.

In 2005, Swift signed with Big Machine Records, which owns the masters (original recordings) of her first six albums. Under Big Machine, Swift did not own her music and was thus unable to control the way her songs were used. Big Machine sold to music manager Scooter Braun, who then sold Swift’s masters to Shamrock Holdings. As a result, each time Swift’s original recordings from her first six albums are streamed or bought, profits are gained by Braun. In 2018, when the Big Machine contract expired, Swift made the switch to Republic Records, where she made sure to acquire possession of her future masters. She now owns the four albums she has released since then—Lover, folklore, evermore, and Midnights.

Taylor Swift is now in the process of rereleasing her first six albums—Taylor Swift, Fearless, Speak Now, Red, 1989, and reputation. She released Fearless (Taylor’s Version) as her first rerecording in April of 2021, Red (Taylor’s Version) in November of 2021, and most recently Speak Now (Taylor’s Version). The rereleases of these albums showcase her stronger and more mature vocals on all the songs she has written throughout her career.

As part of the rereleased albums, Swift has released new tracks “from the vault,” called “vault tracks,” which are songs she wrote for the original album that were never released. She has released six vault tracks for Fearless (Taylor’s Version), nine for Red (Taylor’s Version), and six for Speak Now (Taylor’s Version).

Swift is three album rereleases away from owning all her masters. She writes, “Artists should own their own work for so many reasons. But the most screamingly obvious one is that the artist is the only one who really knows that body of work.” So if you want to support Taylor Swift in her journey as an artist to own her art, make sure you stream Taylor’s Version!

-Lam T.