Taylor Swift Has A New Album Dropping At Midnight… But She’s Not Happy About It

It’s been less than a year since Taylor Swift released her most recent album Lover, which took over the world for a period of time last fall. Now, the superstar has a new set dropping at midnight, but if she had her way, it wouldn’t be coming out at all. Swift took to her Instagram today (April 23) to break the news that a new collection of live recordings was coming at midnight (April 24), but that she was not behind the project. 

Swift began the paragraphs-long statement shared on her Instagram story by thanking her fans, who were the ones who apparently made her aware of the album in the first place. She quickly explained that, “This recording is from a 2008 radio show performance I did when I was 18. Big Machine has listed the date as a 2017 release but they’re actually releasing it at midnight.” She then wasted no time in making it clear that this new set was planned without her authorization, saying, “this release is not approved by me.”

The release she’s talking about is reportedly titled Live from Clear Channel Stripped 2008, and it comes from a show she played to promote her sophomore album Fearless. At the time Clear Channel was one of the biggest companies in the entertainment field, dominating radio waves across the country. Swift was still a rising country-pop singer, and she played a number of tunes for the behemoth, which were recorded and are now set to be shared with the public as an album for the first time over a decade after the original set.

After explaining how these recordings came to be, Swift pokes fun at Scooter Braun and his financial backers, who controversially purchased the rights to her back catalog last year, saying that they need to release albums like Live from Clear Channel Stripped 2008 to start making back the $330 million they invested in owning her music.

Live from Clear Channel Stripped 2008 will be Swift’s second live album and her first in almost 10 years. She released her first and so far only live collection, Speak Now World Tour – Live, in 2011, and at the time it was a big success. The project made it to No. 11 on the Billboard 200, narrowly missing out on becoming another top 10 for the superstar. 

It is yet to be seen whether Live from Clear Channel Stripped 2008 is a streaming-only release or if fans will be able to buy it as well. It’s also yet to be seen how many of the singer’s fans support the release, as they are always hungry for more content and unreleased tracks from the powerhouse, but it’s clear she doesn’t endorse the product…so will they listen?