Taylor Swift gets Apple Music to change its policies
Recently, Taylor Swift penned an open letter to Apple regarding its plans for the upcoming release of Apple Music. Apple Music had planned to give users free use of the service for the first three months. However, during that time, Apple Music had planned to not pay royalties to bands which were streamed for free during those first three moths.
In her letter, Swift criticized Apple for this decision and stated that she would not be on the service. She stated: "I’m sure you are aware that Apple Music will be offering a free 3 month trial to anyone who signs up for the service. I’m not sure you know that Apple Music will not be paying writers, producers, or artists for those three months. I find it to be shocking, disappointing, and completely unlike this historically progressive and generous company.
" You can read the letter here.
Beggar's Group was similarly critical of the service.
Following Swift's open letter Apple changed its policies for Apple Music. In a brief Twiter dispatch, Apple senior executive Eddie Cue stated , "#AppleMusic will pay artist for streaming, even during customer’s free trial period." So, it appears that bands will now be paid during users' first three month trial period.