WHEN Taylor Swift announced her sixth album, reputation, she wiped her Instagram and posted a video of a snake, signaling something was coming.
Now that Taylor, 34, is in the midst of the rerecording era, Swifties are wondering when the last two- Reputation (Taylor’s Version) and Taylor Swift (Taylor’s Version)- will be announced.
Although an official date for Reputation (Taylor’s Version) has not yet been announced, fans have theories as to when it could be.
The European leg of The Eras Tour has come and gone with not even an announcement about the next rerecording.
Many fans thought it was going to be announced on the final night in London in August, but that did not happen.
After that theory folded, the VMAs were the next liable option since she announced Midnights at the 2022 VMAs and The Tortured Poets Department at this year’s Grammys.
However, Taylor went on stage for two awards last night in New York and did not announce anything, except that her boyfriend Travis Kelce was on the set of the Fortnight music video.
This could be due to the fact that the award show was changed from September 10 to the 11, which is a somber day for New York and the country.
However, Taylor’s dresses at the award show were punk-themed and black and green, which are two colors associated with that era, so fans think that her outfit might have been a hint that Reputation (Taylor’s Version) is next.
WHY IS TAYLOR RERECORDING HER MUSIC?
To understand why these theories are happening, fans have to know why Taylor is rerecording her music in the first place.
Taylor released her first six albums under Big Machine Records, which is headed by Scott Borchetta.
He sold the masters of those albums to Ithaca Holdings, LLC, which was headed by Scooter Braun at the time.
Taylor Swift praises boyfriend Travis Kelce and gushes ‘everything this man touches turns to happiness’ in VMAs speech
However, in March 2020, Scooter sold Taylor’s master to a private equity company, Shamrock Holdings, for $300 million.
She continues not to have ownership of her music.
Because Taylor writes her own music, she felt that she should own it.
So, she made a statement about losing her masters and fans, and other artists, including Kelly Clarkson, encouraged her to rerecord her old music.
Taylor’s bitter feud with Kanye and Kim explained
Taylor Swift has been locked in a nasty feud with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian for years.
- 2009 – Kanye interrupted Taylor’s VMA win for Best Female Video onstage, saying, “I’m really happy for you and I’mma let you finish but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time”
- 2009 – Later that month, Kanye admitted he regretted the action and Taylor confirmed that he rang to apologize
- 2010 – Taylor performed Innocent, a song rumored to be about Kanye, at the VMAs, singing, “It’s all right / Just wait and see / Your string of lights is still bright to me / Who you are is not where you’ve been”
- 2013 – Kanye took back his apology to the singer, insisting, “I do not have one regret”
- 2015 – The former rivals reunited at the 2015 Grammy Awards and posed together for photos and Taylor later said she “likes him as a person”
- 2016 – Kanye debuted his song, Famous, with the lyrics, “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex / Why? I made that b***h famous”
- 2016 – After Taylor insisted she did not approve the lyric, “I made that b***h famous,” Kim released video footage of her phone call with Kanye
- 2017 – Taylor seemingly referenced their feud in her album, Reputation, teasing the news with videos of a serpent – a nod to the snake emojis posted in her Instagram comments implying she was a liar – and seemed to diss Kanye in her song, This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things
- 2018 – Taylor said Kim had not released the full recording and asked, “Where is the video of Kanye telling me he was going to call me ‘that b***h’ in his song? It doesn’t exist because it never happened. You don’t get to control someone’s emotional response to being called ‘that b***’ in front of the entire world”
- 2019 – Kim insisted in a magazine interview that they had “squashed” their feud
- 2019 – Taylor claimed Kanye’s Famous music video was “revenge porn” as it featured a fake naked sculpture of her
- 2020 – The full phone call between Taylor and Kanye was leaked, in which there was no mention of her being called “that b***h”
- 2020 – Kim initially said the call revealed “nothing new” and later backtracked and tweeted, “the only issue I ever had around the situation was that Taylor lied through her publicist who stated that ‘Kanye never called to ask for permission…’ They clearly spoke so I let you all see that. Nobody ever denied the word ‘b***h’ was used without her permission.
- 2023 – Taylor said in a TIME interview that the feud with Kim and Kanye felt like a “career death” and “took her down psychologically”
Taylor left Big Machine and moved to Universal Music Group, where they have not only let her release new albums but also rerelease four of her original albums so far.
Reputation was not allowed to be rerecorded until November 2022, five years after its original release.
Now that her final album with Big Machine is allowed to be rereleased, fans are speculating when it will be announced and when it will drop.
VMAS INCIDENT- SEPTEMBER 13TH
Despite there being no announcement at the VMAs, some fans still think that an announcement or surprise drop could happen on September 13.
It is a Friday, which is the typical day that new music is released.
It is also a Friday the 13th, which Swifties know is one of Taylor’s favorite days.
Her favorite number is 13 and many release dates add up to that number.
September 13, 2024, is also the 15th anniversary of when Kanye West interrupted Taylor on stage at the VMAs after saying that Beyonce should have won Best Video.
Since the original reputation happened after the infamous phone call incident with Kanye and his wife at the time, Kim Kardashian and a lot of the songs on the album are about them, fans think this would be a great date to announce the Taylor’s Version.
THE ERAS TOUR RESUMES- OCTOBER 18
Since Reputation TV was not announced during the final night of the European leg of the Eras Tour, fans have theories that Taylor will announce it when the final leg resumes on October 18 in Miami, Florida.
One of the clues to this is that Taylor sang the song Florida from her album, The Tortured Poets Department, with Florence Welch, whom she collaborated on the song with, on the last London stop.
She didn’t add it as a surprise song, but instead took out Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me? and replaced it with Florida.
The lyrics “Take me to Florida,” which is the next stop on the tour, have fans believing that something will happen on October 18.
OCTOBER 25
Another date that fans think that Reputation TV might be announced just one week after The Eras Tour resumes.
“9+11+23 = 43 43 DAYS TIL REPUTATION TAYLOR’S VERSION FRIDAY OCTOBER 25,” one fan tweeted.
Taylor accepted her award for Best Collaboration and mentioned 9/11 in her speech.
“Waking up this morning in New York on September 11th, I’ve just been thinking about what happened 23 years ago. Everyone who lost a loved one and everyone that we lost. That is the most important thing today,” she said.
However, the singer was just most likely acknowledging the terrorist attack that happened 23 years ago.
October 25 is a Friday, which is a likely day for a release.
THE ORIGINAL RELEASE DATE
Reputation was released on November 11, 2017.
Taylor does not have a tour date that day, but it is likely that she could announce the Taylor’s Version seven years after the original.
On the same note, some fans think that she could drop it on October 11, since it is the inverse (10/11) of the original date, and it is a Friday.
She released 1989 (Taylor’s Version) nine years after the original one on October 27, 2023.
THE ERAS TOUR ENDS- DECEMBER 8
The Eras Tour is coming to an end on Sunday, December 8, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Many announcements were made on the tour including rerecordings, music videos, and album variants.
So, ending the tour might come with an announcement, especially since it is the end of the Eras.
However, some fans think that Taylor Swift (Taylor’s Version) will be announced that day as well.
TAYLOR’S BIRTHDAY – DECEMBER 13
Taylor was born on December 13, 1989.
13 holds a significant place in Taylor’s life as it is her birthdate and her lucky number.
December 13 also falls on a Friday this year, so it would be a perfect date for a release and to wrap up the tour.
Wrapping up the year and the tour, Taylor may want to own all of her music.
The release and announcement date of the two remaining rerecords are currently unknown as of September 12, 2024.
As the Grammy-winner said with the original reputation release, “There will be no explanation, there will just be reputation.”
