r/Music • u/ebradio • 6h ago

article Taylor Swift sparks chart-blocking accusations with new “Patient Zero” alternate versions

https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/taylor-swift/taylor-swift-sparks-chart-blocking-accusations-with-new-patient-zero-alternate-versions
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u/AnAussiebum 6h ago

Charts should just ban alternative versions from being listed. Or give them one remix/deluxe edition, only. If the majority of the album has not changed it just shouldn't be considered.

There, problem solved.

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u/not_charter_digit 3h ago

Billboard cracked down on merch and concert ticket bundles when artists abused those loopholes, so they clearly have the ability to fix this. They just choose not to because the manufactured drama and sales spikes still drive engagement.

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u/AspiringRocket 44m ago

But.. why does billboard care about engagement? I don't see how they profit from this

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u/JohnnyRelentless 36m ago

What were the loopholes?

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u/tswiftdeepcuts 53m ago

the ability to fix releasing songs that are already available on itunes to streaming?

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u/OmgzPudding 4h ago

Or just group them all into the same song, and average it out. Makes it more likely to reduce the overall chart ranking by having 4 versions if one or two don't do as well.

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u/hotlibramess 4h ago edited 1h ago

I agree. multiple variants being sold should not count. Adele didn’t need a hundred variants of her music to sell the amount she sold. She just made good music.

If you rewound it to the times before streaming and everything else, and you took away the multiple variants, TS wouldn’t be breaking records. That’s why it’s disingenuous to compare her to people like Michael Jackson.

ETA: I want people to read what I said. I did not say that Adele did not have variants. I said she didn’t need a whole slew of them. Right now life of a showgirl has like what? 35 variants? Roughly? TTPD had over 30 variants.

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u/ajmkv 3h ago edited 3h ago

I think the worst thing for me is that she WAS having those incredible accolades and achievements before her descent into petty chart manipulation. I already WAS hearing way too much about her in the early 2010s. I remember when Speak Now was released and it was a HUGE deal for an artist like her to achieve a million-plus selling album in one week. Fearless was the album that spent the most weeks at #1 in the whole DECADE. Everything was a hit for her, she was everywhere, she was the nation’s darling.

Success is her worst ally. If she didn’t need to continue these constant empty victories at the expense of everyone else’s time in the spotlight, I think she would still be very, very successful. Not breaking EVERY longstanding record, but still selling healthy amounts as a female performer close to her 40s, and hopefully being more authentic in her writing.

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u/lefty9674 1h ago

To me, you just can’t call her an artist anymore. A competitor? Sure. A business woman, certainly. She in no way shape or form presents as an artist.

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u/Road_Whorrior 24m ago

She is a corporation unto herself.

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u/ChosenCharacter 2h ago

At the end of the day, she's just a petty little person that was bullied in school and has carried that chip on her shoulder through adulthood, and now that she finally has the opportunity to be the bully herself, she's embracing it 100%. And it's been like that ever since Bad Blood where she literally threatened another singer and nobody (or not enough) said "yea maybe she is the bad guy."

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u/Chaavva 1h ago edited 35m ago

that was bullied in high school

Nah, she was the bully.

And that's according to her own words.

Just because some other kids probably found your average rich mean girl insufferable doesn't mean she was bullied or unpopular.

Actual bullied kids don't go around town in their Hummer harassing people with their friends. And then laugh about it on camera.

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u/OneUpAndOneDown 46m ago

Ok that link doesn’t make that point.

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u/Chaavva 35m ago

How so?

"You know what we haven't done in a while? Driven around with the top down and harassed people."

Her own words that she says to her "extremely supportive" friends to great laughter.

She was in no way a social outcast and all of the footage of her in school only shows what bs that narrative about her being supposedly bullied and unpopular is.

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u/Road_Whorrior 23m ago

Well, her fans were the preps picking on the emo kids in my high school experience, so the apples fell straight down.

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u/ChosenCharacter 5m ago

I heard she was bullied in middle school, took off in high school

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u/LadySnarfblat 1h ago

People who went to high school with her have said she actually was a popular rich girl and a bully in high school. So it’s just always who she’s been.

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u/hotlibramess 2h ago

Yep and it’s still happening. The lyrics to “father figure” in her latest album are a great example.

People want to paint me with a broad brush as a simple taylor hater and it’s not that. I used to be a fan. I own most of her albums.

I stopped being a fan because of compounded issues that resulted in me realizing that not only is her character questionable, the music she’s been putting out is mediocre at best.

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u/tswiftdeepcuts 54m ago

father figure is about scott borchetta. you know the guy who owns a jag and has a scotch brand? her former label owner? who she in her own words saw as a second father figure?

seems a fan would click that easily

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u/The_Thane_Of_Cawdor 40m ago

I mean she’s like Michael Jordon, she has to win even at the expense of looking shallow and petty

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u/Zyfoud 1h ago

I take it you haven't heard the chewy chocolate cookies remix of hometown glory

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u/hotlibramess 1h ago

This made me laugh out loud because it is actually plausible as a name. Some of the titles sounded like AI word slop.

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u/soultokeep 2h ago

Sighs I’m just going to reply to the OG comment since I see several people already making the argument that Adele did “the same thing” or used multiple variants to achieve success. This is factually untrue. Anyone who was around at the time 25 came out remembers how massive it was of a release.

25, which is the album people are talking about when they bring up Adele with this “she didn’t need variants” point, had a cd, a vinyl, and a target deluxe. That’s it. 2-4 variants at most in terms of charting. And yes, it was off streaming for 6 months but all the singles were still available there, in a time where streaming was nowhere near as big as it is now anyways. Spotify was big, but not nearly as ubiquitous in 2015 as it is now.

I really don’t care for the variant discourse in general but I do dislike when people say 25 is at all a comparable example to diminish its actual success. 25 really is not even remotely the same in terms of todays standards with variants and color pressings.

And to add, I own Taylor vinyls myself, so I’m not at all saying let’s pit them against each other. I just think it’s also okay to let 25’s success be the organic accomplishment it really was, that’s all! We don’t need to get upset for pointing out Adele didn’t need variants for 25, because she really didn’t.

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u/hotlibramess 2h ago

This was beautifully stated, thank you! 🫶🏻

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u/LeotardosRahdiator 1h ago

Found the swifty. The album was a hit, no need to keep releasing multiple variants to sustain “success”. That is all.

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u/LYPX 1h ago

You didn’t read anything the user typed other than “I own Taylor’s vinyl myself” and chomped on that. Read the rest and you’ll find that your comment was unnecessary.

They literally spent three paragraphs celebrating Adele’s success during the infancy of streaming.

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u/LeotardosRahdiator 1h ago

I did read it. You say read the rest, but the “I own Taylor’s vinyls myself” is at the end paragraph… how can I not read the whole thing?

I read the comment, and followed through with my opinion.

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u/LYPX 1h ago

Nah your main point was “found the swifty” as if they hid it. Good luck with further discussions. This one is done

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u/LeotardosRahdiator 1h ago

Wasn’t the main point, nor did I act or claim they hid it.

You need to read better dude.

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u/SLUnatic85 hear the sound... 3h ago

Sure. But also she broke and set records without those political games before being the mega superstar she is in 2026. Thats exactly how she became the mega superstar she is in 2026.

The point is that its nonsense for her to fight ao hard to keep winning and boxing out other artists, when from our point of view, she doesnt need to. Shes already won.

In reality id imagine its way deeper, and that she really is getting pressure from multiple directions to maintain unrealistic statistics and clout, becuase many rich people are involved and are greedy too.

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u/lefty9674 1h ago

Most other artist that get the F U clout like she has have used that to make the music they want. She’s just doubled down. No record label could make her do a thing. She could 100% back her own publishing and distribution if she so desired.

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u/kaw_21 3h ago

lol Adele did have album color/cover variants, a target exclusive variants, certain CDs with extra songs, kept it completely off streaming. And you know what, that’s fine that she did!

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u/UngovernableOatmeal 1h ago

exclusive versions and deluxe/extended editions have always been a thing.

re-releasing the same song 10 times has not

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u/kaw_21 1h ago

Remixes (yes, often multiple), acoustic, live, and other alternate versions of a song have actually been a thing for quite awhile for a lot of artists way before Taylor was in the industry. In the 90s and 20s I bought a ton of single CDs when I already had the album because that was the only way to get the remixes or acoustic. I would re-buy deluxe albums I already had for the extra songs. Also, there’s three versions of one song in this case.

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u/hotlibramess 2h ago

She didn’t though. She had lil 2-4 variants. Come on.

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u/novangla 3h ago

I’m pretty sure someone ran the numbers and the variants obviously boost her sales but she still would be breaking records.

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u/whatsthatcutething 3h ago

Wrong. Adele withheld 25 from streaming, so she could rack up those album sales. And had store exclusive CDs. 30 has variants as well, but didn’t sell that well. Taylor can still sell more than Adele.

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u/abee7 2h ago

I’m sure some are out there, but I don’t think many people HAVE TO HAVE every single one of Adele’s variants. I think it’s more likely that people who were going to buy her album anyway may have sought out the target variant instead of the standard. I know I’ve done that with an album I was already planning on buying. A lot of TS fans buy EVERYTHING she does, even if it’s basically the same.

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u/BewitchedMelody 1h ago

Yeah thats not exclusive to taylor fans. Those are completionist collectors. Every band/singer has them. Thats why almost every single artist has multiple variants. Its become industry standar at this oount to have at least 3-5 minimum. You want to say that Taylor wouldnt be as successful if she didnt release multiple variants as if shes the only one doing it. Im so tired of this complaint as if Taylor alone has created vinyl variants and only her fans are the ones buying multiple versions. You want to talk about vinyl variants? Showgirl has 11. Brat has over 20. But only Taylor Swift gets dragged for putting out multiple variants because shes the only artist that is looking at chart numbers? Give me a break.

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u/lumynaut 3h ago edited 2h ago

Adele did all of those things, it just wasn’t in conversation because people don’t have Adele brain worms the way they have Taylor Swift brain worms

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u/hotlibramess 2h ago

She didn’t though. Not even close. 2-4 variants maybe. You’re making a false equivalency.

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u/myassholealt 2h ago

I know it's not an Apples to Apples comparison, but it's similar way I feel about box office records. In the 90s I got a ticket for less than $8.

Now, a ticket that's not a discount or promo ticket in the same area is $21 for standard. Premium formats go up to close to $30. Of course modern day movies are gonna top box office records from decades ago. Each ticket is 3x more value. Even if they sold the same number of tickets, 2026 is gonna beat 1995.

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u/YT__ 5h ago

I think a time block too. Like, minimum 5 year gap between tge original and an alternative song being allowed to be on the chart.

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u/evil_onion 4h ago

You mean 5 months? Unless it's a special version for a concert or anniversary, who cares for it after so long - especially for the sake of charting...

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u/YT__ 4h ago

For an alternative release, I'd say 5 years would be fine.

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u/evil_onion 4h ago

Yeah, actually, I read your comment wrong. Sure, wait 5 years, or even longer for special versions. (it's this constant drip drop every couple weeks for what feels like an year, that needs a limit after an album release, imo)

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u/YT__ 4h ago

Yah, agreed. 5 years might be too long. But the trend of releasing slightly different variations every so often to pump the chart and keep an album or song up there is absurd, like you said. Needs something to deter it.

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u/tswiftdeepcuts 52m ago

then olivia couldnt release the remix she announced after taylor said she was releasing this piano and acoustic version to streaming if that was the rule either

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u/bjnono001 5h ago

Then Olivia wouldn’t even be in contention, lol

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u/flashb4cks_ 5h ago

Then so be it. It's so annoying that successful artists are inflating numbers.

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u/Slight-Owl4300 5h ago edited 3h ago

How are they inflating numbers if people want to buy and listen to the variants though?

Edit- why am I getting downvoted? I don't care about the down votes but just curious why.

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u/FettuccineAlfonzo 5h ago

Because they weren’t produced artistically for a reason. Their entire existence is to boost chart performance of the original song.

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u/adnansbae95 5h ago

Weren’t produced artistically? What does that mean? Taylor recorded new vocals for both the piano and acoustic versions and then obviously changed up the instrumental too

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u/BeansArePastaSauce 2h ago

Yes physically new audio was recorded, but not for artistic merit. Can anyone with more patience than I have explain this better?

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u/Mr_Puddintaters Tame Impala Glazer 4h ago

For the sole purpose of boosting chart numbers.

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u/adnansbae95 4h ago

So, let me get this straight, when Taylor records alternative versions it’s for the sole purpose of boosting chart numbers but when everyone else does it…?

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u/Mr_Puddintaters Tame Impala Glazer 4h ago

It’s for the sole purpose of boosting chart numbers, yes.

Edit: For example I love Tame Impala and I can easily say that the Dracula Remix feat. Jennie was for the sole purpose of boosting chart numbers.

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u/adnansbae95 4h ago

🤷🏻‍♀️

→ More replies (0)

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u/PersonalAmbassador 4h ago

Do other artists release piano and acoustic versions of a single from a special edition album?

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u/adnansbae95 3h ago

Yeah, they do? lol everyone does. Maybe not piano and acoustic but multiple versions of a single abosolutely

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u/pinkwonderwall 4h ago

Just because it doesn’t meet your artistic standards doesn’t mean it’s not art.

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u/hotlibramess 4h ago

So you think people who bought all of the midnights albums so they could make that fuck ass clock are listening to those records?

It’s all so wasteful. Just a bunch of plastic shit for landfills.

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u/Slight-Owl4300 4h ago

Do you think everyone who buys vinyl records actually plays them regularly? 

Some people buy music to listen to it, others buy it to collect it, and some do both. That isn't unique to Taylor Swift. 

Whether someone plays a record 100 times or displays it on their wall doesn't change the fact that they willingly purchased it. 

That's a legitimate sale, not an inflated number. You can criticize the environmental impact of vinyl, which is a fair conversation, but that's an entirely different topic and not what OP's original post was about.

And for what it's worth, I'm not a huge defender of all the variants either. I don't love the waste they produce. But Taylor wouldn't keep releasing them if people weren't buying them, so at some point we also have to acknowledge the role consumers play in creating that demand. That said, I don't fault people for wanting to collect unique editions of albums they love. And let's be honest, collecting multiple versions of vinyl records is hardly something exclusive to Swifties.

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u/hotlibramess 4h ago

Buying a bunch of plastic that you don’t intend to do anything with is stupid and wasteful.

Taylor swift is the source of so much pollution for SO many reasons that it’s honestly disgusting.

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u/Slight-Owl4300 4h ago

Again, now you're arguing something different. This post was about charts and variants.

There are lots of things people collect that can be considered stupid and wasteful, and can lead to waste and pollution but this post wasn't about the environmental impacts of variants.

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u/hotlibramess 4h ago

Yeah you’re right I did change directions.

But these two things are related. Multiple variant sales and multiple variant releases and charting.

It all overinflates numbers.

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u/Slight-Owl4300 4h ago

My point is that I don't think it overinflates the numbers. The fans buying these variants are also genuinely listening to the music. If the charts are measuring sales and streams, Taylor is clearly delivering both. Other artists need to figure out how to grow their fan bases and encourage people to buy and listen to their music if they want to compete. And I agree that variants encourage additional purchases, but those are still legitimate sales.

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u/FakeBobPoot 4h ago

Is it actually annoying?

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u/whosthere1989 5h ago

If they allowed a remix then yes she would.

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u/Dry-Mongoose-5804 5h ago

A remix is an alternative version. Olivia didn’t even do a new recording for the remix she just slapped on a Chappell verse on the original version.

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u/whosthere1989 5h ago

Doing remixes for a single version of a song isn’t some new tactic to manipulate charts. It’s been around for forever. And like the original comment said—that’s why it’d make sense to allow ONE alternative version or remix of songs.

Think of all the iconic singles that were remixes because the album version was never released as a single.

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u/Dry-Mongoose-5804 4h ago

You think acoustic versions are some new thing? At least Taylor re-records the whole song. Instead of you slapping on a new verse of the old song then selling it.

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u/crimsonpostgrad 4h ago

that depends on what song she’s releasing lmfao. i love taylor but she definitely has remixes she just reuses the original vocals for. olivia’s remix was to add chappells verse, and olivia recorded vocals for it specifically, bc she added ad libs and backing vocals for chappells verse.

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u/whosthere1989 1h ago

Acoustic versions of songs used to mean an actual acoustic recorded version of a song. Not a pre recorded master vocal track slapped over poorly produces overly polished acoustic sounding studio instruments

Like—look at the acoustic unplugged version of “Layla’s vs the studio version. That’s a real acoustic version of a song.

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u/hotlibramess 4h ago

I mean they wrote the track together and it was remixed so what’s the problem? It’s a different song.

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u/BeansArePastaSauce 2h ago

Let’s not forget all the things TS sells that’s “slapped” together. I constantly find all her poorly made merch at Goodwill.

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u/ChadQuaza 4h ago

not to state an opinion on olivia's case, but whether or not a remix should count has to be a case-by-case basis - sometimes a remix is barely any different and just with a new verse (like old town road with billy ray cyrus), sometimes it's practically a completely new song under the same name (like many of the tracks off the 1000 gecs remix album)

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u/CooperHChurch427 5h ago

What's crazy is the "encore" is super unusual as a deluxe version because of how close it released and that the songs were new additions entirely and not cut.

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u/Kalbi84 4h ago

How is it unusual? It's not uncommon for a deluxe to release a year later, and what do you think "cut". Do you really believe all or most of the deluxe tracks from other artists are outtakes... they keep recording and adding shit even months after it released.

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u/jbaker1225 2h ago

Yes… almost every deluxe edition of an album with new songs is made up of songs recorded during the album session that didn’t make the final release. Sometimes when it’s released 10 or 20 years later, it includes songs from singles or EPs recorded around the same time that never got a proper album release. It’s almost never recordings specifically done to create a new version of an existing album.

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u/CooperHChurch427 3h ago

Most deluxe editions typically consist of outtakes and remixes. Very rarely are they songs recorded a few months after release .

0

u/Proud-Detective4835 4h ago

What’s crazy is that the “encore” doesn’t really fit with the main product, which in turn does not deliver on its title.

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u/tvp204 5h ago

She announced this before Olivia even announced the remix. This wasn’t a “blocking” attempt

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u/AnAussiebum 5h ago

I didn't say it was or wasn't. I just dislike multiple releases clogging up the charts.

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u/tswiftdeepcuts 49m ago

well it’s already been out all she did was put it on streaming

-6

u/MonteBurns 4h ago

I’m confused why Olivia’s remix is any different than what Taylor’s doing. 

Taylor’s release timing is def suss but I’m not going to “be upset” one artists remix came out at another artists remix. 

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u/ZeeKapow 2h ago

Olivia never released the original version of the song, she only released this remix as a single.

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u/CheesecakeOk2222 2h ago

what? she definitely released the original, it's on her new album

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u/ZeeKapow 1h ago

Sorry, I meant as a single for radio.

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u/BeansArePastaSauce 2h ago

This single instance, if it were in a vacuum, would be comparable. But obviously it’s not existing in a vacuum and TS has done these chart blocking shenanigans multiple times to only female artists. Has OR countlessly chart blocked so blatantly & deliberately?

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u/roseinmouth 3h ago

Are variants even differentiated as separate products by charts? They might be kind of hard to police

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u/christpuncher_69 2h ago

As if this bs isn't mutually beneficial

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u/dBlock845 Magdalena Bay 1h ago

Unless it is a legit remix, like expectations for example, I agree ban em all.

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u/DataDude00 1h ago

From what I understand they usually do ignore variants but have been making exceptions for some artists like Taylor 

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u/Cruzi2000 48m ago

I really do not see a problem, artists often release remixes of their songs and if consumers buy them, why should they not be listed?

•

u/ChocoLindt99 34m ago

Shouldn't she have enough decency and professional courtesy to just not do this though?

-4

u/Dry-Mongoose-5804 5h ago

Olivia wouldn’t have any #1 this era without all the variants she needed for Drop Dead.

This remix wouldn’t count either because it is again another variant. People saying this haven’t thought it through.

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u/idreamofpikas 5h ago

Why is it a problem?

Surely the no1 song should be the most popular song of that week. If its a remix or deluxe edition so what.

I don't like most of Taylor's music, but if more people like it one week than any other song then it deserves to be no1.

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u/night_dude 5h ago

People (Swifties) just spam it on mute 24/7 without listening to it most of the time. Like human bots. The charting IS the goal. It's purely a loyalty/fandom exercise.

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u/idreamofpikas 5h ago

People (Swifties) just spam it on mute 24/7 without listening to it most of the time.

Which sucks, but other artists do the same. She just happens to have more fans.

-1

u/night_dude 5h ago

I mean, a handful of other artists with insane militant stanbases, sure (kpop fans mostly), but most people don't do this, because they aren't fucked in the head.

The vast majority of artists don't benefit from this kind of slavish loyalty. It's not a question of fanbase size.

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u/Dry-Mongoose-5804 5h ago

Listening on mute gets completely filtered out and don’t count as streams. So you are just completely making shit up.

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u/night_dude 5h ago

5 seconds of googling later, get her ass out your mouth

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u/Dry-Mongoose-5804 4h ago

Your link didn’t prove anything? They just said they won’t reveal how they track because they don’t want to give tips on how to game their system.

People have tested themselves on new Spotify accounts by uploading songs and the streams don’t count when you stream it on mute.

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u/kaw_21 3h ago

And Taylor has one of the lowest filter rates

-2

u/FakeBobPoot 4h ago

Is there really a “problem” to solve here? They could just tell people to grow up and get over it.

-2

u/Last-Sleep4638 4h ago

or other artists should just get more popular

0

u/brijito 2h ago

Every “record” she has ever set will someday have an asterisk next to it.

She’s the Barry bonds of music sales.

0

u/BroughtBagLunchSmart 1h ago

Taylor Swift using her billion dollar industry to cheat the pop charts - not cool.

Lil Nas X figuring that out on his own when he was 19 years old - I'll allow it.