Apple has performed a dramatic about-turn and confirmed that it will pay royalties during its new streaming service’s three month trial period.
The change of heart follows criticism from independent labels, including Beggars Group, artists and a high-profile open letter from Taylor Swift, who opted to hold back her hit ‘1989’ album from Apple Music, as she did with Spotify last year, due to their model. She wrote:
“Three months is a long time to go unpaid, and it is unfair to ask anyone to work for nothing. I say this with love, reverence, and admiration for everything else Apple has done. I hope that soon I can join them in the progression towards a streaming model that seems fair to those who create this music. I think this could be the platform that gets it right.
“But I say to Apple with all due respect, it’s not too late to change this policy and change the minds of those in the music industry who will be deeply and gravely affected by this. We don’t ask you for free iPhones. Please don’t ask us to provide you with our music for no compensation."
Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president for internet software and services, responded to ‘To Apple, Love Taylor’ on Twitter. He wrote: “#AppleMusic will pay artist for streaming, even during customer’s free trial period. We hear you @taylorswift13 and indie artists. Love, Apple.”
Discussing the change of direction with Buzzfeed, he confirmed that artists will be compensated on a ‘per stream basis’. He added, in a chat with Billboard, that he had also spoken with Swift after reading her letter:
“We've been hearing a lot of concern from indie artists about not getting paid during the three-month trial period, which was never our intent. We never looked at it as not paying them.
“We had originally negotiated these deals based on paying them a higher royalty rate on an ongoing basis to compensate for this brief time. But when I woke up this morning and saw what Taylor had written, it really solidified that we needed to make a change. And so that's why we decided we will now pay artists during the trial period and we'll also keep the royalty rate at the higher rate.
"I actually did talk to Taylor today and I let her know that we heard her concerns and are making the changes. She's on tour in the U.K. and she was in Amsterdam. I wanted her to hear directly with from us. We've had a long relationship with Taylor."
Taylor Swift Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Tue June 23 2015 - GLASGOW SSE Hydro
Wed June 24 2015 - MANCHESTER Arena
Sat June 27 2015 - LONDON Hyde Park
Mon June 29 2015 - DUBLIN 3Arena
Tue June 30 2015 - DUBLIN 3Arena
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