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1989 (Taylor's Version)
Standard cover
Studio album (re-recorded) by Taylor Swift
Released	October 27, 2023 (2023-10-27)
Label	Republic
Producer	Taylor Swift Christopher Rowe Shellback
Taylor Swift chronology
Speak Now (Taylor's Version) (2023) 1989 (Taylor's Version) (2023)

1989 (Taylor's Version) is the upcoming fourth re-recorded album by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, set for release on October 27, 2023, via Republic Records. It is a re-recording of Swift's fifth studio album, 1989 (2014), and follows Speak Now (Taylor's Version) as her second album in 2023. It is a part of Swift's counteraction to her 2019 masters dispute. The album was announced on August 9, 2023, at the final Los Angeles concert of the Eras Tour.

Two tracks from the album—"Wildest Dreams (Taylor's Version)" and "This Love (Taylor's Version)"—were previously released on September 17, 2021, and May 6, 2022, respectively; both peaked within the top 50 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The album is set to contain five additional "From the Vault" tracks that were written for 1989 but did not make the cut originally.

Background

Taylor Swift released her fifth studio album, 1989, on October 27, 2014, under Big Machine Records. Inspired by 1980s synth-pop, Swift conceived 1989 to recalibrate her artistry to pop after marketing her first four albums to country radio. The album was a critical and commercial success, receiving positive reviews from music critics and selling over 1.287 million copies within its first week in the United States. Three of its singles—"Shake It Off", "Blank Space", and "Bad Blood"—reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Swift became the first artist to have three albums each sell one million copies within the first week, 1989 was the first album released in 2014 to exceed one million copies, and topped the Billboard 200 for 11 non-consecutive weeks. At the 58th Annual Grammy Awards (2016), the album won Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album, making Swift the first female artist to win the former two times.

Swift released her next studio album, Reputation (2017), under Big Machine, as per her recording contract, which expired in November 2018. She hence withdrew from Big Machine and signed a new deal with Republic Records, which secured her the rights to own the masters of any new music she would release. In 2019, American businessman Scooter Braun acquired Big Machine; the ownership of the masters to Swift's first six studio albums, including 1989, transferred to him. In August 2019, Swift denounced Braun's purchase and announced that she would re-record her first six studio albums so as to own their masters herself. Swift began the re-recording process in November 2020. Fearless (Taylor's Version), the first of her six re-recorded albums, was released on April 9, 2021, followed by Red (Taylor's Version) on November 12, 2021, and Speak Now (Taylor's Version) on July 7, 2023; all three achieved critical and commercial success, debuting atop the U.S. Billboard 200 chart.

Swift began teasing 1989 (Taylor's Version) with "Wildest Dreams (Taylor's Version)", released on September 17, 2021, amid a viral TikTok trend involving the original 2014 recording of the song. "This Love (Taylor's Version)" was released on digital platforms on May 6, 2022. A snippet of "Bad Blood (Taylor's Version)" was featured in the 2022 animated film DC League of Super-Pets. The 2023 music video for "I Can See You" had an Easter egg hinting at the re-record of 1989. Several hints to the imminent announcement were noticed by fans while Swift performed at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles as part of her sixth concert tour, the Eras Tour, on August 8, 2023, including several of Swift's outfits changing to a blue color, and fans' LED wristbands flashing blue five times.

On August 9, 2023, at her final Los Angeles concert, Swift announced 1989 (Taylor's Version) as her next re-recorded album, set for release on October 27, 2023, nine years after the original release of 1989. SoFi Stadium illuminated its roof with the album title following the announcement.

Release

1989 (Taylor's Version) is scheduled for release on October 27, 2023, to streaming services, in vinyl LP, cassette tape, and CD formats. It marks Swift's fourth re-recorded album. The standard edition contains 21 tracks, five of which are designated "From the Vault", indicating unreleased songs that were written for 1989 but did not make the final track list in 2014. The album will be sold in four CD editions, which featured different artworks and either posters or photographs, as well as five vinyl variants, one of which is a Target-exclusive deluxe with a bonus track.

Release history

Footnotes

1. The deluxe editions are titled "Crystal Skies Blue", "Rose Garden Pink", "Aquamarine Green", and "Sunrise Boulevard Yellow". The Target-exclusive LP is subtitled Tangerine Edition.

References

1. Caulfield, Keith (November 4, 2014). "Official: Taylor Swift's 1989 Debuts With 1.287 Million Sold In First Week". Billboard. Archived from the original on December 7, 2014. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
2. Caulfield, Keith (February 11, 2015). "Taylor Swift's 1989 Spends 11th Week at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Chart". Billboard. Archived from the original on July 26, 2018. Retrieved February 7, 2019.
3. "Grammy Awards 2016: performances and winners – as it happened". The Guardian. Archived from the original on July 24, 2017. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
4. Lynch, Joe (February 19, 2016). "Taylor Swift Joins Elite Club to Win Grammy Album of the Year More Than Once: See the Rest". Billboard. Archived from the original on November 26, 2022. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
5. Willman, Chris (August 27, 2018). "Taylor Swift Stands to Make Music Business History as a Free Agent". Variety. Archived from the original on August 29, 2018. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
6. Christman, Ed (June 30, 2019). "Scooter Braun Acquires Scott Borchetta's Big Machine Label Group, Taylor Swift Catalog For Over $300 Million". Billboard. Archived from the original on February 13, 2021. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
7. Grady, Constance (July 1, 2019). "The Taylor Swift/Scooter Braun controversy, explained". Vox. Archived from the original on February 11, 2020. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
8. "Taylor Swift wants to re-record her old hits after ownership row". BBC News. August 22, 2019. Archived from the original on August 22, 2019. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
9. Aswad, Jem (August 22, 2019). "Taylor Swift Performs on 'GMA,' Talks Re-Recording Big Machine Songs (Watch)". Variety. Archived from the original on November 8, 2020. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
10. Willman, Chris (April 20, 2021). "Taylor Swift's 'Fearless (Taylor's Version)' Debuts Huge: What It Means for Replicating Oldies, Weaponizing Fans". Variety. Archived from the original on April 21, 2021. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
11. Caulfield, Keith (November 21, 2021). "Taylor Swift Scores 10th No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart With 'Red (Taylor's Version)'". Billboard. Archived from the original on November 23, 2021. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
12. "Taylor Swift Now Has More No. 1 Albums Than Any Woman in History". The New York Times. July 17, 2023. Archived from the original on August 4, 2023. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
13. Speakman, Kimberlee. "Taylor Swift Drops New Version Of 'Wildest Dreams' — Why It Matters". Forbes. Archived from the original on August 10, 2023. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
14. Willman, Chris (May 5, 2022). "Taylor Swift Debuts 'This Love (Taylor's Version),' From '1989' Redo, in Amazon's 'The Summer I Turned Pretty' Trailer". Variety. Archived from the original on March 24, 2023. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
15. Aniftos, Rania (July 29, 2022). "Dwayne Johnson Confirms This '1989 (Taylor's Version)' Track Will Appear in 'DC League of Super-Pets'". Billboard. Archived from the original on December 16, 2022. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
16. "Here's Why Taylor Swift Fans Think '1989 (Taylor's Version)' Is Being Teased in 'I Can See You' Video". Billboard. Archived from the original on July 22, 2023. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
17. ^ Willman, Chris; Jackson, Angelique (August 9, 2023). "Taylor Swift Reveals '1989 (Taylor's Version)' Is Coming at L.A. Tour Finale". Variety. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
18. Norwin, Alyssa (August 10, 2023). "'1989 (Taylor's Version)': Everything We Know About Taylor Swift's Upcoming Re-Record". Hollywood Life. Archived from the original on August 10, 2023. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
19. "Taylor Swift reveals '1989' as next rerecorded album at Eras tour in LA". USA Today. Archived from the original on August 10, 2023. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
20. Vito, Jo (August 10, 2023). "Finally: Taylor Swift Announces 1989 (Taylor's Version)". Consequence. Archived from the original on August 10, 2023. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
21. Mohan-Hickson, Matthew (August 10, 2023). "Taylor Swift 1989 (Taylor's Version) pre-order: when are special edition deluxe CDs available, varities, prices". Yahoo News. Archived from the original on August 10, 2023. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
22. ^ 1989 (Taylor's Version) deluxe CDs:
    • "1989 (Taylor's Version) Crystal Skies Blue Edition Deluxe CD". Taylor Swift Official Store. Archived from the original on August 10, 2023. Retrieved August 16, 2023.
    • "1989 (Taylor's Version) Rose Garden Pink Edition Deluxe CD". Taylor Swift Official Store. Archived from the original on August 10, 2023. Retrieved August 16, 2023.
    • "1989 (Taylor's Version) Aquamarine Green Edition Deluxe CD". Taylor Swift Official Store. Archived from the original on August 10, 2023. Retrieved August 16, 2023.
    • "1989 (Taylor's Version) Sunrise Boulevard Yellow Edition Deluxe CD". Taylor Swift Official Store. Archived from the original on August 10, 2023. Retrieved August 16, 2023.
23. Aniftos, Rania (August 21, 2023). "Taylor Swift Unveils Limited Edition Aquamarine Green '1989 (Taylor's Version)' Vinyl". Billboard. Retrieved August 24, 2023.
24. "1989 (taylor's Version) Tangerine Edition". Target. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
25. 1989 (Taylor's Version) release formats:
    • "1989 (Taylor's Version) Cassette". Taylor Swift Official Store. Archived from the original on August 10, 2023. Retrieved August 9, 2023.
    • "1989 (Taylor's Version) CD". Taylor Swift Official Store. Archived from the original on August 10, 2023. Retrieved August 9, 2023.
    • "1989 (Taylor's Version) Digital Album". Taylor Swift Official Store. Archived from the original on August 10, 2023. Retrieved August 9, 2023.
    • "1989 (Taylor's Version) Vinyl". Taylor Swift Official Store. Archived from the original on August 10, 2023. Retrieved August 9, 2023.

• 2023 albums
• Taylor Swift albums
• Albums produced by Taylor Swift
• Albums produced by Chris Rowe
• Albums produced by Shellback (record producer)
• Albums produced by Jack Antonoff
• Republic Records albums
• Upcoming albums