by When Rachel Hunter returned home to Staffordshire, England from a vacation, her top priority was opening her newly delivered Taylor Swift vinyl.
Having waited more than a month for «Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)» to arrive, Hunter, 30, finally got the chance to listen to the album alone at home on Monday.
But what was playing on his speakers gave him chills.
«This voice started and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, do I have a secret message from Taylor on my album?'» Hunter said in a Zoom interview. «And I was like, that’s not Taylor Swift.»
Instead of listening to Swift’s re-recording of the 2010 album, Hunter listened to the song «Happy Land,» an electronic song by the group Ultramarine. When Hunter turned to the B-side of the album, she heard the song «Soul Vine (70 Billion People)» by the English music group Cabaret Voltaire.
«It’s the weirdest thing,» Hunter said. «It must have been a mix-up, but I haven’t seen any other person with the same mix-up yet.»
Initially, Hunter planned to record an unboxing of the album for TikTok. When he heard the music, with lyrics asking: «Earth’s 70 billion people: Where are they hiding?» — He decided to share the strange bug with TikTok. She also shared a video to Twitterand within hours of posting on Monday, her video went viral.
For Tuesday, hunter video it had more than 2.7 million views on TikTok, and on Twitter it has been viewed more than 1.5 million times.
Hunter played the vinyl in a Zoom interview. He also shared screenshots of his vinyl purchase.
«I also played it at night, when it was dark, and then this creepy voice came out,» Hunter said. «I was like, ‘This is scary.'»
What started out as a creepy mix-up began to turn into an inside joke between Hunter and other Swifties on social media, who found the mistake hilarious.
«Taylor plays these secret songs every day on her tour, and now everyone has said they want her to play this ’70 Billion’ song and the ‘Happy Land’ song on that show,» said Hunter, who will be attending Swift’s Eras Tour. in London next year, he said with a smile.
Thanks to social media sleuths, Hunter finally discovered that the wrong songs appear on the album «Happy Land: A Compendium of Electronic Music from the British Isles 1992-1996 Volume 1».
Swift’s album is distributed by Universal Music Group, while «Happy Land» is distributed by the Above Board Distribution record label.
In a statement to NBC News, Dan Hill, founder and CEO of Above Board, said that while the vinyl mistake was unfortunate, he hopes that anyone who received a copy of «Happy Land» instead of «Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)» still enjoy the music.
«Due to a pressing error, some Taylor Swift fans received a misprinted copy of ‘Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)’, which we have learned includes audio from ‘Happy Land (A Compendium of Music from the British Isles 1992-1996 )’ said Hill. ‘While this error was out of our control, we sincerely hope that anyone who received the vinyl version of Not Taylor enjoys the beats. It may very well end up being a collector’s item!»
Hunter contacted the Universal Music UK customer service team after realizing that the vinyl was playing the wrong songs. In screenshots shared with NBC News, a Universal Music UK representative tells Hunter that they are investigating the improperly pressed vinyl.
It was not immediately clear where Hunter’s vinyl was pressed. The vinyl wrapper, which he shared with NBC News, has a label that reads «Made in France.»
Neither UMG nor representatives for Swift immediately responded to requests for comment.
For now, Hunter plans to stick with the possibly one-of-a-kind vinyl. She said that there is only one way to part with him.
«I’ve been joking that I’d trade it for VIP tickets,» Hunter said, referring to Swift’s tour tickets.
CORRECTION (July 11, 2023, 6:03 PM ET): An earlier version of the article erroneously mentioned the record label that distributed the album «Happy Land (A Compendium of Music from the British Isles 1992-1996).» It was Over Board Distribution, not Universal Music Group.
