Taylor Swift tweeted a cryptic message that there was "not a lot going on at the moment" on Sunday.- Many fans broke down the clues that led them to speculate that Swift's recent tweet meant she finished rerecording her 2012 album "
Red ." - Swift later confirmed that she's "rerecording all of my old
music in the studio where we originally recorded it" during her acceptance speech at the 2020 AMAs, where she won artist of the year on Sunday. - On November 16, the musician announced that she'd begun rerecording her older music after Scooter Braun's Ithaca Holdings LLC sold her master rights to an investment fund.
When Taylor Swift announced that she was in the process of rerecording her older music, she promised "plenty of surprises."
Fans think she hinted at her first one on Sunday.
The Grammy-winning musician, 30, tweeted a cryptic message that there was "not a lot going on at the moment," along with a black-and-white photo of herself perched on a couch.
—Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) November 22, 2020
Given that Swift posted the same phrase the day she wrote "Folklore" lead single "Cardigan" and wore the words on a t-shirt in her "22" music video, the artist's tweet sent fans into a frantic mission to decipher a deeper meaning.
They analyzed each detail in the photo — from the eye glasses sitting on the table resembling the ones she wore in the "We Are Never Getting Back Together" music video to the 22 spaces in the window, which could serve as a reference to the song "22" or the "Red" release date on October 22, 2012.
Swift's fans began speculating that she'd finished rerecording the album, which was lauded by many critics and fans alike.
—niall horan (@exiIestyles) November 22, 2020
— (betty) (@YeeHawSwiftie) November 22, 2020
—Taylor Swift World (@TSWorId) November 22, 2020
—alice ミ☆ (@supercutofalice) November 22, 2020
—ahmed ™ (@ahmedswift13) November 21, 2020
—Oliver Jose (@MissingLuci) November 22, 2020
Later in the evening, Swift won artist of the year at the 2020 American Music Awards. As she delivered her acceptance speech virtually, she confirmed that she's in the process of rerecording her catalog.
"The reason I'm not there tonight is I'm actually re-recording all of my old music in the studio where we originally recorded it. So it's been amazing, and I can't wait for you to hear it," she said.
Eagle-eyed fans immediately picked up on the studio recording microphone in the upper right corner of the frame and the purple tapestry behind Swift.
Many recognized the backdrop as Conway Recording Studios in Los Angeles, California, where the pop star originally recorded "Red" and "1989," and cited it as further evidence that Swift would release music soon.
—hattie (@thearrchers) November 23, 2020
—Taylor ThrowBacks ➐ (@ThrowBacTaylor) November 23, 2020
—Rachael | folklore (@Swiftieswifts13) November 23, 2020
On November 16, Variety reported that Scooter Braun's Ithaca Holdings LLC, which previously obtained the rights to Swift's catalog as part of its June 2019 acquisition of Big Machine Label Group LLC, sold the master rights to her first six albums for $300 million.
Shortly after the news broke, Swift issued a statement to fans via
She added that her legal team deemed the NDA to be "NOT normal."
And though she said she knew that Braun sold the master rights to Shamrock Holdings, Swift refused to work with the investment fund because Braun would continue to profit from her work.
Instead, she said she'd started rerecording her old music, as her old contract barred her from doing so until November 2020.
"I have recently begun re-recording my older music and it has already proven to be both exciting and creatively fulfilling," she wrote in her note.
Swift added, "I have plenty of surprises in store."
—Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) November 16, 2020
"Red" not only holds a special place in many of her fans' hearts, but Swift recently singled out the 2012 album as her one "true breakup album" on Tuesday's episode of Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Albums" podcast.
"I look back on this as my only true breakup album — every other album has flickers of different things," she explained.
Swift continued: "This was an album that I wrote specifically about a pure, absolute to the core heartbreak, and you do a lot of vacillating and changing when you're going through something like that. So this record actually is an accurate depiction symbolically of that."
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Scooter Braun makes millions off Taylor Swift's masters, just 17 months after buying them