Taylor Swift. Vittorio Zunino Celotto/TAS24/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management
Taylor Swift fans are certain the rerelease of her sixth studio album, Reputation (Taylor’s Version), is coming soon — and the signs seem to be everywhere.
The singer, 34, performed several shows over the weekend in Milan, Italy, for her ongoing Eras Tour. Fans specifically zeroed in on Swift’s piano breaking down, which not everyone considered to be a coincidence.
“Did you guys hear the hiss too????” a fan wrote via X alongside a post that read, “The piano ‘breaking’ was not accidental. It was on purpose. The piano was broken and Taylor claimed it was ‘haunted.’ Then Speak Now was announced shortly after.”
The social media upload continued: “The piano played a synth right before the release of TTPD. It ended up being the very first notes of Fortnight. Tonight’s show … the piano ‘broke,’ and I don’t know if you guys heard it, but there was a HISS. Go back and watch the replay of it.”
Swift has been rerecording her albums since her masters were sold to Scooter Braun in 2019. Fearless (Taylor’s Version) and Red (Taylor’s Version) were released in 2021 before Swift followed them up with Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) and 1989 (Taylor’s Version) last year. Swift only has two rerecords left to announce: 2016’s Reputation and her 2006 self-titled debut.
Fans have wondered whether Reputation would be next since multiple singles from the album have recently been featured on TV shows. “Delicate (Taylor’s Version)” popped up on The Summer I Turned Pretty, while “Look What You Made Me Do” appeared on Wilderness.
Swift announced her plans to reimagine her past tracks after Braun paid more than $300 million to acquire the Big Machine Label Group, which made him the owner of her master recordings from 2005 to 2018.
“For the past year I’ve been actively trying to regain ownership of my master recordings,” Swift wrote via Twitter in November 2020. “With that goal in mind, my team attempted to enter into negotiations with Scooter Braun. Scooter’s team wanted me to sign an ironclad NDA stating I would never say another word about Scooter Braun unless it was positive, before we could even look at the financial records of BMLG (which is always the first step in a purchase of this nature). So, I would have to sign a document that would silence me before I could even have a chance to bid on my own work.”
The bad blood between Taylor Swift and Scooter Braun has inspired song lyrics, forced celebrities to take sides and incurred the wrath of Swifties. The drama came to a head in June 2019 when it was announced that Braun’s media company, Ithaca Holdings, had acquired Scott Borchetta’s Big Machine Label Group for $300 million. Through […]
Braun later broke his silence about his tumultuous relationship with Swift, telling Variety in June 2021, “I regret and it makes me sad that Taylor had that reaction to the deal. All of what happened has been very confusing and not based on anything factual. I don’t know what story she was told. I asked for her to sit down with me several times, but she refused. I offered to sell her the catalog back and went under NDA, but her team refused.”
He concluded: “It all seems very unfortunate. Open communication is important and can lead to understanding. She and I only met briefly three or four times in the past, and all our interactions were really friendly and kind. I find her to be an incredibly talented artist and wish her nothing but the best.”
