Now that Taylor Swift has regained ownership of her master recordings, there is one question that remains for her fans: Will she complete her run of (Taylor's Version) releases that saw her re-record her earlier albums?
Swift first began releasing re-recorded versions of the six albums as a form of protest over the sale of those albums' masters by her label Big Machine to Scooter Braun's Ithaca Holdings in 2020. Since she has released what she called a "Taylor's Version" of 2008's Fearless, 2012's Red, 2010's Speak Now and 2014's 1989, all of which sold millions of copies.
In addition to the updated recordings, Swift also included "From the Vault" tracks with each album, consisting of newly recorded songs that were originally left off the albums.
This, of course, leaves her 2006 debut, Taylor Swift, and 2017's Reputation as the two albums from that group that have yet to receive their (Taylor's Version). But in the handwritten letter written to fans on her website, in which she revealed that she now owns her masters, Swift included a note about whether those new versions will ever see the light of day.
“I know, I know. What about Rep TV?” she wrote, referring to Reputation. “Full transparency: I haven’t even re-recorded a quarter of it. The Reputation album was specific to that time in my life, and I kept hitting a stopping point when I tried to remake it.
"All that defiance, that longing to be understood, while feeling purposely misunderstood, that desperate hope, that shame-born snarl and mischief," she continued. "To be perfectly honest, it’s the one album in those first six that I thought couldn’t be improved upon by redoing it. Not the music, or photos, or videos. So I kept putting it off. There will be a time (if you’re into the idea) for the unreleased Vault tracks from that album to hatch.”
As for Taylor Swift, she said, “I've already completely re-recorded my debut album, and I really love how it sounds now.”
While she isn't saying they won't happen, Swift feels the timing has to be right in order for the releases to make sense.
“Those two albums can still have their moment to re-emerge when the time is right if that would be something you guys would be excited about,” she wrote. “But if it happens, it won’t be from a place of sadness and longing for what I wish I could have. It will just be a celebration now.”
We're gonna go out on a limb and say this is definitely something Swifties would be excited about.