Topline
Musician Taylor Swift will re-release her 2014 album 1989 in October, she announced late Wednesday during a performance of her Eras tour in Los Angeles, marking the fourth album the singer has re-released as she continues her efforts to regain control over her material after her albums were controversially acquired and sold by mogul Scooter Braun.
Key Facts
Swift announced the 1989 re-release onstage at the final night of her Eras tour stop at SoFi Stadium in California, with a screen showing the album would be released on October 27 before Swift launched into a performance of her song “New Romantics,” according to NBC News.
The singer’s social media accounts then confirmed the news, with Swift tweeting the re-recorded album “is my most FAVORITE re-record I’ve ever done because the 5 From The Vault tracks are so insane,” referring to songs that will be released after being cut from the original album.
1989 will be the fourth album Swift has re-released—with each one dubbed “Taylor’s Version”—following Fearless in April 2021, Red in November 2021 and Speak Now in July.
Initially released in October 2014, 1989 includes such Swift hits as “Shake It Off,” “Bad Blood” and “Blank Space.”
What To Watch For
Once 1989 is released, the only albums Swift still has to re-record will be her debut album Taylor Swift (2006) and her 2017 album Reputation.
Forbes Valuation
Forbes has estimated Swift’s net worth to be $740 million as of June. She’s also ranked as the ninth-highest paid entertainer this year, with an estimated $92 million in income.
Big Number
640,000. That’s how many album units Swift’s re-recorded Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) earned in its first six days of release in July, according to Billboard, making it the biggest album release of the year and the most popular album release since Swift released Midnights last year. Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 list, which marked Swift’s 12th album to debut at number one, breaking Barbra Streisand’s previous record for most chart-topping albums by a female artist. She is also the only woman to have four albums in the top 10 at the same time and the first living artist to achieve that distinction since the 1960s.
Key Background
Braun’s Ithaca Holdings company acquired the rights to the master recordings of Swift’s first six albums in 2019, when it bought her former record label Big Machine, which Swift described at the time as her “worst case scenario” and “worst nightmare.” The masters from her first six albums were later sold to private equity firm Shamrock Holdings in 2020 in a deal worth $300 million, with Swift vowing to re-record her music in its entirety after claiming she had no knowledge of the Shamrock deal and was not given a fair chance to buy back the rights to her recordings. (Braun has denied her claims.) The re-release of 1989 comes as Swift’s Eras tour has become the biggest tour of the year, with the Wall Street Journal estimating the tour could gross over $1 billion in revenue. Swift announced last week she would add an additional 15 North American stops to the tour, which will now continue through November 2024.
Taylor Swift Announces Re-Recorded ‘Speak Now’—And Hits A New Record (Forbes)
Taylor Swift Matches A Feat Only Managed By The Beatles And Prince (Forbes)
Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour Tops Springsteen For Biggest 2023 Tour (Forbes)
Taylor Swift Releases First Re-Recorded Album, ‘Fearless (Taylor’s Version)’, Following Sale Of Master Recordings (Forbes)
Taylor Swift’s ‘Red (Taylor’s Version)’ Tops iTunes Chart Hours After Release (Forbes)
Taylor Swift To Re-Record Songs After Music Catalogue Is Sold To Private Equity Fund For $300 Million (Forbes)
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