Never question the power of Taylor Swift (or any major artist who can still push millions of digital downloads and physical CDs).
On Sunday, Swift took to her Tumblr to denounce Apple’s plan to not pay any artist whose music is streamed by a customer during the 90-day free trial the tech giant is offering when it launches Apple Music on June 30. “I find it to be shocking, disappointing, and completely unlike this historically progressive and generous company,” Swift wrote Sunday morning.
Her reason for calling out Apple didn’t have to do with her own business interests — she was looking out for the little guys who can’t support themselves. “This is about the new artist or band that has just released their first single and will not be paid for its success,” she wrote. “This is about the young songwriter who just got his or her first cut and thought that the royalties from that would get them out of debt. This is about the producer who works tirelessly to innovate and create, just like the innovators and creators at Apple are pioneering in their field…but will not get paid for a quarter of a year’s worth of plays on his or her songs.”
Roughly 12 hours later, Apple head Eddy Cue announced that they agreed with Swift’s thoughts and would reverse course:
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
We hear you @taylorswift13 and indie artists. Love, Apple
— Eddy Cue (@cue) June 22, 2015
Said Swift after the announcement:
I am elated and relieved. Thank you for your words of support today. They listened to us.
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) June 22, 2015
The move was a stunning turnaround for Apple on multiple levels. For one, they made their decision to shell out millions of dollars to artists in less than a day (and on a Sunday no less). Two, Apple acknowledged that Swift’s blog post played a heavy part in turning around their plan.
Swift started her blog post by saying that this is the reason she wouldn’t release her latest studio album 1989 on Apple Music when it launches later this month. The singer has yet to reveal if Apple’s decision has changed her mind about the album going on the new streaming site.
The pop superstar is in a unique position, and many in the music and tech communities are applauding her efforts to stick up for the little guy. She is one of very few artists who has enough leverage to influence the music giants.