Fans React to Morgan Wallen Announcing Rerecorded Music: 'You Better Thank Taylor Swift'
Morgan Wallen
Morgan Wallen is the latest music artist to find themselves at war with a record label over the rights to their music, and much like Taylor Swift has so effortlessly done, the country crooner is taking matters into his own hands.
Wallen, 30, announced via social media this week that he will be rerecording one of his hit songs, "Spin You Around," which was initially part of his Stand Alone EP released under his old label, Panacea Records, nearly 10 years ago.
The country music star explained in his Instagram post on Thursday, Jan. 25, that he signed a deal with both the label and an artist management agency back in 2014, without being advised by any legal representation.
"Tonight, those colleagues I parted ways with almost 10 years ago plan to release a '10th Anniversary' edition of Stand Alone against my wishes & include 8 unreleased songs, distributing it with the assistance of my former managers," he told his followers, adding that he's now been trying to get the rights to this old music back "for months."
The 8 unreleased songs on the new EP are songs that Wallen said he wrote when he "was just learning how to write in general & figuring it all out." He didn't end up including them on the initial EP because he wasn't proud of them and didn't write them on his own—but now his old label is releasing them as if they were new, never-before-heard songs that he wants his fans to hear—which is definitely not the case.
"I want you to know this is NOT my new music & I don’t want to see this happen to anyone else," he wrote in his post. "I cringe when I listen to these songs & I’m concerned my fans may mistakenly believe this is a new release by me."
The "Whiskey Glasses" singer also called the situation "gross, greedy & an example of how the dark side of the music business can suck the soul out of artists."
Wallen's fans—many of whom overlap as fans of Swift—couldn't help but notice the similarities in their situations. The "Anti-Hero" songstress is currently in the midst of rerecording her first six albums, and the endeavor has proven to be both lucrative for Swift and exciting for her fans.
As a result, some fans insisted that Wallen "better thank Taylor Swift" over the idea to rerecord his music while being put in a similar spot with a record label.
Others, however, were sure to point out that Swift didn't invent the idea of rerecording music, as other artists, including Prince, Reba McEntire, Jojo and many more have also done so long before Swift.
But even if she wasn't the first to rerecord her music, Swift has certainly set a new precedent with her "Taylor's Version" albums, which so far, have all reached massive success. Her latest release, 1989 (Taylor's Version), even topped the sales of the original 2014 smash hit album.
Now, fans are hoping Wallen will have a similarly positive experience to that of Swift's, calling his new single, "spin you around (morgan’s version)."
"Morgan just said 'Look what you made me do,' one of his Instagram followers quipped in the comments.
"Morgan’s about to enter his reputation era and i’m here for it??," someone else added.
Wallen let his fans know he will begin recording his newest project in February, and that he is "feeling inspired creatively & super excited to make more music I’m proud of."
He is also donating $100,000 from the Morgan Wallen Foundation to the Volunteer Lawyers & Professionals For The Arts (VLPA) program in the hopes of protecting other young aspiring musicians from ending up in a similar situation.
Next: Brett Favre Walks Back Comments About Taylor Swift Being a Distraction to the NFL
