In the wake of the success of Taylor Swifts’ re-recorded albums, music labels potentially might put a hold, or an all out ban, on artists rerecording their music. 

Since 2021 Taylor Swift has been rerecording all her older albums after her old label sold her masters of them. Each one of those albums has had tremendous success, with the latest one, 1989 (Taylors Version), already having sold 3 million copies. While fans are celebrating the opportunity to listen to beloved albums for the first time again, labels have noticed the impact.

Many major music labels are now discussing ways to avoid this situation. One solution that has been proposed is writing into new artist contracts that they are prohibited from re-recording their music for 10-30 years after leaving the label. Some won’t be able to re-record at all. This proposal has divided the artist and the labels even further. 

““I feel like for most artists who do choose to record it would be to own their own music.” says avid Swiftie Kylie Albee. “Not to get back at a label”. 

That’s the argument of many who oppose the idea. Ownership and artists’ creative freedom, they believe, is being violated. An artist should have control over if, or when, they re-record their own art. If that control is taken away from them, they are being denied possession of work they created. 

That could particularly hurt smaller artists, because they typically have very little say in the contracts they sign. It is argued that if this proposal is followed through, then the labels are just taking advantage of these young artists. 

However, the labels disagree with that notion. They say the limitation is rooted in respect, essentially. When an artist is signed to a label, there is a giant gamble being placed on them. For however long their contract is, the label will spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on them. If the artist was to then make money off of the music they made at that label, but the label not seeing a cent of it, that would not be fair. 

There is also concern that this practice could be abused, if used the wrong way. 

“If the artist is just looking for more money, that’s taking advantage of their fans,” says student Styx Hatch. 

That is a worry shared by the labels. Re-recording already beloved music could be an easy way to make money. Some labels believe that it restricts the time to re-record, they are protecting the listener from being used just as a cash grab. 

In the end, what discussion is made will hardly affect the average music listener. However, it can set a new standard for the music industry, and those who hope to enter it.