morgan wallen has taken a cue from pop superstar Taylor Swift and is re-recording songs from his old catalog as part of a protest that derails the plans of his former colleagues.
On Thursday, the country music star took to his Instagram page to explain why he took a break from his hunting trip to re-record “Spin You Around,” which appears on his debut album, Extended Play (EP) Stand Alone. He told his own side. 2015).
Before finding success in the music industry, Warren signed a music contract without legal representation, something he deeply regrets in hindsight, resulting in 13 new songs, five of which The song was included on their debut EP.
Now, almost a decade after leaving his original team, some of his former colleagues are releasing a 10th anniversary edition of Stand Alone, which is against his wishes.
Warren and his current team realized that his old collaborators were planning to drop that special edition, so he asked Nash to release a new version of “Spin You Around 1/24” at the same time on Friday. They decided to fight back by hastily arranging a recording session in the building. night.
The Thneadville, Tenn., native clarified that he has nothing to do with the re-release of Stand Alone, which essentially amounts to the release of eight previously unreleased songs.
The problem is that Wallen didn’t feel these eight songs were good enough to be on the original record, and nothing has changed in the past ten years.
“I wrote 13 songs. Some were okay, but most were terrible, as I was just learning how to write in general and figuring everything out,” he wrote in an Instagram post. explained in the caption.
“I wasn’t the only collaborator, so a lot of these songs weren’t my ideas or my standards. We worked together to create a series of albums by the five of us, including the fan ‘Spin You Around,'” he says. We decided we had enough to make the Alone EP. ”
The country music star named how his former managers are supporting the project, which goes against his wishes.
“For months I have been exploring every possible avenue to acquire the rights to this old music and to match the quality of the catalog with the songs I choose and believe in releasing. ” he continued. “This is a terrible, greedy example of how the dark side of the music business sucks the soul out of artists.”
It’s clear he and his current collaborators looked to how Taylor Swift faced a similar situation.
Swift acquired her former label, Big Machine Records, from Scooter Braun, and subsequently sold the label and Swift’s original masters to the Disney family’s Siamese label, on the condition that she continued to profit from the label. After learning of the sale to Rock Holdings for $405 million, he decided to re-record his first six albums. Masters.
Furious that she allegedly never had the opportunity to bid back the masters, Swift has since sold three of those records, including Fearless (Taylor’s version), Red (Taylor’s version), and Speak. Now (Taylor’s version)” and “1989” were re-recorded (Taylor’s version).
Swift currently only has to re-record two of those older albums. Debut self-titled album and Reputation. Then she will have full ownership of all her music again.
Wanting to release a new version of “Spin You Around” to coincide with the release of the 10th anniversary edition of “Stand Alone,” Waller decided to create the single’s jacket photo himself while out hunting ducks in the woods. Even.
The country singer went on to call the business situation with his former team an example of “how the dark side of the music business sucks the soul out of an artist.”
In support of his lawsuit, Waller will donate $100,000 from his foundation to the Volunteer Lawyers and Arts Professionals (VLPA) program to help prevent this from happening to other young artists. I also promise that.
One of his motivations for competing against his old colleagues was to let fans know that he was not interested in releasing old songs and was more focused on giving fans new music. .
“I want you to know this is not my new music and I don’t want to see this happen to anyone else,” he explained, adding, “I cringe when I hear these songs. I’m worried that my fans will misunderstand me because I’m going to hide it so please believe this is my new work. ”
Waller went on to say that he began recording new music for his next project at the end of February, saying he is “feeling creatively inspired and excited to make more music that I can be proud of.” Ta.
The More Than My Hometown star said, “I hope young aspiring musicians read this story and know that they never have to give up their creative freedom to have a chance in this business.” I hope so,” he said.