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Taylor Swift: Apple's Disdain For Royalties Is 'Shocking, Disappointing'

Posted by timothy on from the oh-the-humanity dept.

Mark Wilson writes to note that Apple Music, yet unlaunched, already faces resistance on several fronts. From the BetaNews article: It's not just smaller, independent labels that are complaining about Apple's refusal to pay artists any royalties during the initial three month free trial period. Taylor Swift has added her voice to the growing number of complainants, writing an open letter to Apple in which she says she will withhold her new album "1989" from the service. In the letter, entitled "To Apple, Love Taylor," the singer says that the company's decision not to make royalty payments is "shocking, disappointing, and completely unlike this historically progressive and generous company." Swift is an artist who could afford to shoulder the cost of three months of not being paid by Apple, but she has chosen to make a stand and stick up for those who are less fortunate.

5 of 368 comments (clear)

  1. So, where's she getting money? by Voyager529 · · Score: 4, Informative

    Assuming she's for real in this respect, I appreciate her concern for her comrades in the industry. However, She's pulled her music from Spotify, and now she's pulling it from iTunes. So...she's living off Pandora royalties and CD sales? I mean, the album has been out for quite some time, so she's made most of her millions off it at this point anyway and this is more grandstanding than anything else...but if it were a new release, would she really be this adamant about giving up iTunes revenue, even if it spent a bit too much time in the 'Accounts Receivable' column?

    1. Re:So, where's she getting money? by sribe · · Score: 4, Informative

      Assuming she's for real in this respect, I appreciate her concern for her comrades in the industry. However, She's pulled her music from Spotify, and now she's pulling it from iTunes. So...she's living off Pandora royalties and CD sales? I mean, the album has been out for quite some time, so she's made most of her millions off it at this point anyway and this is more grandstanding than anything else...but if it were a new release, would she really be this adamant about giving up iTunes revenue, even if it spent a bit too much time in the 'Accounts Receivable' column?

      Unless she has a super-special deal (which, who knows, with her market power she might), she makes way more off touring and related merchandising than she does the pitiful royalties from album (both physical & virtual) sales.

  2. Re: Horray for Taylor Swift. by Fwipp · · Score: 4, Informative

    If you're interested in reading a bit more of her rationale, she posted her announcement on her tumblr page, here: http://taylorswift.tumblr.com/...

  3. Problem is by Runaway1956 · · Score: 4, Informative

    The problem is, the music isn't the artist's property. The labels claim all the rights. The artists theoretical royalties invariably end up being a shit sandwich, without much bread. The labels signed the deal with Apple, because they know that the artists have signed away all their rights already.

    --
    "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
  4. Re: that's funny... by jd2112 · · Score: 4, Informative

    Metallica greedy is when you sue your fans.
    I used to like Metalica but i haven't listened to them since they started suing fans.

    --
    Any insufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology.