Big Machine Records

• SEOUL, South Korea, March 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- HYBE today announced an expanded long-term agreement with Universal Music Group (UMG), providing them exclusive distribution rights across HYBE music for the next 10 years.
• Under the partnership, UMG will further collaborate with HYBE's global superfan platform Weverse, bringing more of a direct connection between UMG artists and their fandom.
• UMG is an iconic music company and together with HYBE, the potential is endless.
• Sir Lucian Grainge, Chairman and CEO of Universal Music Group, said, "Chairman Bang, Scooter Braun and Jiwon Park have brought an innovative and progressive vision to the industry that underscores music's global power.

• At first, these seemed to be just re-recordings so that the pop icon could own her own music.
• Swift is on a journey to rerecord all of the studio albums released while contracted to Big Machine Records.
• One of the most controversial updates that you’ll find in Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) is the lyric change in the song Better Than Revenge (Taylor’s Version).

Remastering and updating

• Remastering music offers the opportunity to release an album after it has been filtered through updated technology.
• Often this means being able to eliminate artefacts in the sound, or fix frequency or balancing issues.
• In Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) and many other remastered albums, the changes in sound and quality are subtle, but they are there.

Better than revenge?

• In addition to these new orchestrations and mixing of instruments, Swift has taken the opportunity with her Taylor’s Version recordings to update the lyrics in Better Than Revenge (Taylor’s Version).
• Swift alters the original, controversial lyric “But she’s better known for the things that she does on the mattress” to “He was a moth to the flame, she was holding the matches”.
• The lengthy prologue Swift includes on the album does not even explicitly address the change, but alludes to the change.

Shifting the Narrative

• Swift has been using these re-recordings as an opportunity to update the narrative for herself.
• It was accompanied by a 14-minute short film/music video to further tell this new narrative.
• But now, with Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), Swift is trying to push forward a narrative of positivity and feminism.

• This year's Ram Truck presence will feature an exclusive FFA convention performance by rising country music singer-songwriter Jackson Dean at the Ram Truck brand exhibit.
• Coinciding with participation at the National FFA Convention & Expo, Ram is launching a new digital video, "Wings," starring Dean.
• "We admire and applaud these future agriculture leaders and will continue to encourage their aspirations in any way possible."
• In 2009, the Ram Truck brand launched as a stand-alone division, focused on meeting the demands of truck buyers and delivering benchmark-quality vehicles.

• The exclusive live event on Monday, January 31 at Casa Cipriani in New York City will feature performances from 12-time Grammy Award-nominee and hip hop mainstay Busta Rhymes, multi-platinum Grammy Award-nominee Kat Dahlia, and iHeartRadio Music Awards nominee Lauren Weintraub.
• The event will also livestream globally on the LiveOne platform and be cross-promoted on the talent's social media channels.
• The LiveOne Presents original franchise brings together established and emerging talent across music and entertainment.
• "We are thrilled to bring LiveXLive Presents to New York City," said Robert Ellin, CEO and Chairman of LiveOne.