~ Auto Buzz ~: Apple responds to Taylor Swift’s open letter, promises to pay artists during free trial

Monday, 22 June 2015

Apple responds to Taylor Swift’s open letter, promises to pay artists during free trial

Apple senior vice president Eddy Cue just announced that Apple Music will pay royalties to artists even during its three-month free trial, in a dramatic shift from the company’s original plans after Taylor Swift complained about its policy.

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

Apple had planned to launch its streaming service on June 30 with a free three-month trial. It had cemented deals with labels to pay them nothing during the trial, but bump up royalties afterwards.

Following backlash after Swift published an open letter calling the policy “unfair” on Tumblr, the company has changed gears.

Cue did not share details on how much it would pay labels and artists during the trial periods. We’ve contacted Apple to find out more and will update this post when we hear back.

Image credit: Featureflash / Shutterstock.com