After sparking a firestorm of streaming-service criticism by pulling her entire catalogue from Spotify earlier this year, Taylor Swift published an open letter to Apple on Sunday explaining why she would be pulling her new album, "1989," from the new Apple Music service. Apple initially announced the new service would include a three-month free trial for customers, during which artists would not be paid royalties for their songs. Apple justified this practice by claiming they would pay higher royalties than similar streaming services once the money started flowing in.
This is exactly what Taylor Swift addressed, stating:
“We don’t ask you for free iPhones. Please don’t ask us to provide you with our music for no compensation.”
Now, they've changed their tune. Apple announced earlier today they would pay artists during the trial period.
While Swift wasn't the only one to complain about Apple's business model, a series of tweets from Apple Senior Vice President of Internet Software & Services Eddy Cue confirmed she directly influenced Apple's decision:
Apple will always make sure that artist are paid #iTunes #AppleMusic
— 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
We hear you @taylorswift13 and indie artists. Love, Apple
— Eddy Cue (@cue) June 22, 2015
Apple Music will launch June 30th with an update to iOS8 and OS X Yosemite. Check out our preview of the new service here.