Taylor Swift is no stranger to headlines – even when not actively courting them.
Such was the case this week when the Pop titan was thrust into speculation about who will be headlining the Super Bowl Halftime Show 2023 in Pheonix, Arizona.
With Apple Music announced as the new Halftime Show sponsor replacing Pepsi, social media and the newswire went wild with buzz about Swift being the top pick. For, the contractual conflict presented by her long-running Cola-Cola deal is no longer a factor.
Now, though, another hurdle has been cited by sources as the cause for the singer missing out on festivities.
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According to TMZ, Swift was indeed asked to perform as next year’s Super Bowl Halftime Show headliner. However, she is said to have declined due to her desire to finish releasing the re-recordings of her catalog.
Indeed, as extensively covered here on That Grape Juice, Swift locked horns with Scooter Braun after the mega-manager was part of a consortium that snapped up the rights to the performer’s first six studio albums from her previous label. The controversy was immense given that Swift stressed that she was effectively shut out of negotiations to purchase the rights herself.
As a result, she embarked on the tall task of re-recording and re-releasing all six LPs. A move that has thus far proven all sorts of fruitful.
For, with a multitude of release formats and creative marketing (that has seen the singer include demos, rare cuts, and new collaborations alongside the re-sung tracks), her ‘Taylor’s Version’ incarnations of ‘Fearless’ and ‘Red’ have been huge sellers.
The snag? She still has four more re-releases to go.
Until then, it’s claimed that Swift – in recognizing the huge sales boost Halftime headliners traditionally attract – will hold off performing on the seismic stage until the process is complete.
Smart, in a way, given that she’d otherwise be in a predicament where she’d be performing some songs that she would directly receive the commercial benefit from (see: anything from the new ‘Fearless’ and ‘Red’ versions) and in the awkward spot where she’d actually be seeking permission to perform tracks.
Swift is reportedly open to a top-lining the Halftime Show in the future and 2024 could be a possibility if she’s rolled out all the re-records by then.
Pending then, her brand new album ‘Midnights’ arrives on October 21.