Update as of 14 September 2023: The Youtube video of the mashup has been taken down since September 8 after a copyright strike from Taylor Swift’s team. While the video is no longer available, the audio mashup is still up on his Bandcamp page.

As global superstar Taylor Swift continues to re-record her previous albums and perform weekend after weekend for her The Eras Tour, Swifties all over the world are basking in nostalgia. To celebrate nearly two decades of music, her fans have arranged different projects from outdoing each other’s concert outfits and making friendship bracelets to organizing fan gatherings and streaming like there’s no tomorrow. But one project that stands out from the rest is this nostalgia-filled mash-up of Taylor’s whole discography from debut to Midnights.

The mash-up

Edited and produced by Joseph James, the viral mashup dubbed the “Taylor Swift: The Complete Eras Megamix” brings together Taylor’s entire discography from 2006 to 2023, consisting of 231 songs, including collaborations. That’s about 13 hours packed in only 13 minutes, and it would definitely make you feel nostalgic, especially if you’ve been a fan for a while.

In case you haven’t heard the viral mashup yet, you can listen it to here:

Swifties from all over the world absolutely love it. Parts of the mashup have gone viral on various social media platforms, particularly Twitter and TikTok, and the comments section is filled with praise.

“The fact that he didn’t just do the mashup audio but also the video is insane! This deserves a lifetime grammy award,” one wrote. Another declared “[Taylor] needs to contact you ASAP!”

taylor swift’s full discography megamix is a trending topic on SwiftTok.

— 286.5K like, 1.2M views | 23h agopic.twitter.com/aeWqHUiUU9

— SWIFTs TikTok (@SwiftsTiktok) August 29, 2023

It was made by a Filipino teenager

Like other Swifites, we absolutely loved this mashup, and became even more obsessed when we found out that Joseph James is a Filipino! According to his Bandcamp page, he’s based in Pasig, Philippines.

In an email interview with the mix master himself, he told 8List.ph some tidbits about himself and his process. Joseph James is (only!!!) 18 years old and is currently in his first year of college, taking up Multimedia Arts. In his free time, he takes commissions in audio, video, and photo editing, while also working on his personal projects, i.e. this Taylor Swift Megamix.

“I started getting interested in mashups about ten years ago,” he said. “A really popular video at the time was Daniel Kim’s ‘Pop Danthology 2012. I loved the idea of mixing together all of my favorite songs into one cohesive mix, so I wanted to try doing it myself for fun, even if they didn’t sound too good yet.”

He added that he learned to develop his craft through practice and watching Youtube videos. His earliest work on his Youtube channel is a mix of Meghan Trainor and Jason Derulo’s songs.

The inspiration behind the mashup

Joseph James has been listening to Taylor Swift since “You Belong With Me”, but he became a full-on Swiftie when 1989 was released. He continued following Taylor’s music career, and by the evermore album, he realized how much her sound had transformed throughout her albums, making him want to create a megamix of her discography.

According to Joseph James, he began the massive project in early 2021 before taking a break. When Taylor started The Eras Tour early this year, he became inspired to finish the mix.

“If you’ve seen how the show begins, it includes a quick mashup of songs from all of her eras before performing ‘Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince.’ I loved how it sounded and it motivated me to continue my idea of a Taylor Swift megamix two years ago. It served as part of the inspiration for the intro of my mashup.”

The process

Over the course of four months, Joseph James worked on the megamix whenever he could from its audio to video and artwork.

“I started by organizing all of Taylor’s songs by key in a spreadsheet, along with their tempos and other useful notes such as odd time signatures,” he said of his process. “This made it easier to know what songs could work better together and what couldn’t. I also had another spreadsheet sorted by album as a checklist for what songs I have and haven’t used. I had ideas for some songs that have similar melodies such as ‘I Know Places’ + ‘Lavender Haze’ & ‘22’ + ‘Blank Space’ and knew I wanted to put them together. Ultimately, I based the placements off their key in the spreadsheet and whatever line has good quality since I used a lot of filtered files.”

Taylor Swift: The Complete Eras Megamix
August 26, 2023 | 9:00 AM CT
Watch the trailer here: https://t.co/KG8ymFluoP pic.twitter.com/B1mGq6DC5o

— Joseph James (@josephjamesssss) August 25, 2023

When asked about the chapters of the mashup, he said it wasn’t originally part of his plan. But when he realized how parts of the project conveyed particular emotions, he added the distinction, sharing that it’s a “general story of love and growth,” which are definitely Taylor Swift-coded.

“I wanted it to generally go through some fun, angry, and sad chapters but ultimately end on a happy and emotional note; sonically, at least,” he said. “Aside from that, just like how Taylor does, I added a small easter egg in which the chapter names are color shades that were used in some of her lyrics.”

The video

He started working on the video on August 1, a.k.a. just as ~salt air and the rust on your door~ started slipping away into a moment in time. (Sorry, we had to!) He grabbed all usable clips of Taylor from the internet, and aligned clips of songs whenever they played in the audio. He then filled in the in-betweens with more clips, while also occasionally matching the clips to the lyrics.

“My favorite chapter of the video to edit was ‘amber.’ I let my creativity fully take over and tried out every idea that came to mind to make it feel climactic and cinematic,” he said.

Beyond the megamix

Since Taylor is set to release vault tracks with every re-recorded album, on top of new music, we asked Joseph James if he’ll be updating this megamix or even making a new one. He told us, there’s no guarantee because it is a lot of work. “But if an idea sparks, I will try it out,” he added. We’ll definitely keep an eye out!

When asked how he would react if Taylor heard his work, Joseph James said he’d be ecstatic.

“I’ve been a fan for a while, so I would be thrilled if she sees it! I would tell her how much her music means to me, how her music has helped and inspired me in different parts of my life, how I’ve always been in awe of her amazing lyricism, and how I’m honored for her to see my work because I am incredibly proud of it.”

And of course, we know Taylor Swift has got eyes and ears on the internet, so it’s probably only a matter of time before she catches wind of this masterpiece of a mashup (if she hasn’t already).

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