Though she isn’t the first artist to ever re-record her own music, Taylor Swift’s Taylor’s Version is perhaps the most famous example of the practice. Her decision to re-record her albums in an effort to regain control of the master recordings has shaken up the industry. However, she has followed in the footsteps of the artists, below.
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1. The Everly Brothers
When The Everly Brothers switched record labels in 1969, they put an onus on re-recording their music. The move was an effort to regain control of a few of their hits for use on a greatest hits album. Unfortunately, the effort was rendered moot after their former label bit the dust. Nevertheless, they lit the spark behind the re-recording movement.
2. Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra started his re-recording journey in the ’60s after deciding to foray out on his own with a new record label, Reprise Records. Given that he wanted to provide artists more freedom with the creation of his record label, it only stands to reason that he too would re-record his songs to maintain control over his timeless catalog.
3. Def Leppard
Def Leppard re-recorded “Pour Some Sugar on Me” and “Rock of Ages” in 2012 in an effort to get more royalty money from digital releases. Like Swift, the decision to re-record comes down to a label dispute. They too sought to regain control of their biggest hits so that they would reap the rewards of them.
4. Prince
Perhaps the most similar case to Swift’s was Prince’s dispute with his label in 1999. The icon decided to re-record his Y2K anthem, “1999”, in order to regain ownership of the master recording. Though the idea was never publicly followed through, Prince planned to fully re-record his catalog.
“I wanted to buy my masters back from Warner Bros.,” he explained at the time. “They said no way. So I’m going to re-record them. All of them. Now you will have two catalogs with pretty much exactly the same music — except mine will be better.”
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