''Live from Clear Channel Stripped 2008'' is the second

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th centur ...

by the American singer-songwriter

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her autobiographical songwriting, artistic versatility, and Cultural impact of Taylor Swift, cultural impact, Swift is one of the Best selling artists, w ...

. It was released on April 24, 2020, by

Big Machine Records Big Machine Records is an American record label, distributed by Universal Music Group. Big Machine is based on Music Row in Nashville, Tennessee. The label was founded in September 2005 by former DreamWorks Records executive Scott Borchetta and ...

, without Swift's approval. The album was recorded in 2008 but only released after the masters to her older music had changed ownership in a 2019 purchase of Big Machine by American media proprietor

Scooter Braun Scott Samuel "Scooter" Braun ( ; born June 18, 1981) is an American businessman, investor, and record executive. Since 2023 he has served as chief executive officer (CEO) of Hybe America, the North American subsidiary of South Korean entertain ...

. Swift denounced ''Live from Clear Channel'' on her

social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...

accounts, calling it "shameless greed in the time of coronavirus" and asked fans not to buy or stream the album. Earning only 33 units in its first week in the United States, the live album was unsuccessful, and did not enter any domestic charts.

Background and release

The album was recorded shortly after the beginning of Swift's professional career, while she was promoting her second studio album, '' Fearless'' (2008). The album is composed of songs from her first two

studio albums An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century a ...

and her second EP, ''

Beautiful Eyes ''Beautiful Eyes'' is the second extended play (EP) by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. It was released as a Walmart exclusive on July 15, 2008, by Big Machine Records. In later years, after the MP3 service got closed down, Walmart ...

'' (2008). It was released on streaming platforms without any prior announcement on April 24, 2020. According to Swift, the recording was made during a 2008 Clear Channel affiliates' Internet-only performance when she was 18 years old. In a social media post, Swift stated that she did not authorize the release, calling it "just another case of shameless greed in the time of

coronavirus Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the comm ...

. So tasteless, but very transparent." Swift's statement also mentioned Braun's financial backers: 23 Capital,

The Carlyle Group The Carlyle Group Inc. is an American multinational company with operations in private equity, alternative asset management and financial services. As of 2023, the company had $426 billion of assets under management. Carlyle specializes in ...

, and

Alexander Soros Alexander Soros (born October 27, 1985) is an American investor and philanthropist. One of the five children of billionaire George Soros, he chairs the Board of Directors of the Open Society Foundations and sits on the investment committee for ...

and the

Soros family George Soros (born György Schwartz; August 12, 1930) is an American investor and philanthropist. , he has a net worth of US$7.2 billion, Note that this site is updated daily. having donated more than $32 billion to the Open Society Foundatio ...

, the last of which drew allegations in ''

The Jerusalem Post ''The Jerusalem Post'' is an English language, English-language Israeli broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, Israel, founded in 1932 during the Mandate for Palestine, British Mandate of Mandatory Palestine, Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''Th ...

'' that she was "reproducing

antisemitic conspiracy theories Antisemitic tropes, also known as antisemitic canards or antisemitic libels, are " sensational reports, misrepresentations or fabrications" about Jews as an ethnicity or Judaism as a religion. Since the 2nd century, malicious allegations of J ...

" by associating Soros and Braun, who are both

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

, with "greed and profiting off the pandemic". Big Machine Records initially listed the record with a 2017 release date, but it was later adjusted to 2008 to reflect the fact that the recordings were available on Clear Channel websites in 2008.

Music critic '' The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of m ...

Quinn Moreland from ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

'' wrote that ''Live from Clear Channel'' is predictable, failing to match the standards of Swift's past work, and dubbed it a "cheap bootleg" and "a shameless cash-grab". Moreland commented that the unapproved release looks "eerily similar" to occasions when fake or leaked music appears on

streaming services A streaming media service (also simply called a streaming service) is an online platform that allows users to watch or listen to content, such as film, movies, Television show, TV shows, music, or podcasts, over the internet. Instead of downloadi ...

without the concerned artists' authorization—releases where "

scammers A scam, or a confidence trick, is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their Trust (emotion), trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using a combination of the victim's credulity, naivety, compassion, vanity, confidence ...

hold the reins and the real creator never sees a dime".

Commercial performance

''Live from Clear Channel Stripped 2008'' sold 33 copies in the United States and the

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

audio videos of its eight tracks accumulated 6,000 views combined in its first three days. The commercial failure was attributed to Swift's denouncement of the album on her

; the album did not enter any ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' chart.

Track listing

Love Story Love Story or A Love Story may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres * Romance (love) ** Romance film ** Romance novel Films * ''Love Story'' (1925 film), German silent film * ''Love Story'' (1942 film), Italian drama film * ''Love ...

" (Swift) – 3:41 #" Fearless" (

Hillary Lindsey Hillary Lee Lindsey (born August 11, 1977) is an American singer-songwriter. She has written songs with or for a number of artists including Michelle Branch, Faith Hill, Martina McBride, Shakira, Lady A, Gary Allan, Sara Evans, Carrie Unde ...

Liz Rose Elisabeth Wagner (born September 6, 1957), known professionally as Liz Rose, is an American country music songwriter, best known for her work with Taylor Swift. She has co-written 17 of Swift's officially released songs, including " You Belong wi ...

, Swift) – 3:18 #"Beautiful Eyes" (Swift) – 2:56 #"Untouchable" (Swift,

Cary Barlowe Cary Barlowe (born 1982) is a multi No.1 hit American music songwriter, guitarist and a family member of the rock band Luna Halo. He is also a three-time Grammy Award-nominee. Born in Virginia on a Saturday, July 31, 1982, and raised in Nort ...

, Nathan Barlowe, and

Tommy Lee James Tommy Lee James is an American country music songwriter and record producer with Still Working Music Group. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, he is originally from Roanoke, Virginia. He graduated from Northside High School then attended Radford Uni ...

) – 3:42 #"

Teardrops on My Guitar "Teardrops on My Guitar" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, originally released as part of her debut studio album, Taylor Swift (album), ''Taylor Swift'' (2006). Big Machine Records released the song to country radio on Fe ...

" (Swift and Rose) – 3:16 #"

Picture to Burn "Picture to Burn" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift from her debut studio album, ''Taylor Swift'' (2006). Big Machine Records released the song to US country radio on February 4, 2008, as the album's fourth single. Wri ...

" (Swift and Rose) – 2:53 #"

Should've Said No "Should've Said No" is a song written and recorded by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift for her debut studio album ''Taylor Swift'' (2006). The song was released to US country radio as the album's fifth and final single on May 19, 2 ...

" (Swift) – 3:48 #"

Change Change, Changed or Changing may refer to the below. Other forms are listed at Alteration * Impermanence, a difference in a state of affairs at different points in time * Menopause, also referred to as "the change", the permanent cessation of t ...

" (Swift) – 4:18

Personnel

– vocals,

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...

, acoustic guitar (tracks: 2, 4), electric guitar (track 7) *

Scott Borchetta Scott Borchetta (born July 3, 1962) is an American record executive and founder of the Big Machine Records#Imprints, Big Machine Label Group. He started the label in 2005 with Taylor Swift as its first signed artist and 13 employees, he served ...

– production, executive production * Ben Clark – banjo (tracks: 3, 5, 7, 8) * Chris Costello – recording supervision (tracks: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8) * Caitlin Evanson – fiddle, backing vocals (tracks: 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8) * Evan Harrison – production, executive production * Amos Heller – bass guitar (tracks: 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8) * Mike Meadows – banjo (tracks: 3, 5, 7, 8) * Grant Mickelson – acoustic guitar (tracks: 3, 5, 7, 8), bass guitar (track 6) * Jonathan Russell – mastering (tracks: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8) * Paul Sidoti – acoustic guitar (tracks: 1, 3, 5, 7), electric guitar (track 8); backing vocals (tracks: 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8) * Al Wilson – drums (tracks: 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8)

References

External links