Taylor Swift bites Apple: U-turn on music royalties

In a rare moment of contrition, Apple has bowed to concerns raised by musician Taylor Swift and will pay royalties to artists during a three-month free trial period for its new music streaming service.

A senior executive at Apple Music has announced on Twitter that the streaming service will pay artists during a three-month trial period.

Eddy Cue said the decision was prompted by an open letter by Taylor Swift in which the singer lambasted Apple’s new streaming service for not properly compensating artists.

Swift wrote an open letter on her Tumblr to explain that she would not be putting her album ‘1989’ on Apple Music because Apple had decided not to pay artists, writers or producers during the three month trial period offered to new users.

“We don’t ask you for free iPhones. Please don’t ask us to provide you with our music for no compensation,” she wrote.

Cue tweeted: “We hear you @taylorswift13 and indie artists. Love, Apple.”

In response to the victory, Swift tweeted: “I am elated and relieved. Thank you for your words of support today. They listened to us.”

Swift had said she was making a stand not for herself but for new artists or bands, young songwriters and producers who would not be paid for a quarter of a year’s worth of plays.

Alison Wenham, from the Worldwide Independent Network which represents the independent music industry, said: “The decision from Apple to pay royalties to rights owners during the proposed three-month trial period is clearly a positive and encouraging step and we welcome the beginning of a fair and equitable relationship between Apple Music and the global independent music sector.”

Musicians’ Union assistant general secretary Horace Trubridge said it was “unclear” exactly what Apple were proposing.

He said: “When they say they will pay are they paying the publishers and records labels so they can pay the artists or are they paying the artists direct?

“Also it’s one thing if you are an act like Taylor Swift and have that market share and commercial power, but if you’re an act with a major label from the 1970s or 1980s which is where a lot of the streamed music is from, you’ve probably got a crap contract that does not pay out much for streaming.”

This is not the first time that Swift has locked horns with the digital music industry. Last November, the singer had pulled her entire music catalogue from Spotify, saying music streaming had “shrunk the numbers of paid album sales drastically”.

She claimed Spotify was conducting a “grand experiment” which failed to fairly compensate the creators of music.

The move, while risky, paid off for the singer as 1989 became the biggest selling album of 2014.

Internet meme

The U-Turn is rare for Apple, which is famous for keeping to its Apple ethos and not being swayed by fan pressure. In fact the change of heart has caused its own internet meme. Impressed by Taylor’s star power, people on Twitter have been asking her to sort out some of their other Apple bugbears.

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