advertisement
Facebook
X
LinkedIn
WhatsApp
Reddit

Taylor Swift gets Apple to change its tune

Apple revealed its new music streaming service a couple of weeks ago, but one artist in particular wasn’t too happy about her music being streamed.

When users sign up for a free three-months trial, Apple said that it won’t be paying royalties to artists, and this is what upset mega-star Taylor Swift.

The singer penned a strongly-worded letter to the company, saying that as a result she won’t be making her latest album ‘1989’ available for listening.

“I’m not sure you know that Apple Music will not be paying writers, producers, or artists for those three months. I find it to be shocking, disappointing, and completely unlike this historically progressive and generous company,” she wrote on her Tumblr page.

Swift explained that her actions weren’t about herself, but about the little guy who is still trying to make a name for themselves.

“This is not about me. Thankfully I am on my fifth album and can support myself, my band, crew, and entire management team by playing live shows. This is about the new artist or band that has just released their first single and will not be paid for its success.”

After reading the post, Apple decided to do an about turn and will indeed be paying royalties to artists during the free trial.

Apple’s head of Media Eddy Cue told ReCode that he discussed the proposed change with Apple CEO Tim Cook, and took the steps to reverse the policy.

“It’s something we worked on together. Ultimately we both wanted to make the change,” he said.

Giving a bit more details, Cue said that artists will now be paid during the free trial, but it won’t be at the same rate as when the trail ends – which will be higher. He added Apple will pay rights holders on a per-stream basis.

As for Swift, Cue reached out to her and explained the changes.

I did reach out to Taylor today, and talked to her, and let her know that we heard her concerns, and wanted her to know that we were making changes. She was thrilled to hear from us and that we were making the change, and we were grateful for that.”

There is still now word from Swift if the actions were good enough for her to reconsider putting ‘1989’ back into Apple Music.

[Image – CC by 2.0/Ronald Woan]

advertisement

About Author

advertisement

Related News

advertisement