Taylor Swift. Photo: AFP / FILE
In an open letter to Apple, Taylor Swift has said she would be withholding her album 1989 from their new streaming music service.
Swift said that she objected to the company’s plan not to pay royalties to writers, producers, or artists in the three-month free trial that’s being offered to subscribers.
Apple Senior Vice President Eddy Cue has since announced that the company has backed down and will now pay royalties during the trial period.
We hear you @taylorswift13 and indie artists. Love, Apple
— Eddy Cue (@cue) June 22, 2015
Swift initially said it was "unfair" and argued that Apple had the money to cover the cost.
“I find it to be shocking, disappointing, and completely unlike this historically progressive and generous company,” the 25-year-old said.
“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 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.”
She ended her letter by suggesting she would reinstate her album on the service if the company changed its mind.
“We don't ask you for free iPhones. Please don't ask us to provide you with our music for no compensation.”
Apple Music launches on 30 June and it will cost $9.99 per month in the US for one person or $14.99 for families.
The music industry has generally supported the company bringing its vast music library to paid streaming, and the company said it will pay 70 percent of the music subscription revenue to music owners.
It is not the first time Swift has spoken out against streaming music - she pulled her entire catalogue from Spotify last November and had refused to offer 1989 on streaming services, saying the business had “shrunk the numbers of paid album sales drastically.”
1989 became one of the biggest-selling albums of 2014 and has sold more than 4.9 million copies in the US alone.
Last week, UK-based independent record label Beggars echoed Swift's comments, saying it struggled “to see why rights owners and artists should bear this aspect of Apple's customer acquisition costs.”
It said it did not have an agreement with Apple that would allow it to participate in the new service but hoped the “obstacles to agreement can be removed” in the coming days.
Earlier this month it was announced that New Zealand DJ Zane Lowe will be one of the voices of Apple’s global radio station Beats 1. He’ll be joined by two other big-name radio personalities; Ebro Darden of Hot 97 who will be based in New York and Rinse FM’s Julie Adenuga who will broadcast from London.
This story has been updated to reflect Apple Music's statement.
A version of this story was first published on radionz.co.nz.
