Taylor Swift’s ‘Victory’ Over Apple Is Actually Exactly What The Company Needed
Taylor Swift has grown notorious for her firm stance against music streaming services. She surprised fans by removing all of her music from Spotify to publicly oppose the tiny amount that the company pays artists, which she claims devalues the music industry. This week, Taylor Swift took a stern position against Apple, criticizing the massive company for not paying artists during their three-month free trial period. But Taylor Swift’s anger toward Apple is actually giving them free advertisement.
According to USA Today, the harsh “love letter” that Taylor Swift released against Apple is making headlines all over the internet, which is doing wonders to publicize the new streaming service. Apple already does fine on its own earning sales, but attention from a platinum artist as major as Taylor Swift can only serve to boost revenue.
After her complaints, Apple did decide to back down from their position and pay artists royalties during the trial period.
“When I woke up this morning and saw what Taylor had written, it really solidified that we needed a change,” said Apple Music chief Eddy Cue. “And so that’s why we decide we will now pay artists during the trial period.”
On paper, it might seem like Taylor Swift won the fight, but Apple often wins the war. With so many news organizations and music fans discussing the feud between the “Blank Space” singer, Apple can only stand to benefit from Taylor Swift’s attack.
Almost as if the argument was planned, an analyst from Apple spoke out about the commotion Taylor Swift caused.
“This is a boon for Apple,” said Tim Bajarin, who works in Creative Strategies. “Now more people will try it.”
By “it,” Bajarin is referring to the new Apple Music streaming service.
According to the L.A. Times, Apple can certainly afford to pay artists royalties, with revenue in the hundreds of billions every year.
Michael Simon from MacWorld discussed the potential Apple has with its new streaming service to completely dominate the market. He claims Apple’s reach in the streaming business has reach far beyond what Taylor Swift ever imagined — or feared.
“I understand that the we’re talking about people’s livelihoods here—and I’m very glad Apple reversed its course and will pay artist royalties from Day 1—but Apple is creating an opportunity to build a distribution system that’s far more visible than even YouTube or the iTunes Store. And while that shouldn’t take the place of actual money—especially if iTunes downloads slip during the trial period—it’s still worth an awful lot.”
What do you think about the Apple streaming service and Taylor Swift’s stance against it?
[Image credit: Getty and Apple]
