Taylor Swift Just Beat Apple Music And Helped Her Fellow Musicians

Taylor Swift Beats Apple Music

How much pull does Taylor Swift have these days? Enough to make a nearly $1 trillion business change course. The 1989 singer pulled all of her work from Apple Music after the company said it would not pay artists royalty during a three-month trial period for new customers. Swift called the move by Apple Music, “shocking, disappointing, and completely unlike this historically progressive and generous company.”

Following her Tumblr post, the company quickly decided to change its position.

Apple senior vice president Eddy Cue announced on Twitter that the company had reversed its decision and would pay artists even during the customers’ free trial period.

“Apple will make sure that artists are paid,” Cue tweeted, continuing: “Apple Music will pay artists for streaming even during customers’ free trial period. We hear you @taylorswift13 and indie artists. Love, Apple.”

The reversal of direction by Apple Music sits well with Taylor Swift, wno wrote on Twitter that she was “elated and relieved” at Apple’s decision.

In late 2014 Swift removed her entire collection of music, including her hit album “1989” from Spotify because of the low royalties paid to artists by the wildly popular streaming service.

In an interview with Re/code on Sunday evening Eddy Cue said, “I did reach out to Taylor today, and talked to her, and let her know that we heard her concerns, and wanted her to know that we were making changes. She was thrilled to hear from us and that we were making the change, and we were grateful for that.”

Cue said it was both Taylor Swift’s very vocal outcry and complaints from various other artists that led Apple to reverse direction and pay artists royalties during the three month trial period.

Apple originally had planned to pay music owners 71.5% of Apple Music’s subscription revenue after the trial period ended. The company justified the free trial period by pointing to higher than industry average payments.

Apple has now decided to pay artists on a per-stream basis.

Apple Music will officially launch June 30 with a three month trial, followed by a $9.99 monthly fee.

Written by Peter Mondrose

Peter Mondrose is the Editor-In-Chief at BusinessPundit. He received his degree in Economics in 1998 and a second degree in Journalism in 2004. He has served as a financial adviser, market trader, and freelance journalist for the last 11 years. When he's not investigating market conditions and reporting on workplace news, he can be found traveling with his wife, dog, and laptop. He can be reached at OnlineDegree.com.