A lot of people are talking about Taylor Swift this morning. Why? It’s pretty simple. Apple Music will be launching soon and will give listeners a 3-month trial. Problem is that Apple Music did not want to pay the labels for the trial period. Therefore, none of the artists, songwriters, producers etc would get paid. This, naturally, angered Taylor who took decided not to put her new album ‘1989’ on the service and took to tumblr to explain to the folks at Apple why.
Here is her open letter:
To Apple, Love Taylor
I write this to explain why I’ll be holding back my album, 1989, from the new streaming service, Apple Music. I feel this deserves an explanation because Apple has been and will continue to be one of my best partners in selling music and creating ways for me to connect with my fans. I respect the company and the truly ingenious minds that have created a legacy based on innovation and pushing the right boundaries.
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.
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.
These are not the complaints of a spoiled, petulant child. These are the echoed sentiments of every artist, writer and producer in my social circles who are afraid to speak up publicly because we admire and respect Apple so much. We simply do not respect this particular call.
I realize that Apple is working towards a goal of paid streaming. I think that is beautiful progress. We know how astronomically successful Apple has been and we know that this incredible company has the money to pay artists, writers and producers for the 3 month trial period… even if it is free for the fans trying it out.
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.
Taylor.
Taylor has power for days and the folks at Apple finally listened to her. The company’s VP, Eddy Cue, responded by tweeting that:
While Artists will now be paid, the company is still in negotiations with Taylor, who has still not agreed to put her new album on the streaming site. I think it’s bold and brave of Taylor to stand up to a company like Apple. It’s a very noble thing to do and she has made a huge impact in the lives of many with this.
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If I’m not mistaken she stood up against Spotify as well.
It would be nice if artists such as Taylor, would stand up for her fans too! The entire ticket industry is a sham, and fans get raked over the coals, while the middlemen bank huge profits.
An example… My daughter missed out on purchasing “pre-release” tickets made available for fans who had signed up for “special services.” But no worries – General Public tickets were to go on sale the following day at 10 AM EST.
When 10:00 AM rolled around, surprise, surprise – no tickets were available. Even though the artist’s site, TicketMaster’s and the venue’s site said there were tickets available. Once you clicked on, “Find Tickets,” you received the notice that there’s nothing available.
So, the only place to go – StubHub, where the $30 tickets were available for $130 and up. I should point out that numerous tickets to the concert were available on StubHub within minutes after the special pre-sale, the day before tickets were supposedly “made available” to the General Public.
Don’t forget about your fans! While you’re assuring you get paid for your creations, the fans are getting screwed out of money they have worked pretty damned hard for, too!