Taylor Swift has released “Love Story (Taylor’s Version)”, the re-recorded version of her 2008 Fearless single “Love Story”. Swift’s first genuine hit, the original version of “Love Story” is one of the best-selling singles of all time, having peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and attained an eight-times Platinum RIAA certification in the 13 years since its release. Its 2021 re-release precedes the April 9th release of Fearless (Taylor’s Version), a faithfully re-recorded version of the original record. Listen to “Love Story (Taylor’s Version)” above.
Swift is re-recording and rereleasing her first six albums — 2006’s Taylor Swift, 2008’s Fearless, 2010’s Speak Now, 2012’s Red, 2014’s 1989, and 2017’s reputation — in an attempt to devalue and make redundant those albums’ original master recordings, which are currently owned by an investment fund. The master recordings were first sold in 2019 by Swift’s longtime label Big Machine Label Group to talent manager Scooter Braun — who has managed Ariana Grande, Kanye West, Demi Lovato, and Justin Bieber, among others — in a sale on which Swift was apparently not consulted. In 2020, Braun sold the recordings again, to investment fund Shamrock Holdings, who paid $300 million for the collection of recordings. After the sale, Swift released a statement saying that, despite negotiations with Shamrock, her team was unable to negotiate a desirable solution for both parties. As such, Swift decided to proceed with re-recording her albums part-by-part and note-by-note.
“Love Story (Taylor’s Version)” was produced by Taylor Swift along with Christopher Rowe, who, per AllMusic, is an engineer with a handful of credits in “Instrument Design” and “Digital Editing” for artists such as The Chicks, Hunter Hayes, Rascal Flatts, and more. Swift’s vocals were recorded by Sam Holland at Conway Studios in LA, while it seems the bulk of the rest of the production work was done in Nashville, TN, by Christopher Rowe. The song was mixed by Serban Ghenea, a mixing engineer for Tove Lo, The Weeknd, Katy Perry, and more. The performers on “Love Story (Taylor’s Version)” are largely members of Swift’s current and former touring bands, including Paul Sidoti, Mike Meadows, and Caitlin Evanson. View the full credits, provided by Swift's representatives, below.
Love Story (Taylor’s Version)
Produced by Christopher Rowe and Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift vocals recorded by Sam Holland at Conway Studios (Los Angeles, CA)
Recorded by David Payne at Black Bird Studios (Nashville, TN)
Assistant engineer Sean Badum
Additional recording by Christopher Rowe at Studio 13 (Nashville, TN) and Prime Recording (Nashville, TN)
Mixed by Serban Ghenea at MixStar Studios (Virginia Beach, VA)
Engineer - John Hanes
Mastered by Randy Merrill at Sterling Sound (Edgewater, NJ)
Drums by Matt Billingslea
Bass by Amos Heller
Electric Guitar by Paul Sidoti
Electric Guitar by Max Bernstein, recorded by Max Bernstein (Los Angeles, CA)
Acoustic Guitar, Banjo and Mandolin by Mike Meadows
Fiddle by Jonathan Yudkin, recorded by Jonathan Yudkin (Nashville, TN)
Backing Vocals by Mike Meadows
Backing Vocals by Paul Sidoti
Backing Vocals by Caitlin Evanson
Lead Vocals by Taylor Swift
