Not another love story

 

In a year that saw artists record and release albums like nobody’s business — due to the obvious constraints Covid-19 put on any kind of touring schedule — Taylor Swift still stands out. Not only is she one of the biggest-sellers out there (Covid or not), but she managed to release 2 new albums last year (Folkore and Evermore, lest we forget), plus a documentary. But this, it turns out, was only the beginning: last Friday, the artist released a new, although virtually identical, version of her 2008 classic “Love story”, from second album Fearless. But why exactly would she do that?

This one is not merely due to the fact that Swift had time on her hands — although it probably helped. No, this was the consequence of a larger sequence of events that started in 2019, when the first 6 albums in her back catalog were acquired by music business heavyweight Scooter Braun through her old label, Big Machine Records. Braun is otherwise known in the industry as the manager of fellow superstars Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande. On top of that, he setup an investment firm that holds shares in companies including Spotify — and he owns and esports team. The problem is, that Big Machine deal was made against Swift’s wishes with Braun being fairly pushy in the matter, which would not come as much of a surprise given the man’s background. She then vowed to re-record her entire back catalog so as to keep earning royalties from her early work. Why not do it if you can?

And, so far, the gamble is paying off. Not only did “Love story” 2.0 become a smash hit, nearing 6 millions streams in its first day of release, but the singer announced that the entire Fearless album was due for (re-)release as well, featuring 6 brand new songs too. So let’s do the math here: that would make it 3 albums (+ 1 documentary) in the span of a year; not to mention there are 5 more albums waiting to get the same treatment. And we’re sure the lady has had time to compose more new material: after all, what is sleeping for?

Go Taylor!