Taylor Swift wins again and this time around, we see how powerful her influence is in the music industry!
A few days ago, the 25-year-old withheld her album “1989” from Apple’s streaming service because she believed the company was unfairly withholding royalties from artists during the three-month free trial period Apple is promoting, according to CNN.
“Apple Music will not be paying writers, producers, or artists for those three months,” she wrote. “I find it to be shocking, disappointing, and completely unlike this historically progressive and generous company.”
She added: “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.”
Shortly after, Apple changed its policy following Swift’s open letter! Senior Vice President of Internet Services and Software Eddy Cue announced the decision change on Twitter.
“When I woke up this morning and saw what Taylor had written, it really solidified that we needed a change. And so that’s why we decide we will now pay artists during the trial period,” Eddie told Billboard. “I let her know that we heard her concerns and are making the changes. We have a long relationship with Taylor so I wanted her to hear directly from us.”
Check out his tweets below!
Apple will always make sure that artist are paid #iTunes #AppleMusic
— Eddy Cue (@cue) June 22, 2015
#AppleMusic will pay artist for streaming, even during customer’s free trial period
— Eddy Cue (@cue) June 22, 2015
As for Swift’s reaction, he said, “She was thrilled and very thankful and excited to see how quick we responded.”