As you may know, Taylor Swift has said she wouldn’t allow Apple Music play her latest album, 1989. Her move is a protest over Apple and its major label partners’ decision not to pay artists during Apple Music’s three-month demo period.
Well, consider this mess cleared.
Last night, Apple music chief Eddy Cue popped up on Twitter to publicly announce an about face. That is, Apple Music will pay artists royalties racked up by users’ during their three-month demos and the pop princess Taylor Swift gets the credit.
We hear you @taylorswift13 and indie artists. Love, Apple
— Eddy Cue (@cue) June 22, 2015
#AppleMusic will pay artist for streaming, even during customer’s free trial period
— Eddy Cue (@cue) June 22, 2015
Apple will always make sure that artist are paid #iTunes #AppleMusic
— Eddy Cue (@cue) June 22, 2015
Apple Music Responds to Pop Princess Power
To whit, Re/Code’s Peter Kafka, who’s sweating it out in Brooklyn, adds the following:
Cue says that Swift’s letter, coupled with complaints from indie labels and artists, did indeed prompt the change. He said he discussed the about-face with Apple CEO Tim Cook today. “It’s something we worked on together. Ultimately, we both wanted to make the change.”
Cue says Apple will pay rights holders for the entire three months of the trial period. It can’t be at the same rate that Apple is paying them after free users become subscribers, since Apple is paying out a percentage of revenue once subscribers start paying. Instead, he says, Apple will pay rights holders on a per-stream basis, the amount of which he won’t disclose.
So what does Taylor Swift, author of the world’s most powerful Tumblr, think of this? “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,” Cue said. “She was thrilled to hear from us and that we were making the change, and we were grateful for that.”
Good for Taylor Swift because she stood for artists and independent labels. Good for Eddy Cue and Apple Music because they responded positively and artists will now get paid perhaps a little bit more…
What’s your take?
Images: Republic Records, Time Magazine