November 12, 2021, was a very happy day for Swifties all around the world. Red: rerecorded. All Too Well: 10-minute version. TSwift Fans: not doing ok. Lots of emotions have been brought up this past week for anyone and everyone who decided to blast this album on the car ride home. While we are ever so thankful for Taylor Swift giving us this gift that keeps on giving, there’s much more to the story behind the rerecording of Red. This article is going to be a breakdown of all the Taylor Tea that led her to releasing the original 30 songs on the album and in turn, tearing our hearts out. Thanks Tay!!!
If you take only one thing away from this article, make sure that it’s this: we don’t like Scooter Braun! Scoot really does need the boot. Back in 2019, Scooter Braun, who was formerly the mega manager of his own record company Ithaca Holdings, announced that he would be acquiring The Big Machine Label Group. Tay was not happy about this. Her past six albums were recorded and owned by Big Machine, which meant they were now owned by Mr. Braun. Booooo! Taylor wrote in a sappy Tumblr post (so Tswfit of her) that “This is my worst-case scenario.” Braun, although well-liked by many big names in pop culture, was not on Taylor’s good side (which in my opinion, would probably be a scary place to be). Taylor was quoted saying that Braun was an “incessant, manipulative bully.” While The Big Machine Label Group isn’t usually remembered as a major part of this story, they’re far from innocent. Taylor had been trying to get ownership of her own music for years, but The Big Machine Label Group refused to budge. This had been a long-going battle and after Braun announced he was going to be the one in charge, Tay Tay spoke up. Not often do record companies get this kind of recognition in the media. So while Braun probably enjoyed his 15 minutes of fame, he was simply getting shit on. Social media erupted in response in support of Taylor. The hashtag #WeStandWithTaylor went trending and was used by many pop culture stars like Halsey and Iggy Azalea.
Scooter also had close ties with Kim K and Kayne West. Which although may not seem like a huge deal, he happened to be the manager of Kanye when all the drama went down in 2016 with his song “Famous” and the use of Taylor’s name. Braun was also using his other little minions like Justin Bieber to turn against Taylor. He made an Instagram post of him and Braun captioned “Taylor what’s up?” He deleted it not long after.
While this is a very short synopsis of the Taylor Tea regarding Mr. Scoot, it gives a little insight as to why we’ve been gifted with 30 songs. And the best news is, Taylor Swift owns all of them herself. Just the way it should be. Ahhhh, I love Hollywood drama. Now get back to listening to the new album!!!!