Everything to know about Taylor Swift's re-recorded music as she buys back rights
She had been embroiled in a legal battle for years
Last updated 14th Oct 2025
After many years of dispute, Taylor Swift bought back the rights to her first six albums: 'Taylor Swift', 'Fearless', 'Speak Now', 'Red', '1989' and 'reputation', in June 2025. The singer announced the exciting news on Instagram, revealing there was a letter on her website, where she detailed what it meant for her and her fans.
She also updated Swifties on 'reputation (Taylor's Version)', which many believed would be the next album to be re-recorded. Here's everything there is to know about the albums she'd already re-recorded — and whether she plans to release any more...
Taylor Swift's letter
Following the news that she had bought back the rights to her music, Taylor shared a lengthy letter with her fans on her website. In the letter she revealed: 'To say this is my greatest dream come true is actually being pretty reserved about it'.
She continued: 'I can't thank you enough for helping to reunite me with this art that I have dedicated my life to, but have never owned until now.
'I almost stopped thinking it could ever happen, after 20 years of having the carrot dangled and then yanked away.
'But that's all in the past now.'
Reacting to the news, one fan wrote on X: 'OMG OMG THEY ARE BACK WITH MOTHER', with another saying: 'I don’t think any of us will ever be able to express how incredibly overjoyed we are for you. You have worked so hard and you deserve every bit of this. Whenever you are ready for whatever is next we will be here. We love you so very much!'
Taylor's re-recorded albums
Over the years, Taylor had been working her way through re-recording her albums, following the rights dispute with Scooter Braun.
Following on from 'Fearless', 'Red', 'Speak Now' and '1989', fans believed the next album to be re-recorded would be 'reputation', however following Taylor buying back her music rights, she's updated her fans.
Why was Taylor re-recording her albums?
Taylor decided to re-record her first six albums due to a rights dispute that went on for many years. When Taylor first started out in the music industry, at the age of 14, she signed a six-album deal with Big Machine. The record company owned the master recording of her albums 'in perpetuity'.
Owning the master recording means you have the rights to it, including distributing it on streaming services, using it in films and video games etc.
Taylor's deal with Big Machine ended in 2018, when she moved to Republic Records and Universal Music Group (UMG). Big Machine was later sold to Scooter Braun's Ithaca Holdings.
Scooter Braun's statement
Responding to the news broke that Taylor had bought back her music rights, Scooter told The Independent: "I am happy for her".
Will 'reputation' be re-released?
Originally released in 2017, the album featured songs such as 'Look What You Made Me Do', 'End Game', and '...Ready for It?'.
In the letter released by Taylor, she not only opened up about how she felt to finally own the music she had written, but she revealed more details about her album 'reputation', which many believed would be the next one to be re-recorded.
She told her fans: 'I know, I know. What about Rep TV? Full transparency: I haven't even re-recorded a quarter of it. The Reputation album was so specific to that time in my life, and I kept hitting a stopping point when I tried to remake it.
'All That defiance, that longing to be understood while feeling purposely misunderstood, that desperate hope, that shame-born snarl and mischief. To be perfectly honest, it's the one album in those first 6 that I thought couldn't be improved upon by redoing it. Not the music, or photos, or videos. So I kept putting it off.
'There will be a time (if you're into the idea) for the unreleased vault tracks from that album to hatch. I've already completely re-recorded my entire debut album, and I really love how it sounds now.
'Those 2 albums can still have have their moments to re-emerge when the time is right, if that would be something you guys guys would be excited about. But if it happens, it won't be from a place of sadness and longing for what I wish I could have It will just be a celebration now.'
Fan theories 'reputation' would be next
Before Taylor revealed she is hesitant to re-record 'reputation' many fans believed it would be the next album to be released due to the following evidence.
The Lunar Year of the Snake
On 29th January it was the Lunar New Year, and this year just so happens to be the Year of the Snake. As fans will know, the snake is the symbol of her 'reputation' album, so this year being the Year of the Snake seems a pretty big indicator that 'reputation' could be the next to be released.
Several fans have noticed the connection, taking to X to share their thoughts.
One noticed that a previous Year of the Snake just so happened to be 1989, the year that Taylor was born.
Another commented: 'do you guys think Taylor Swift is gonna announce reputation Taylor’s version on chinese new year to commemorate the year of the snake 🐍 🐍 🐍'. (sic)
Fans spotted an Easter egg with her 'reputation' outfit on tour
For those eagle-eyed fans there was an Easter egg with Taylor's outfit during the 'reputation' era of her hugely popular 'Eras' tour. The singer regularly swapped out her outfits during the other eras, however it wasn't until around 18 months after she started her tour that she finally switched it up in the 'reputation' era.
For most of her tour, the singer could be seen wearing a red and black snake bodysuit, however in October 2024, Taylor wore a new gold and black version bodysuit with a cobra motif.
Many fans speculated that the king cobra motif looked like Karyn, the giant snake Taylor brought out for 'Look What You Made Me Do' during her 'reputation tour'.
One TikToker exclaimed at the new outfit saying: "There's literally a Karyn on your chest!"
'Look What You Made Me Do (Taylor's Version)' debuted on The Handmaid's Tale
In May 2025, Taylor debuted her re-recorded version of 'Look What You Made Me Do' during an episode of The Handmaid's Tale! Played alongside the opening credits, the super-appropriate lyrics played out as the Handmaids staged a coup. Here's a clip:
Fans believed Taylor's re-recorded the song in readiness for the release of a new version of the album it featured on.
In January 2025, according to a fan account, 'Look What You Made Me Do (Taylor's Version)' was also registered on Shazam, which only artists can do. However, several other fans commented saying it had been there for a number of months.
It is the next chronologically
While it seems very obvious, 'reputation' is the next album chronologically after '1989' was released in 2014. Of her re-recorded albums '1989 (Taylor's Version)' was released most recently, so it does seem logically that 'reputation' would come next, however Taylor has also re-recorded her debut self-titled album 'Taylor Swift', which was originally released in 2006, but not released it.
When will the next album be announced?
Taylor released her 12th album 'The Life of a Showgirl' on Friday 3rd October, but has not released anymore details about a re-recorded album. However, she did confirm in her letter than she has re-recorded her debut album, self-titled 'Taylor Swift'. She told her fans: 'I've already completely re-recorded my entire debut album, and I really love how it sounds now.'
Many fans thought Taylor would announce a new album at the 2025 Grammys, but alas, the ceremony took place on Sunday 2nd February, and did not see an announcement from Taylor.
Take a look through Taylor Swift's re-recorded albums:
'Fearless (Taylor's Version)'
Original release: 11th November 2008
Taylor's Version release: 9th April 2021
Originally recorded in 2008 'Fearless' was remastered and released in April 2021 as 'Fearless (Taylor's Version)' — containing six never-heard-before songs. In a post on Twitter at the time, Taylor wrote: 'Written when I was between the ages of 16 and 18, these were the songs that killed me to leave behind.'
The new tracks 'from the vault' were 'You All Over Me'. 'Mr Perfectly Fine', 'We Were Happy', 'That's When', 'Don't You' and 'Bye Bye Baby'. The album also included bonus track 'Love Story (Taylor's Version) Elvira Mix'.
Always keen to leave some sort of Easter egg lying around for fans, Taylor announced the album on Twitter in February 2021, and capitalised nine random letters amongst the text. Adding them up, her loyal fans soon worked out it was due out on the 9th April that year.
Then just a week before it was released, she posted again on Twitter, this time giving fans the chance to work out which new songs would make it on to the album. She wrote: 'The vault door is about to be as unhinged as you'll think I am after you watch this video. Level: Expert. Happy decoding!' But of course the Swifties soon cracked the code, working out all the new track names within minutes.
On its release, the album went to Number 1 and has since been certified Platinum in the UK.
'Red (Taylor's Version)'
Original release: 22nd October 2012
Taylor's Version release: 12th November 2021
The second album that Taylor re-recorded was 'Red', bringing out 'Red (Taylor's Version)' in November 2021. Originally released in October 2012, the new album contained a remastered version of each of the tracks, as well as nine new songs 'from the vault'.
The new songs included 'Better Man', 'Nothing New', 'Babe', 'Message In A Bottle', 'I Bet You Think About Me', 'Forever Winter', 'Run', 'The Very First Night' and 'All Too Well (10 Minute Version)'.
Of course, Taylor dropped a few Easter eggs before she announced the re-release, fully embracing her red-era with lots of red lipsticks, red writing on her tees and tweeting a series of red heart emojis. She also weaved song titles in to social posts and interviews.
Once it was released, 'Red (Taylor's Version)' went to Number 1 in the album chart and has since been certified Platinum.
'Speak Now (Taylor's Version)'
Original release: 25th October 2010
Taylor's Version release: 7th July 2023
Almost two years later, Taylor re-recorded and re-released her third album, 'Speak Now' - rescuing six more songs from 'the vault'.
'Speak Now (Taylor's Version)' was released in July 2023; 13 years after the original. The new tracks included 'When Emma Falls In Love', 'I Can See You', 'Castles Crumbling', 'Foolish One', 'Timeless' and a collaboration with Fall Out Boy called 'Electric Touch'.
Much like when she was teasing 'Red (Taylor's Version)', Taylor left a few clues lying around before she officially announced the release of 'Speak Now (Taylor's Version)' — but this time, she was wearing purple! In her 'Bejeweled' music video, released a few months before the album, she dropped a few song titles and even part of the album name. She pressed a purple button in a lift in the vid — and wore a hairclip with the initials SN on.
In an interview with Ellen DeGeneres, the singer previously said: "I like to plant Easter eggs in a video that will be like a lyric from a video, like lyric from unreleased music, or a little hint or little wink to what's coming in the future."
Following the release of 'Speak Now (Taylor's Version)', it's now been certified Gold in the UK.
'1989 (Taylor's Version)'
Original release: 27th October 2014
Taylor's Version release: 27th October 2023
Taylor's most recently remastered album is '1989 (Taylor's Version)', released in October 2023, nine years to the day after the original. It contained five previously-unreleased songs 'from the vault'; 'I Loved You First', 'Ocean Blue featuring Lorde', 'Younger', 'Fourth of July featuring Dua Lipa', 'Daisy', 'You Me Forever' and 'September Crash' featuring Harry Styles.
But the release of the album came as no surprise to most Swifties, who had been out collecting Easter eggs for the best part of 2023. As we all know, the colour associated with this album was blue, so as soon as Tay started posting Insta pics with a strong blue theme, fans began to add up the clues. The singer soon shared a pic on Insta from Los Angeles, with 1989 printed down a lifeguard's hut. There were also various clues eluding to the date in a number of music videos.
Once the album was released, it landed straight on the Number 1 spot in the album chart, and has since been certified 2x Platinum in the UK.
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