With Apple gearing up for the launch of their Beats Music streaming service, Taylor Swift made headlines by pulling her music, including the popular 1989 album, from the service’s catalog. With her motives questioned, the pop singer wrote an open letter to Apple detailing her concerns with the new service.
To sum the note in two sentences, Swift concludes her note with a telling analogy. “We don’t ask you for free iPhones. Please don’t ask us to provide you with our music for no compensation.”
T-Swift is referring to Apple’s plan to provide a three month free trial service of Beats Music, all the while not compensating artists for those three months of music. She admits that the three months won’t actually affect her, but that it will affect the music community as a whole.
“This is not about me. Thankfully I am on my fifth album and can support myself, my band, crew, and entire management team by playing live shows. This is about the new artist or band that has just released their first single and will not be paid for its success. 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.”
Swift also gives Apple the benefit of the doubt, calling them a “historically progressive and generous company” and asking them to reverse “this particular call.” You can read the full letter here.
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