Everything You Need to Know About Taylor’s Version Albums

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Why Taylor Swift is rerecording her first 6 albums

Co-authored by Sofia Montañez and Raven Minyard, BA

Last Updated: October 27, 2025 Fact Checked

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What does Taylor’s Version mean?

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Why is she rerecording her albums?

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Taylor’s Version Albums

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Taylor Swift is one of the biggest pop stars in the world, so you’ve probably heard a lot about her even if you aren’t a Swiftie. Over the last few years, Swift has been re-releasing new versions of her first 6 albums with the phrase "Taylor’s Version" attached to the titles. This is her way of gaining ownership of the albums, which were sold by her original record label without her knowledge or support. Keep reading as we explain everything you need to know about "Taylor’s Version" and why Taylor Swift is rereleasing her music.

"Taylor's Version" Explained

Taylor Swift fandom content creator Sofia Montañez says that "Taylor's Version" refers to songs that Swift re-released after obtaining full rights. Early in her career, record labels retained rights to her music and wouldn't allow her to use her songs as she wished. She has since taken ownership of those songs and re-recorded them.

Section 1 of 3:

What does Taylor’s Version mean?

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"Taylor’s Version" means the album was rerecorded by Taylor. Taylor Swift is in the process of rerecording her first 6 albums so she can own her master recordings. When you see "Taylor’s Version" next to an album title, it means the album has successfully been rerecorded and Swift owns the rights to it.^{[1]
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- Swift has released "Taylor’s Versions" of her albums Fearless, Speak Now, Red, and 1989 and will release Taylor’s Versions of Reputation and her self-titled album Taylor Swift in the future.
- Swift already owns the rights to her albums Lover, Folklore, Evermore, Midnights, and The Tortured Poets Department, so those albums will not be rerecorded and are not marked as "Taylor’s Version."
- "Taylor’s Version" albums also include tracks “From the Vault” which means they’re songs that Swift recorded for the original version of the album that didn’t make the final cut.

Section 2 of 3:

Why is Taylor Swift rerecording her albums?

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In 2005, Taylor Swift signed a record deal with Big Machine Records. Swift was only 15 years old at the time and signed a contract with owner Scott Borchetta that gave Big Machine ownership of Swift’s masters, or her original recordings and performances.^{[2]
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- Swift stayed with Big Machine for 10 years and released her first 6 albums with them.
Rapper Kanye West infamously interrupted Swift’s acceptance speech at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, leading to a years-long feud between them. In 2016, West was managed by Scooter Braun, whom Swift accused of working with West to bully her on social media.^{[3]
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When her contract was up, Swift chose to leave Big Machine and sign with Republic Records, owned by Universal Music Group, with a deal that would allow her to own her masters moving forward. Her first 6 albums, however, were still owned by Big Machine.^{[4]
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Scott Borchetta sold Big Machine to Scooter Braun in June 2019. This meant that Swift’s masters were also owned by Braun, and she only found out when the deal was made public. She stated that the sale was her “worst case scenario” and accused Borchetta of selling to Braun despite her known opposition.^{[5]
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- Swift stated that she had asked for the right to own her work for years but was always refused. Instead, she was given the opportunity to re-sign with Big Machine and earn the rights to a previous album with each new album she recorded. She refused because she knew Borchetta would eventually sell the label and her future.
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In August 2019, Taylor announced she was rerecording her first 6 albums. The day before the release of Lover, the first album she owned the rights to, Swift appeared on Good Morning America and confirmed that she would be able to begin re-recording her albums in November 2020. In the interview, Swift stated that this was important to her because she believed artists should own their work.^{[6]
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- Fun fact: In July 2019, Kelly Clarkson tweeted Swift telling her she should rerecord her albums. Swift now sends Clarkson flowers with each Taylor’s Version release.^{[7]
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Section 3 of 3:

Taylor’s Version Albums

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Taylor Swift’s sophomore album,Fearless, was rereleased on April 9, 2021, making it the first "Taylor’s Version" album. It includes 6 “From the Vault” tracks.
Taylor Swift’s fourth album,Red, was rereleased on November 12, 2021. Red (Taylor’s Version) is Swift’s longest album to date with 30 total songs and 9 “From the Vault” tracks.
Speak Now is Swift’s third original album and the third "Taylor’s Version" album, having been released on July 7, 2023. It features 6 vault tracks.
1989 is Swift’s first official pop album and was rereleased on October 26, 2023. It contains 5 vault tracks.
The release date forReputation (Taylor’s Version) has yet to be announced, but many fans theorize it will be the next re-recording. In Swift’s Time Magazine “Person of the Year” interview, she promised fans the “From the Vault” tracks would be “fire.”^{[8]
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Swift’s re-release of her first album has also yet to be announced, but many fans expect it will be the final rerecording so Swift can finally take back her name.

Join the Discussion...

Which Taylor Swift songs do you think are the best?

wikiHow Editorial Team

Some of the most beloved and critically-acclaimed Taylor Swift songs are:

”All Too Well (10 Minute Version)”
”Death By A Thousand Cuts”
”Cruel Summer”
“August”
“Getaway Car”
“You Belong With Me”
“Cardigan”
“Wildest Dreams”
“Enchanted”
“Right Where You Left Me”
“Long Live”
"Champagne Problems"
“Cornelia Street”
“Maroon”

Kayla Wong
Taylor Swift Fandom Content Creator

The All Too Well (10-minute version) is lyrically one of the best she's done. It has such vulnerable songwriting. It has a very articulate way of getting super detailed and really visual, you can picture all the scenes. And it's so specific, and yet really universally relatable, which is interesting to me.

Clean on 1989 is a top three song for me. It's the closing track on 1989 standard edition, it's track 13. There's a ton of imagery in it. The metaphor essentially is that there's a storm outside, and instead of barricading yourself in and avoiding it, you punch a hole in the roof, you let the water come in, and it washes away whatever it is that's plaguing you and you're clean. That song is really well articulated, and I love it so much.

I love loml on The Tortured Poets Department. It's a ballad, and the way that she uses the phrase “loml” is, at the end of the song, you discover that it's being used as “loss of my life”, not “love of my life” from her perspective. And I feel like that's another one where it's like, it is so specific, but it's somehow still really broadly universally applicable. It’s an example of how somebody who you don't speak to, who you may never speak to again, who is not an active part of your life, could still have an everlasting place in it. And that's probably not the case for everyone, but for me, and for seemingly her, and for a lot of emotional profiles in the fandom, I think that that is the case. And so there's something really powerful about that song to me from that perspective.

Cardigan on Folklore is one that I want to call out because the metaphor of Peter losing Wendy has stuck with me. We all know the story of Peter Pan from the Disney movie, but it's only when she uses them in songs like this that I look into the story a little bit more. And in this example, the metaphor is so strong; Peter was the kid who never could grow up. Wendy loves him, etcetera, but is growing up and has to leave. And what was interesting about that one is, if you listen to the voice memo for Cardigan, her original line was “Peter leaving Wendy”, because I mean, that's a line that makes sense. But she changed it to “Peter losing Wendy” because the loss is actually Peter's in that situation. Knowing things like that has made the album even better to me. And now, with that line, I always think about her changing it and the meaning behind that. I love Cardigan.

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Does Taylor Swift not own the rights to the original versions anymore?

FeministRizzler

Community Answer

Yes, since 2019, her masters have been owned by Scooter Braun. Before that, they were owned by Scott Borchetta. They owned only the recordings, while Taylor Swift owns the publishing rights because she wrote the songs, allowing her to re-record them.

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