Apple and Taylor Swift fans can rejoice as the singer just confirmed via Twitter she will allow 1989 to be featured on Apple Music. The mega-star tweeted that after this week’s positive feedback from Apple, she will let fans stream the songs from her current album. Swift already agreed to allow her older albums to be on Apple Music.
Swift’s battle against Apple Music
Swift’s war against the music streaming industry started last year when she pulled most of her music from Spotify, a popular on-demand music streaming service similar to Rhapsody. She claimed that artists got the short end of the stick as most streaming services barely pay them. Apple Music is set to launch on June 30, and it will give customers the first three months of service for free. Customers who like Apple Music and want to keep the service can pay $9.99 a month to keep on-demand access. Earlier, Swift decided not to allow 1989 on Apple Music since she feared artists wouldn’t get paid during the three month free trial. She even published an open letter to the company on her Tumblr page to air her concerns.
Apple confirms it will pay artists
Apple executive Eddy Cue reached out to Swift on Twitter to assure her that they will pay artists for their music during the free trial. The policy reversal came just one day after Swift’s letter. He made sure to acknowledge Swift and independent artists. Cue later admitted during an interview with Billboard that Swift’s letter helped the company realize the value of artists. Swift acknowledged Apple on Twitter and thanked the company for listening to her.
There is little doubt that Taylor Swift is one of the most valuable artists today. And if Apple wants to give its upcoming music service an edge against competitors, it needs to listen to the artists.
