Penned in an open letter, posted to her Tumblr page on June 21, Swift explained her decision to hold back her most recent album, 1989, from the streaming service. She wrote that, due to Apple’s decision to not pay artist royalties during the free promotional period, independent artists will not get the compensation they deserve and rely on to make a living in the music industry. By holding back her album, she intends to make a statement about business ethics and fair pay for the artist and those behind the scenes.
Shortly after the letter was posted and spread across the internet like wildfire, Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services, responded to the letter via Twitter, stating that Apple will indeed be paying artists for streaming, even during the free trial period. Speaking to Rolling Stone magazine, Cue says that when he saw the letter, he knew it was a problem that need to be addressed.
Last fall, Swift made a similar move, deciding not to stream her new album on Spotify, among others, due to issues with their free, ad-supported model, again with complaints about poor compensation for artists, producers and songwriters.
Though Swift has not addressed whether she now intends to offer her album for streaming on Apple Music, should she decide to, it would be a big coup for the new streaming service. Her latest effort, 1989, named after the singer’s year of birth, debuted at number 1 on the Billboard charts, selling 1.287 million copies in its first week, with a total to date of 8.6 million copies worldwide. The album quickly became the best-selling album of 2014 and also a critical success. Recently securing the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100, her latest hit, "Bad Blood", also makes a total of 3 number 1 singles released from the album.
It has yet to be seen how Apple Music will perform when it launches at the end of June, especially given this last minute hiccup, but securing the exclusive streaming rights to Swift’s music could help. With a sea of competitors, including Spotify, Rdio, Google Play Music and the recently re-launched Tidal, it would serve to tip the scales in favour of Apple to have a such a global superstar endorse its brand.
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