Bootleg Taylor Swift Tiny Desk Vinyl Records Sell Out

News

By RC Staff

09 September 2024

We’ve got a weird one today. A few years ago, Taylor Swift performed on NPR’s “Tiny Desk” concert series. The fully acoustic set included four songs and ran for around thirty minutes. Recently, an independant vinyl producer spun up a highly limited vinyl pressing of the concert. While some fans questioned if this was legal, the producer assured them they had all the rights. All of the copies sold out in seconds, but the producer has since received a Cease & Desist notice. It’s not clear what will happen now, but these records are looking very valuable.

Taylor Swift NPR Tiny Desk Vinyl

We don’t usually cover bootlegs here, but today we’re making an exception. So what’s the story? A few weeks ago, an independant vinyl presser going by “It’s Just Vinyl” began teasing their upcoming project: a vinyl pressing of Taylor Swift’s 2019 Tiny Desk concert.

If you’re not familiar, NPR’s Tiny Desk series asks high profile artists to play a short set in a close, intimate space. They’re usually acoustic, but not exclusively, and produce a uniquely comfortable experience for the artist and their fans.

Taylor Swift played four songs during her 2019 Tiny Desk concert. While she was a superstar at the time, she’s gotten even bigger since then. Her Tiny Desk performance has remained a favorite for some fans, and it’s still getting attention today.

Which brings us to these records. From what we can tell, It’s Just Vinyl is likely an amateur vinyl producer that got the idea to produce a vinyl record based on Taylor’s Tiny Desk concert. They would go on to press 500 copies and set up a website to sell them.

Now hang on a minute – this is pretty obviously an unauthorized reproduction of copyrighted material. This is risky on it’s own, but doubly so when you consider they’re ripping off Taylor Swift; you know, the woman who’s re-recording every single one of her records so that she can be the exclusive rights-owner?

But It’s Just Vinyl claimed they were fully in the right, legally. They claimed they had contracted a “rights and distribution company” to license the record, and that all relevant parties would be compensated appropriately.

Well we’re all good then, right? These not-a-bootleg Taylor Swift Tiny Desk vinyl records went up for sale at 9 A.M. Pacific through It’s Just Vinyl’s website. They cost $45, and were limited to just 500 total copies.

Naturally, they sold out instantly. While the release was kept somewhat lowkey, it only took a few Taylor Swift fan accounts to post about it to have it blow up. Customers were limited to two per order, which we’re guessing most people took advantage of them.

The end? Not quite. While It’s Just Vinyl insisted they had jumped through the appropriate legal hoops, within a few hours of the sale they posted a Cease & Desist from NPR.

Oopsies! It turns out these fully-licensed, fully-approved limited pressings were actually just good old fashioned bootlegs. Better yet, the seller seems fully aware of that, because they’ve been shipping out orders as fast as possible and privating all of their accounts.

@vinylplayground

We discuss the story behind a limited edition Taylor Swift Tiny Desk record that was recently released and then quickly scrutinized due to a legal dispute with NPR over the rights to the recordings. The record was well-produced but the seller was likely scammed by a third-party rights company, leading to the cease and desist from NPR. Despite the legal issues, it’s an interesting story for fans who were able to get their hands on this rare pressing. #TaylorSwift #TinyDesk #VinylRelease #LegalDispute #MusicIndustry #VinylTok #VinylTikTok

♬ original sound – Vinyl Playground

We’ve seen a few people defending It’s Just Vinyl by saying they were a fan with good intentions that was taken advantage of by the distribution company, but the way they’ve handled this sale pretty much settles it.

If they truly thought they were in the right, they would have immediately stopped selling and shipping orders when hit with a C&D, and there’s a good chance that notice was sent to them before the sale even went live.

Collectable Taylor Swift Tiny Desk Vinyl Bootlegs

So why are we talking about this? There’s nothing special about bootlegging, but this particular record is worth paying attention to.

Mainly because Taylor Swift fans were very excited for the record’s release. It’s Just Vinyl’s decision to market this as an officially licensed record meant Swift’s fans could buy it guilt-free, rather than deprive a billionaire of her hard-earned pennies.

In turn, the record’s popularity exploded, and was far more desirable than your average bootleg. When they went live, it took less than a minute for every copy to sell out, and copies are being shipped out regularly.

Meaning it will only be a short time before these start appearing on eBay. Resellers have been hesitant to list them early, out of fear of having their orders canceled. It’s Just Vinyl apparently has no issue breaking copyright law, but draws the line at scalping.

In any case, this will go down as an important episode in Taylor Swift’s 2024. For vinyl collectors, this release has a lot of interesting factors going for it, and fans still want to buy it despite the obvious infringement.

We’re excited to see what they end up selling for. Subscribe to our newsletter if you want to stay updated on items like this, and catch upcoming flips before they drop.