Recording artist Taylor Swift is NOT happy with Apple’s refusal to pay musicians their percentage during the upcoming three-month free trial of Apple Music. In an open letter to Apple on her Tumblr blog, Swift said “It’s not about me,” stating that she can afford to support her band, crew and management team through live shows. Her concern is with “the young songwriter who just got his or her first cut and thought that the royalties from that would get them out of debt.” As she notes, that’s a quarter of a year during which artists won’t be getting paid.
In her letter to Apple, Swift made a compelling argument to Apple to overturn the policy, saying:
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“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.”
Our take on the news
A round of applause to Taylor Swift for her comments. If any company can afford to both pay artists their royalties and give consumers a three-month free trial, it’s Apple. Let’s hope that Apple listens to this young and influential artist and decides to change its policy in the next week.
UPDATED: Way to go, Taylor! Late last night, Apple’s Eddy Cue responded in a series of tweets and said that Apple will now pay artists during the three month trial period. That’s a great decision on the part of Apple, which can certainly afford to keep both customers and musicians happy.
