Taylor Swift, a multi-award winning musical artist, has drawn many eyes to her music over the past 18 years.
Through those many years, she has made some groundbreaking singles and albums which has brought her more fame. Although Swift has many award winning songs, she hasn’t always had full ownership of them. When Swift was fourteen years old she signed her first record label with Big Machine Record. Big Machine Records is led by Scott Borchetta. This record label also works with many other big names such as Tim McGraw, Florida Georgia Line, Thomas Rhett, and many others. Back in June of 2019, Taylor left the Big Machine Records because they were offering discouraging conditions. After leaving, she didn’t expect someone like Scooter Braun would buy her albums. Swift was then discouraged and offered over 450 million dollars to get her albums back… With no luck, Swift got tagged on social media by Kelly Clarkson, mentioned for her to re-record her albums to spruce it up and more fans would like to buy the newer version. Ever since Taylor has been re-recording her first six albums. Starting with Fearless and still to re-record these record breaking albums. On October 27, 2023 Taylor released 1989 Taylor’s version and around 176 million ‘Swifties’ listened to this new release.
Some of these Swifties included Rock Creek students and staff, who were interviewed on the new recording and other general Taylor topics. Respondents were asked about their opinions on 1989 Taylor’s Version. We first interviewed Maddison Ellis, a junior at Rock Creek High School. “Taylor’s version is very vibrant. The new album has this brand new vibrancy to it that the original doesn’t have. And I really liked that. And I think that’s something fun that comes with the re-recordings.” Ellis stated.
The second response, from freshman Owen Miller, mentioned, “I think that this album is very nostalgic and has some pretty good songs!”
Teachers were then asked the same question. Daniel Smith, the Rock Creek Band Teacher, said, “I like [1989] because I was not a Taylor Swift fan when the original album came out and with this re-release, it gives me a chance to experience the album, releasing again, and so I get the chance to experience it for the first time.” He also mentioned that he liked 80’s music, and that Swift’s new album reminds him of that genre.
After interviewing Smith, Sweetman, the Rock Creek Geometry and Advanced Mathematics Teacher, was asked to give his opinion, and he said, “I love 1989 TV, but it is so different from the original. From the very beginning, ‘Welcome to New York’ has a different feel to it. I love the new sound though.”
Swift has always drawn many eyes to her music, including the Rock Creek population. This has led to her listeners wanting more from Swift. Overall, many Rock Creek students and staff think that is a very nice album to stream and that it has a nice upbeat tone. You can stream this new release and other releases as well on Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora, YouTube Music, YouTube, Deezer, and iHeart.
