Taylor Swift won a victory in her battle against Apple Inc. as the iPhone maker reversed an earlier decision to not pay royalties during a free trial period for its new music service.
Apple will pay artists for streaming, even during a customer’s free-trial period, Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president for Internet and software said in a post to his verified Twitter account. “We hear you @taylorswift13 and indie artists. Love, Apple,” Cue wrote.
Apple’s about-face comes after the seven-time Grammy Award winner penned a note Sunday explaining why she will withhold her album “1989” from the new music-streaming service. Titled “To Apple, Love Taylor,” the post attracted more than 61,000 notes on Tumblr with more than 31,000 re-Tweets from the singer’s official account.
Cue’s account was confirmed by Beijing-based Apple spokeswoman Carolyn Wu, who declined to comment further. Swift re-Tweeted the comments from Cue.
While Swift expects Apple will continue to be one of her “best partners,” she won’t release the album on Apple Music in support of new bands and artists that may not be able to afford not getting paid for three months, according to her original post.
“We don’t ask you for free iPhones,” Swift wrote. “Please don’t ask us to provide you with our music for no compensation.”
Apple Music will debut with 30 million songs on June 30. After the free trial, the service will cost $9.99 a month per user or $14.99 per family, and Apple will begin paying musicians. The company had been aggressive in courting artists for the service and has argued they should be paid.
The threat streaming services create for the finances of the music business is also why Swift, crowned No. 64 in Forbes’ list of the “world’s most powerful women,” pulled her music from Spotify last year.
