Taylor Swift Fans Are Gaming Spotify to Hide Original ‘Fearless’ Album on Service

Taylor Swift released the first of her re-recorded albums, Fearless (Taylor’s Version), on Friday and fans are already in love with the new versions of the songs that shot her to fame as well as six “new” songs from the vault. The general consensus seems to be that Swift’s now matured vocals with the youthful earnestness of the lyrics have made the album a new treasure for fans. “

Swift’s decision to rerecord the masters of her first six albums — her self-titled debut through 2017’s reputation — as a way to take back ownership of the music that was sold along with her former label Big Machine to Scooter Braun’s Ithaca Holdings for a reported $300 million. Swift described this as a “worst-case scenario,” and as of November 2020, Swift had the legal rights to rerecord the albums.

Swift revealed her excitement in an interview with CBS Sunday Morning. “That’s true and it’s something that I’m very excited about doing because my contract says that starting November 2020 I can record albums one through five all over again,” Swift explained. “I’m very excited about it because I think that artists deserve to own their own work; I feel very passionately about it.”

Swift fans have been showing their support for Fearless (Taylor’s Version) online. “The Queen [Taylor Swift] dropping this is like when old movies get recoloured, only this s— hits harder,” tweeted James McVey from The Vamps. “31 years old Taylor Swift singing ‘Fifteen’ is something so personal and precious to me,” wrote another enthusiastic fan.

On top of the overwhelming mix of nostalgia and praise, particularly devoted stans are sharing ways to hide the old versions of the album on Spotify so they won’t be streamed by mistake. The fan account Taylor Swift Updates, which has over 6k followers, tweeted out directions for hiding the old album so fans can bring their show of support to the streaming service.

Swift has been tweeting her excitement about the new release, offering clues and behind-the-scenes photos with guest singers like Maren Morris and Keith Urban. “I’m counting down the minutes til we can all jump into this brave world together, filled with equal parts nostalgia and brand newness,” she wrote. “Head first, Fearless.”