Apple now says it will pay artists during Apple Music free trial

[itsmefurqan]

'After being publicly smacked down by music's biggest star, Apple is changing its tune. Late Sunday night, Apple VP Eddy Cue responded to the open letter that Taylor Swift posted earlier in the day, revealing that Apple now plans to pay artists, labels, and publishers for streams during Apple Music's three-month free trial.'

 

So does this mean 1989 will be on Apple Music?

 

 

Taylor Swift's open letter to Apple: http://taylorswift.tumblr.com/post/122071902085/to-apple-love-taylor

 

Source: http://www.theverge.com/2015/6/21/8822369/apple-will-pay-artists-during-apple-music-trial

[MastuhWaffles]

All I can say is "lol appul"

[KayTees]

'After being publicly smacked down by music's biggest star, Apple is changing its tune. Late Sunday night, Apple VP Eddy Cue responded to the open letter that Taylor Swift posted earlier in the day, revealing that Apple now plans to pay artists, labels, and publishers for streams during Apple Music's three-month free trial.'

 

So does this mean 1989 will be on Apple Music?

 

 

 

Taylor Swift's open letter to Apple: http://taylorswift.tumblr.com/post/122071902085/to-apple-love-taylor

 

Source: http://www.theverge.com/2015/6/21/8822369/apple-will-pay-artists-during-apple-music-trial

Under heavy fire is why.

[Speedyv]

LOL Nobody cares about Taylor Swift

I don't like neither Taylor Swift nor Apple and this is hilarious.

[NAP51DMustang]

LOL Nobody cares about Taylor Swift

I don't like neither Taylor Swift nor Apple and this is hilarious.

Yep no one at ALL cares about Swift, except you now the stadiums full of screaming fans she gets literally everywhere she goes. oh and the biggest consumer tech company on the planet, cause her actions just forced them to change their policy.

 

Just because you don't like her doesn't mean millions (if not billions) of otheres don't.

[Guest]

-snip-

I've actually been to that Start Wars thing lololol

[Stuff_]

LOL Nobody cares about Taylor Swift

I don't like neither Taylor Swift nor Apple and this is hilarious.

You are actually the minority here. 

[MrRavens]

Wow, Taylor Swift clearly got Apple in her clutches haha. xP

[Shine_Syahr]

I like Taylor Swift. She seems like a fun person. Hey look! She even made Apple do stuff... haha

[Speedyv]

Yep no one at ALL cares about Swift, except you now the stadiums full of screaming fans she gets literally everywhere she goes. oh and the biggest consumer tech company on the planet, cause her actions just forced them to change their policy.

 

Just because you don't like her doesn't mean millions (if not billions) of otheres don't.

 

You are completely correct. But what message is it sending when the biggest company in the world is bending over backwards for a pop star that is obviously more concerned about the attention than whatever comparatively small amount of compensation she will receive? Obviously people will blindly support her but she seems most concerned about her own finances and status as shown in this situation as well as in the past. I'm just saying don't empower the wrong people. I don't even know why I'm trying to help Apple in this situation lol

 

I mean seriously all she wants is the attention. And now she can say "I have the power to manipulate the most powerful company in the world":

 

 

 

You are actually the minority here. 

 

I suppose

[linuxfan66]

popstars whining about how thier not payed enough when already get a tiny cut from the record company...ummm...slightly sympathetic yet hypocritical at the same time.

[Backlog4life]

Uh Apple thought they were not going to pay any artists during the free trial?  LOL! What idiots!

[NAP51DMustang]

 

You are completely correct. But what message is it sending when the biggest company in the world is bending over backwards for a pop star that is obviously more concerned about the attention than whatever comparatively small amount of compensation she will receive? Obviously people will blindly support her but she seems most concerned about her own finances and status as shown in this situation as well as in the past. I'm just saying don't empower the wrong people. I don't even know why I'm trying to help Apple in this situation lol

 

I mean seriously all she wants is the attention. And now she can say "I have the power to manipulate the most powerful company in the world":

 

snip

 

I suppose

 

I HIGHLY doubt she is doing this for the attention of it. Just like I would highly doubt she's doing it for the money (she could live for the rest of her life at this point on what she has with proper managment of money). Much like is mentioned in the op, she is most likely doing this to draw attention/get something done so those indie artist don't have to wait 3 months (which could be detrimental to them finacially) to get paid.

 

Also on the subject of power, Spiderman quote. Something I think she should do would be to partner with  someone to create a platform for indie artist specifically (think Steam but for music) as she obviously (from this event and what she said when she pulled her stuff from Spotify) has some passion for the indie scene.

[Deli]

Apply acts like a big bully. 

[Stuff_]

 

You are completely correct. But what message is it sending when the biggest company in the world is bending over backwards for a pop star that is obviously more concerned about the attention than whatever comparatively small amount of compensation she will receive? Obviously people will blindly support her but she seems most concerned about her own finances and status as shown in this situation as well as in the past. I'm just saying don't empower the wrong people. I don't even know why I'm trying to help Apple in this situation lol

 

I mean seriously all she wants is the attention. And now she can say "I have the power to manipulate the most powerful company in the world":

 

 

 

 

I suppose

 

 

Point is, you actually thought Apple doesn't care about her. They do. She makes them money. Do you even know what Taylor Swift's complaint is? By the way, it wasn't only HER complaint, but many. Sometimes you need a bigger voice to help the smaller ones. This is just that situation. What seems to be the problem here, except that you clearly don't like Taylor Swift?

[Speedyv]

I HIGHLY doubt she is doing this for the attention of it. Just like I would highly doubt she's doing it for the money (she could live for the rest of her life at this point on what she has with proper managment of money). Much like is mentioned in the op, she is most likely doing this to draw attention/get something done so those indie artist don't have to wait 3 months (which could be detrimental to them finacially) to get paid.

 

Also on the subject of power, Spiderman quote. Something I think she should do would be to partner with  someone to create a platform for indie artist specifically (think Steam but for music) as she obviously (from this event and what she said when she pulled her stuff from Spotify) has some passion for the indie scene.

 

You can look at it either way. I guess I'm just looking at it in my biased point of view. And she couldn't be less "indie"

I would imagine she seeks some sort of personal gain from this. And it has been her empowerment which is infinitely more valuable than any monetary gain.

 

Point is, you actually thought Apple doesn't care about her. They do. She makes them money. Do you even know what Taylor Swift's complaint is? By the way, it wasn't only HER complaint, but many. Sometimes you need a bigger voice to help the smaller ones. This is just that situation. What seems to be the problem here, except that you clearly don't like Taylor Swift?

 

Hahah that's true. I don't like her. Never saw her as a genuine person. And I know perfectly well what her complaint was. 

And as an example, Spotify is doing perfectly well without her music. The problem is that Apple is already being dominated in the Music streaming business so they need her. And I believe she partially needs them as well. It was just a good power play.

[Imabigmac]

Apple was being dumb which is not unusual these days, but Swift was being stupid as well. So Im not sure what to say. I actually kinda wanted this to end like how the issue with spotify ended. Then I would be laughing at Taylor Swift when she pulled her album from iTunes...  Apple may not be fair and maybe a bully but they still are the bread makers for the top artists. 

[BrandedUpontheGrave]

You are actually the minority here. 

Not really... Sure Ms Taylor may be the  most popular pop( is that what pop stems from? Like fan from fanatic?) artist these days, and by far, but there's still a greater number of people than not who don't give a shit and may well not even know her name. Unless her audience extends upwards of 4 billion unique individuals who care (which is doubtful, I don't have the means to run the legitimate math) then he's actually the majority.

[ThePointblank]

The thing is, Taylor Swift commands a lot of respect in the music business, and is a major, influential voice as well. She's also a very shrewd business person as well, and has strong opinions, which she does keep to herself. If she does come out and expresses her opinions, everyone notices.

 

She did pen an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal which gives great insight into why she reacted and called out Apple the way she did:

 

http://www.wsj.com/articles/for-taylor-swift-the-future-of-music-is-a-love-story-1404763219?cb=logged0.5018601501360536

 

She's also very big on supporting and following the indie music scene; remember where she came from; she got her start and continues to be with an indie record label (Big Machine Records). In fact, she left a major record brand (RCA Records) at the very start of her career in favour of going to an indie record label. She's big friends with a number of indie artists as well, and you bet she has heard from her friends regarding what Apple Music was going to do, and how it was going to affect them. Look at the current top singles, albums on iTunes, and the list of top artists; many of those songs and artists are there specifically BECAUSE Taylor Swift gave special mention or support. Look at the artists that were opening acts for all of her concerts; all indie artists.

 

Remember, most indie record labels don't have the cash flow or size where they can take big hits to their revenue streams because indie record labels usually don't control their artists to the extent the bigger labels do; they don't control what songs their artists writes, or how many albums an artist will produce. This means sales are unlikely to come up for them. At the end of the quarter, if the label cannot balance the books due to reduced revenue caused by Apple Music, then they can't afford to stay in business.

 

With how big Apple Music is going to be because of how big iTunes is as a music retailer, many indie record labels feared what Apple Music was going to do to them; they were in fact expecting a massive sales drop when Apple Music was going to launch, because many of them were expecting that iTunes purchase revenue would dry up immediately after launch. Waiting 3 months to even start seeing a cent of royalty was seriously going to screw over many indie record labels and their artists. While Taylor Swift can take the hit, many of her indie music friends cannot, and since Taylor Swift is a very loyal friend, you can bet your ass that she will come out to support her friends with all of the heft and power she can amass in the music business.

 

If Apple wants to provide a free trial period for its service, it should be done at their own cost – not at a cost to artists. It’s an Apple service, not a Taylor Swift service. Any business person with good business sense knows that one should only give out freebies sparingly and only where it makes sense. To continue to give out freebies will just devalue the work you do get paid for, and makes you a sucker for assholes who want stuff for free. Taylor Swift is a business person, and a good one at that. She does not want her work to be devalued. That's pretty much why Taylor Swift refuses to place her music on any free streaming music service.

 

Also, don't forget, Taylor Swift is one of the biggest artists in music today. She's the only artist with 4 albums that have consistently done better than the one previous and break the 1 million sales mark in a year. In an era where no one buys music, Taylor Swift has the ability to still directly sell music. Broadcasters and service providers will bend over backwards for her because she's so big and has the legions of fans to back her up.

[Yoinkerman]

Uh Apple thought they were not going to pay any artists during the free trial? LOL! What idiots!

This.

[Kamina]

I thought Apple users don't like mainstream music.

[Bouzoo]

I'm just gonna point out how the article starts. And please don't link me Spotify earnings.

After being publicly smacked down by music's biggest star...

 

[Lethal Seraph]

Maybe she can also help us out with crippling college tuitions and high gas prices.

[skywake]

Didn't she also refuse to put her music on spotify? I mean I get it and more power to her but.......

[Spideybro]

Supreme leader Taylor Swift wins again.