iHeart Radio, which has 850 stations across the country, reportedly failed to keep its promise to only play recently re-recorded versions of Taylor Swift’s biggest hits.
iHeart has played the original version of Swift’s song at least 626 times, even though “Taylor’s version” is available, and the network supports 34-year-old Taylor’s re-released discography. Since announcing the pledge, it has been viewed 507 times. According to Business Insidercited radio airplay data from six iHeart stations in Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York.
November 2021, iHeart CEO Tom Pohlman stated in the press release “Whenever Taylor re-records a new song, it immediately replaces the old version,” the superstar said in a 2022 interview, “which was very heartwarming to me.”
That was shortly after Swift began releasing re-recorded versions of six of her albums in an effort to regain control of her music catalog. From Music Manager Scooter Braunpurchased the master recordings of Swift’s first six albums in 2019, along with Swift’s former label, Big Machine Records.
Still, the giant radio station played original versions of Swift’s songs an average of three times a day, according to BI, data from six stations in major U.S. cities.
These six radio stations are just a small part of iHeart’s 850-station empire, which includes more than 100 Top 40 and pop stations, as well as an adult contemporary station known for playing Swift songs. BI reported.
This means that the actual number of non-“Taylor’s Version” tracks played on iHeart stations is likely much higher, according to BI.
“We play Taylor’s version of the song millions of times on broadcast radio stations, and radio stations play Taylor’s version of the song millions of times,” Wendy Goldberg, iHeart’s chief communications officer, told BI. “We are thoroughly investigating our programs because we are trying to make sure that only we air them.” Thoroughly scan your system again and remove the incorrect version. ”
Representatives for iHeart Radio did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
Swift has since released “Taylor’s Versions” of all but two albums in her discography (Reputation and her 2006 debut album, Taylor Swift).
