# Taylor Swift to rerecord her music
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taylor-swift-to-rerecord-her-music/925796
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Tags:** music
**Created:** [November 17, 2020, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taylor-swift-to-rerecord-her-music/925796 "2020-11-17T14:54:01Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2020, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taylor-swift-to-rerecord-her-music/925796/21 "2020-11-17T21:08:58Z")
It’s my understanding that she’s planning to make them awfully similar. One of the specific reasons she mentioned is that doing this will diminish the value of the masters. She also mentioned that it’ll give her fans a way to listen to her older music without Scooter getting royalty payments.
IOW, she’s not doing this for fun, though she mentions she wants to feel like she’ll own her own music again, but more importantly, it’s a big FU to Scooter/Big Machine.
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### Author:  [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2020, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taylor-swift-to-rerecord-her-music/925796/22 "2020-11-17T21:11:18Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#):
>
> I read Weird Al does not have to but he asks permission from the songwriter when he does his parodies. He also said the only guy who said no was Prince
That’s true, but when it comes to music recordings, parodies are an entirely different thing than covers or samples. You don’t need permission to do a parody, especially since it’s not likely that someone is going to buy a parody _instead_ of the original, like they might with a cover.
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### Author:  [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2020, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taylor-swift-to-rerecord-her-music/925796/23 "2020-11-17T21:11:52Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#):
>
> It’s my understanding that she’s planning to make them awfully similar. One of the specific reasons she mentioned is that doing this will diminish the value of the masters. She also mentioned that it’ll give her fans a way to listen to her older music without Scooter getting royalty payments.
>
> IOW, she’s not doing this for fun, though she mentions she wants to feel like she’ll own her own music again, but more importantly, it’s a big FU to Scooter/Big Machine.
Right, but your ability to license music to make a new sound recording isn’t dependent on your motive. And again, the record company _doesn’t own the compositions._
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### Author:  [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2020, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taylor-swift-to-rerecord-her-music/925796/24 "2020-11-17T21:13:36Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#):
>
> That’s true, but when it comes to music recordings, parodies are an entirely different thing than covers or samples. You don’t need permission to do a parody, especially since it’s not likely that someone is going to buy a parody _instead_ of the original, like they might with a cover.
As I said above, you also don’t need permission to do a cover. You need a license. In most cases, you can get a license without getting permission. The license is _compulsory._ It’s entirely different than a parody, but the main difference is that a parody owes no royalties. When it comes to a cover, if you pay, you’re good. _And Taylor Swift is largely paying herself_ for the licenses.
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### Author:  [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2020, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taylor-swift-to-rerecord-her-music/925796/25 "2020-11-17T21:14:26Z")
So then why the wait? What was Taylor talking about when she said that as of November 17th, according to a contract, she’s not legally allowed to re-record her old music?
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### Author:  [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2020, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taylor-swift-to-rerecord-her-music/925796/26 "2020-11-17T21:14:35Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#):
>
> I read Weird Al does not have to but he asks permission from the songwriter when he does his parodies. He also said the only guy who said no was Prince
Yes, he asks. Coolio claims he said no about Gangsta Paradise, but Al says he had given permission. I think Coolio was mad because Amish Paradise is so amazing that a lot of people start thinking of it when they hear that opening beat.
I think there are a few others that said no or at least some studios that shut him down.
He can do whatever, though. He does re-record the music, right? He doesn’t even use the music and lay over his voice. He redoes the whole thing, I think.
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### Author:  [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2020, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taylor-swift-to-rerecord-her-music/925796/27 "2020-11-17T21:15:40Z")
But Weird Al pretty much uses the same music with different lyrics. Does that make a difference? Recall people have been sued and lost because they used similar music to another song.
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### Author:  [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2020, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taylor-swift-to-rerecord-her-music/925796/28 "2020-11-17T21:15:48Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#):
>
> So then why the wait? What was Taylor talking about when she said that as of November 17th, according to a contract, she’s not legally allowed to re-record her old music?
Because maybe at some point she signed a contract agreeing not to re-record her music for X period of time. You can agree to almost anything in a contract. Record companies notoriously screw over artists by hiding onerous terms in recording contracts.
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### Author:  [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2020, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taylor-swift-to-rerecord-her-music/925796/29 "2020-11-17T21:17:03Z")
That’s why you need your own lawyer to review the contract with a fine tooth comb.
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### Author:  [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2020, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taylor-swift-to-rerecord-her-music/925796/30 "2020-11-17T21:17:05Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#):
>
> But Weird Al pretty much uses the same music with different lyrics. Does that make a difference? Recall people have been sued and lost because they used similar music to another song.
A parody is not infringing. Period. It’s protected as fair use.
People have been sued and lost because they used similar music to another song, and they had no parody defense, _because it wasn’t a parody of the original song._
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### Author:  [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2020, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taylor-swift-to-rerecord-her-music/925796/31 "2020-11-17T21:18:57Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#):
>
> That’s why you need your own lawyer to review the contract with a fine tooth comb.
It’s also possible she couldn’t have anticipated the whole Scooter situation when she signed the contract, so she wouldn’t have otherwise considered it a problem before.
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### Author:  [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2020, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taylor-swift-to-rerecord-her-music/925796/32 "2020-11-17T21:19:02Z")
Weird Al put out his Star Wars ep. 1 parody so fast because he bought a ticket to a showing before it was out to the public. I think it was for charity and cost him $1000.
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### Author:  [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2020, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taylor-swift-to-rerecord-her-music/925796/33 "2020-11-17T21:21:24Z")
I don’t like Taylor Swift’s music, don’t care for the drama, but…if this were someone I liked, say Led Zeppelin or Wings or whatever, and they decided they were going to do this, I woudn’t buy the new ones. They aren’t the songs I liked. I can tell the difference.
What she is doing seems, well, a little wrong, from a fan perspective. [waves Jedi fingers] These ARE the songs you are looking for.
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### Author:  [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2020, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taylor-swift-to-rerecord-her-music/925796/34 "2020-11-17T21:21:54Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#):
>
> Weird Al put out his Star Wars ep. 1 parody so fast because he bought a ticket to a showing before it was out to the public. I think it was for charity and cost him $1000
I believe he had cobbled together the entire song before seeing the movie, though. I think the movie screening was mainly to make sure he got it mostly right.
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### Author:  [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2020, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taylor-swift-to-rerecord-her-music/925796/35 "2020-11-17T21:23:28Z")
How did Al get the plot , did he get a script copy before he saw it?
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### Author:  [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2020, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taylor-swift-to-rerecord-her-music/925796/36 "2020-11-17T21:30:05Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#):
>
> What she is doing seems, well, a little wrong, from a fan perspective. [waves Jedi fingers] These ARE the songs you are looking for.
Come on, she isn’t trying to deceive anybody. Fans are free to choose whichever version of the albums they want to listen to. And people re-record music all the time, or remaster them, or release live versions. I have Van Morrison’s original recording of _Astral Weeks_ and I have the live version he recorded 40 years later. I’m happy to have the choice.
I actually admire someone with her pull sticking it to a record company like this.
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### Author:  [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2020, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taylor-swift-to-rerecord-her-music/925796/37 "2020-11-17T21:30:51Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#):
>
> Yes, he asks. Coolio claims he said no about Gangsta Paradise, but Al says he had given permission. I think Coolio was mad because Amish Paradise is so amazing that a lot of people start thinking of it when they hear that opening beat.
I think part of that is because in the mid to late 90’s Weird Al was at, what I’d guess, was the height of his career. He had songs getting regular airplay on MTv (All About the Pentiums, IIRC, was huge). Whether or not his version was better than Coolio’s, he had a lot of fans and was borderline ‘mainstream’.
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#):
>
> What she is doing seems, well, a little wrong, from a fan perspective. [waves Jedi fingers] These ARE the songs you are looking for.
I think her fans are pretty loyal to her. I can see where you’re coming from, but what she’s doing also makes sense.
Besides, no one is forcing anyone to only buy (or re-buy) her new music. At least part of this is just a big ol’ fuck you to Scooter.
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### Author:  [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2020, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taylor-swift-to-rerecord-her-music/925796/38 "2020-11-17T21:30:59Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#):
>
> How did Al get the plot , did he get a script copy before he saw it?
Internet spoilers. Not kidding.
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### Author:  [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2020, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taylor-swift-to-rerecord-her-music/925796/39 "2020-11-17T21:31:29Z")
lots of bands/artists put out alternate takes on songs. Sometimes they are put on greatest hits albums as bonus tracks.
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### Author:  [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2020, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taylor-swift-to-rerecord-her-music/925796/40 "2020-11-17T21:44:11Z")
She should have known what sort of douchebag Scooter Braun is. She’s not the first client he’s screwed over
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