Apple has buckled to star pressure and will now pay royalties to artists during the three-month free trial of Apple Music.
Originally the company had planned to offer users a free trial of its upcoming Apple Music service, with music rights holders receiving no royalties during this period. Instead, artists would be given slightly higher royalty rates after the three-month period.
The plans had been heavily criticised by some stars, in particular Taylor Swift who made a public complaint about the policy and had even planned to withhold her album ‘1989’ from the service. Artists managed by Beggars Group were also outspoken in their criticism of Apple.
Eddy Cue, SVP, Internet Software and Services, Apple, went on Twitter to make the announcement, tweeting: "Apple will always make sure that artists are paid," before going on to tweet, "#AppleMusic will pay artists for streaming, even during customer’s free trial period," before offering an olive branch to Swift, "We hear you @taylorswift13 and indie artists. Love, Apple."
It is not yet known whether Swift and Beggars Group will now allow their music and artists on to the upcoming music service, however Swift did tweet to say: "I am elated and relieved. Thank you for your words of support today. They listened to us."
The disagreement will have angered many fans who may have chosen to boycott the service, the move will undoubtedly bring some of these back to the fold and improve Apple‘s chances of success.
