Taking a cue from pop superstar Taylor Swift, Morgan Wallen re-records a song from his old catalog as a protest to ruin the plans of some former colleagues.
On Thursday, the country music star shared on his Instagram page why he decided to interrupt a hunting trip to re-record “Spin You Around,” taken from his 2015 debut extended play (EP) Stand Alone. .
Before making his big break in the music industry, Wallen signed a music contract without legal representation, which he now deeply regrets and which resulted in 13 new songs, five of which made it onto the debut EP.
Now, almost ten years after parting ways with his original team, some of his former colleagues are releasing a 10th anniversary edition of Stand Alone, contradicting his wishes.
Realizing that his old collaborators would abandon this special edition, Wallen and his current team decided to fight back and hastily arrange a recording session in Nashville so that the new version of Spin You Around 1/24 could be released on Friday at the same time .
Morgan Wallen, 30, decided to re-record his song “Spin You Around” after learning that his old team would be releasing a 10th anniversary edition of his debut EP “Stand Alone” without his consent
The Sneedville, Tennessee native announced that he has nothing to do with the re-release of “Stand Alone,” which is essentially the equivalent of unveiling eight previously unreleased songs.
The problem is that Wallen didn't think those eight songs were good enough to put on the original record, and nothing has changed in the past decade.
“We did 13 songs. Some were fine, most were terrible as I was just learning writing in general and figuring it all out,” he explained in the caption of his Instagram post.
“I wasn't the only collaborator, so many of these songs weren't my idea or standards.” “We thought 5 were worthy enough to make the Stand Alone EP, which includes the fan favorite Spin You Around.”
The country star highlighted how his former managers are supporting this project that goes against his wishes.
“For months I have been exploring all options to acquire the rights to this old music and balance the quality of my catalog with the songs I want to release and believe in,” he continued. “It’s disgusting, greedy and an example of how the dark side of the music business can suck the soul out of artists.”
It's obvious that he and his current collaborators have investigated how Taylor Swift faced a similar situation.
Swift decided to re-record her first six albums after she discovered that Scooter Braun bought her former label Big Machine Records and then sold it, along with his original Swift masters, to the Disney family's Shamrock Holdings for $405 million, on the condition that he continues to benefit from Master.
Outraged that she supposedly never had the opportunity to make an offer to buy back her masters, Swift has since re-recorded four of these records: Fearless (Taylor's Version), Red (Taylor's Version), Speak Now (Taylor's Version) and 1989 (Taylor's Version).
Swift now only needs to re-record two of those old albums: her self-titled debut album and Reputation, before she fully owns all her music again.
Waller wanted the new version of “Spin You Around” to coincide with the release of the 10th anniversary edition of “Stand Alone,” even going so far as to create the single's cover image himself while duck hunting in the woods.
The country singer described his business situation with his old team as an example of “how the dark side of the music business can suck the soul out of artists.”
Wallen confessed to signing a music contract without legal representation, which resulted in him not owning 13 songs himself; Five songs made it onto Stand Alone (2015), while the other eight remained previously unreleased
The “Last Night” star renamed his first hit single for this protest release, now calling it “Spin You Around 1/24” to avoid legal action
Wallen claims eight of the original 13 songs did not meet his standards, which was part of his motivation for resisting the release
Swift's plan to own all of her music includes re-recording her first six albums to give fans the opportunity to own the record and not buy the originals that sold out from her old label a few years ago; She has completed four of these albums so far
To support his complaints, Waller is also donating $100,000 from his foundation to the Volunteer Lawyers and Professionals for the Arts (VLPA) program to prevent this from happening to other young artists.
Part of his motivation for taking on his old colleagues was to make it clear to fans that he has no interest in releasing these old songs and that he is more focused on offering his fans new music.
“I 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 hear these songs and I worry That my fans might get it wrong. “I think this is a new release from me.”
Waller goes on to reveal that he will begin recording new music for his next project in late February and that he is “feeling creatively inspired and very excited to make more music that I'm proud of.”
“I hope young aspiring musicians read this story and know that they never have to give up their creative freedom for an opportunity in this business,” said the “More Than My Hometown” star.