Update: Spotify has noted that the change in albums displayed on Taylor Swift’s artist page was due to an “internal issue,” and that the problem has been taken care of. So, Swift’s page should return to normal soon. Spotify tweeted, “Unfortunately, we woke up to an internal issue with Taylor Swift’s artist page, as well as the pages of some Big Machine artists. The issue has been resolved and will be updated for all users momentarily.”
Unfortunately, we woke up to an internal issue with Taylor Swift's artist page, as well as the pages of some Big Machine artists. The issue has been resolved and will be updated for all users momentarily.
— Spotify (@Spotify) May 8, 2020
The original post is below.
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One of the biggest ongoing feuds in the music industry right now is the one between Taylor Swift and her former label, Big Machine. That relationship isn’t exactly a positive one, and it looks like things have taken a strange turn on that front.
Fans have noticed that Taylor Swift’s artist page on Spotify is in a weird state right now. On the artist page, instead of the regular (or deluxe) versions of Swift’s albums released on Big Machine (everything pre-Lover), the page is populated with “Big Machine Radio Release Special” versions of the albums. These versions of the albums feature all the songs from the original releases, but each track is preceded by a commentary track that spans from about a minute to three minutes in length.
https://twitter.com/TSwiftNewsLA/status/1258740091566149632
As of this post, the Big Machine editions of the albums appear on Swift’s artist page on the desktop Spotify app, but regular versions of Swift’s albums show up on the mobile app, where the Big Machine editions aren’t present at all. On desktop, the normal deluxe edition of 1989 and the “Platinum Edition” of Fearless are shown. The non-Big Machine versions of the albums are still on Spotify, but can only be found on desktop when searching for them directly.
It appears these “Radio Release Special” versions of Swift’s albums started popping up on Spotify in 2018 before re-emerging to take over Swift’s artist page today. In light of all this, fans have taken to Twitter to share their thoughts about the situation, and the common sentiment seems to be that Big Machine and Scooter Braun are up to no good.
https://twitter.com/swift_afterglow/status/1258738876144857088
https://twitter.com/MissAmericHANA/status/1258729443381489664
Who's the most pathetic person on earth?#TaylorSwiftSpotify pic.twitter.com/ZdjH8rQ4rH
— zai 🍉 (@CzarinaAlvie) May 8, 2020
It’s not all bad/weird news for Swifties today, though, as Swift announced this morning that a concert special will be airing on TV soon.