Country music star Morgan Wallen HITS BACK at ex colleagues by following lead of Taylor Swift and re-recording old song
Morgan Wallen follows the example of pop superstar Taylor Swift by re-recording a song from his back catalog as a form of protest to derail the plans of some former colleagues.
On Thursday, the country music star took to his Instagram page to give his side of the story on why he decided to pause a hunting trip to re-record Spin You Around, which is taken from his debut extended play (EP) Stand Alone (2015) .
Before Wallen found major success in the music industry, he signed a music deal without legal representation, something he greatly regrets in retrospect, which resulted in 13 new songs, five of which made it onto the debut EP.
Now, after nearly a decade since parting ways with his original team, some of his former colleagues are releasing a 10th anniversary edition of Stand Alone, which goes against his wishes.
Realizing that his old collaborators would drop that special edition, Wallen and his current team decided to fight back by hastily arranging a recording session in Nashville so that the new version of Spin You Around 1/24 would be released at the same time on Friday. night.
Morgan Wallen, 30, decided to re-record his song Spin You Around after learning his old team would be releasing a 10th anniversary edition of his debut EP Stand Alone without his permission.
The Sneedville, Tennessee native said he has nothing to do with the re-release of Stand Alone, which essentially amounts to the unveiling of eight previously unreleased songs.
The problem is that Wallen didn’t think those eight songs were good enough to be on the original record, and nothing has changed in the last ten years.
‘We made thirteen songs. Some were okay, most were terrible because I was just learning to write in general and figuring it all out,β he explained in the caption of his Instagram post.
βI wasn’t the only contributor, so a lot of these songs weren’t my idea or to my standards. We deemed 5 worthy enough to create the Stand Alone EP, which includes a fan favorite, Spin You Around.β
The country star talked about how his former managers are helping with this project that goes against his wishes.
βFor months I have explored every possible avenue to acquire the rights to this old music and keep the quality of my catalog consistent with the songs I release and believe in,β he continued. “It’s dirty, greedy and an example of how the dark side of the music business can suck the soul out of artists.”
It’s clear that he and his current collaborators looked at how Taylor Swift faced a similar situation.
Swift decided to re-record her first six albums after learning that Scooter Braun had purchased her former label Big Machine Records and then sold it along with the original Swift masters to the Disney family’s Shamrock Holdings for $405 million, provided he continues to benefit from the masters.
Outraged that she reportedly never got the chance to make an offer to buy back her masters, Swift has since re-recorded four of those records: Fearless (Taylor’s Version), Red (Taylor’s Version), Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) and 1989 (Taylor’s version).
Swift now only has two of those old albums left to re-record: her self-titled debut album and Reputation, before she takes full ownership of all her music again.
Wanting the new version of Spin You Around to coincide with the release of the 10th anniversary edition of Stand Alone, Waller went so far as to create the cover image for the single himself while duck hunting in the woods.
The country crooner called his business situation with his old team an example of “how the dark side of the music business can suck the soul out of artists.”
Wallen admitted that he had signed a music contract without legal representation, which meant he did not own thirteen songs himself; five songs made it to Stand Alone (2015), while the remaining eight remain unreleased to date
The Last Night star renamed his first hit single for this protest release, now calling it Spin You Around 1/24, as a way to avoid legal action
Wallen claims that eight of the original thirteen songs did not meet his standards, which was part of his motivation for trying to fight its release.
Swift’s plan to own all her own music involves re-recording her first six albums, giving fans the opportunity to own the record and not buy the originals that were sold out by her old label a few years ago; she has completed four of those albums to date
In support of his complaints, Waller is also donating $100,000 from his foundation to the Volunteer Lawyers and Professionals for the Arts (VLPA) program, in an effort to ensure this kind of thing doesn’t keep happening to other young artists.
Part of his motivation for taking on his old peers was to let fans know that he is not interested in releasing those old songs and that he is more focused on bringing new music to his fans.
“I just want you to know that this is NOT my new music and I don’t want this to happen to anyone else,” he explained, adding, “I cringe when I listen to these songs and I’m afraid my fans can be wrongly mistaken. believe this is a new release from me.’
Waller goes on to reveal that he will begin recording new music for his next project at the end of February, and that he is “feeling creatively inspired and super excited to make more music that I’m proud of.”
βI hope aspiring young musicians read this story and know that they never have to give up their creative freedoms for an opportunity in this business,β the More Than My Hometown star said.