Following last week’s criticism of Apple’s decision not to pay rightholders for music streamed during Apple Music users’ free three-month trial period, the company has now decided that it will pay for all music streamed through the service.
The move comes after an open letter, penned by Taylor Swift, was shared through her website yesterday explaining why she had decided that her latest album 1989 would not be available on Apple Music. In a post titled ’To Apple, Love Taylor’, Swift said: “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. This is about the young songwriter who just got his or her first cut and thought that the royalties from that would get them out of debt. This is about the producer who works tirelessly to innovate and create, just like the innovators and creators at Apple are pioneering in their field…but will not get paid for a quarter of a year’s worth of plays on his or her songs.” You can read Swift’s full letter here.
Responding this morning, via Twitter, Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services, said that “Apple Music will pay for streaming, even during customer’s free trial period,” acknowledging the criticism that the initial decision had drawn from Swift and independent labels and organisations such as Beggar’s Group and AIM. Apple Music launches on June 30.
