There have been many artists who have been disappointed by Apple’s decision to provide a three month trial period for its new Apple Music service. Among them, perhaps one of the biggest names to voice her concerns is the singer-songwriter Taylor Swift.
Swift wrote a lovely note to Apple (and to us) on Tumblr explaining why she will be holding back her album, 1989, from Apple Music. She stated that a three month trial period to anyone who signs up for the service is way too long and artists can’t go unpaid for such a time frame.
She said that Apple is an incredible company and the new streaming system it has designed is ingenious, but many artists, like her, have similar complaints regarding the free trail of the service. Here’s a small excerpt from her long note to her fans and the company:
I’m sure you are aware that Apple Music will be offering a free 3 month trial to anyone who signs up for the service. I’m not sure you know that Apple Music will not be paying writers, producers, or artists for those three months. I find it to be shocking, disappointing, and completely unlike this historically progressive and generous company.
Further she says that this is not about her as she is an old player in the industry. She says that it is about the new artists or bands who will be releasing their debut albums or singles and will not be paid for their success.
The artist also says that it’s not just her who has this complaint. Every artist in the industry has a similar view of the trial period.
Conclusively she requests Apple to change its policy as she believes that it is not too late. Though, if you ask us, it might already be too late to change what’s already been decided as Apple Music is launching at the end of June alongside iOS 8.4. All in all, this seems like a fairly bad start for Apple Music, at least as far as artist relations are concerned.
