• Taylor Swift Surprised Her Record Label With Letter to Apple

    by
    Akshay Masand
    Published on 2015-07-16 11:13 PM
    11 Comments Comments


    Just a few weeks back, pop singer Taylor Swift wrote a letter to Apple on social media site Tumblr, expressing how she was disappointed that the company decided against paying artists during the 3-month free trial. After the company saw the public letter, they reversed their decision and started paying their artists for the first initial 3 months. Apparently Swift’s decision to write the letter was due to record label executive Scott Borchetta’s backstory when he spoke at Fortune’s Brainstorm Tech conference. Swift was with Big Machine Records since she was 14 years old.

    It was noted that Borchetta had been speaking with Apple and told them that the record label couldn’t afford not being compensated at all when customers could listen to Apple Music for free the first 3 months. However, even after speaking with Apple, he had no luck in convincing them to pay. This was when Taylor Swift stepped up to the plate and wrote the long letter to the Cupertino-based company. According to Borchetta,

    She literally texted me and said, 'Don't be mad,' with the link. She was in Europe. I responded and said, 'You don't have any idea how good your timing is right now.'
    Borchetta knew nothing about Swift writing the letter, but was also not angry with the singer reaching out to Apple before talking to him about it. It was only after the letter that the company decided to work out a ‘reasonable’ pay deal with her and many other artists. Justin Bieber’s manager Scooter Braun was also at Fortune’s event and said that Swift’s letter ‘pushed it over the edge’ even though many people were fighting the battle.

    Taylor pushed it over the edge. She made them aware it wasn't just the executives. Sometimes it's good to hear the artists saying it.
    Apple definitely benefited from paying artists for the 3 month free trial, as right after the deal, the company signed on with thousands of indie labels. Apple Music also became the first streaming music service to have Taylor Swift’s 1989 album.

    Source: Fortune
    This article was originally published in forum thread: Taylor Swift Surprised Her Record Label With Letter to Apple started by Akshay Masand View original post
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    Comments 11 Comments
    1. Jahooba's Avatar
      Jahooba - 2015-07-17, 02:50 AM
      She definitely deserves respect for this. She's incredibly wealthy and she's still taking the time and effort to speak for struggling artists.

      Not only that, but this is the Apple behemoth. They toy with people's livelihood just for the political sport of it. Remember they took down games with the Confederate flag? Historical flags are not illegal - Apple's political jihad is entirely unfounded and terribly disrespectful to the company that made that game.
    1. Wolftamer's Avatar
      Wolftamer - 2015-07-17, 04:27 AM
      People believe this pack of lies? She probably doesn't even know how to write her own name....
    1. cyberjunkyfreak's Avatar
      cyberjunkyfreak - 2015-07-17, 05:05 AM
      Quote Originally Posted by Wolftamer View Post
      People believe this pack of lies? She probably doesn't even know how to write her own name....
      you're joking, right? i read somewhere on Al Gore's internet that she invented the Swift programming language.
    1. znbl's Avatar
      znbl - 2015-07-17, 06:16 AM
      What I would really like to know is how Apple could do the three month trial at all without paying any royalties (which would have been the case had Apple not changed their mind) ? Even conventional over the air radio stations have to normally pay royalties while listening is free to anyone with an FM or AM radio.

      And last I checked Pandora and others must pay royalties for their free services too. So why was Apple able to get around it? I know it's a moot point now but I'd really like to know as something smells really rotten nonetheless.
    1. docmagoo2's Avatar
      docmagoo2 - 2015-07-17, 08:09 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by Wolftamer View Post
      People believe this pack of lies? She probably doesn't even know how to write her own name....
      A 25 year old doesn't get to make it as big as she has without some iota of intelligence..... And as far as I can tell she had a 4.0 GPA at high school. Not exactly stupid
    1. NewD's Avatar
      NewD - 2015-07-17, 08:28 PM
      Yeah. Taylor is a bright one and a smart cookie. Very solid business person and has single handedly manipulated the entire music business because of her power. She is doing all right things for us out here that make a portion or most of our living off royalties from our art and who are getting more and more 'gang raped' by the streaming companies wanting to pay us 'sub-pennies' per play. It's a total joke and Taylor is using her position to do good for the whole industry. Additionally she's not one of these whack job youths like Miley Cyrus who are trying to show their 20 year old booty at every camera angle and send the wrong message to our daughters. Taylor's flashey - but it's not about the pure sexual all the time. Good for her on a number of levels. I applaud her! Comes from good stock and is upstanding in her dealings.

      Good for you, Taylor, bringing Apple to its knees on the proper payout amounts during the trial period.
    1. Bulldog5278's Avatar
      Bulldog5278 - 2015-07-17, 09:01 PM
      I agree NewD,personally she's not my fav artist but credit to her,she's an inspiration to many females out there,total game changer these days from the 80's it's more about face than skill,I don't won't to know what someone looks like to sell their song political crap,she's not solely doing this on her own back,more like many minions in certain fields publicising on her behalf/being a famous name adds that drive,if she/she alone took this upon herself with no fame status would be no different to any of us,again publicity crap,if we all had minions to manage our viewpoints that'd be interesting?loud voices are always heard it's the little folk that talk sense that don't get heard!
    1. unison999's Avatar
      unison999 - 2015-07-17, 09:22 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by Jahooba View Post
      She definitely deserves respect for this. She's incredibly wealthy and she's still taking the time and effort to speak for struggling artists.

      Not only that, but this is the Apple behemoth. They toy with people's livelihood just for the political sport of it. Remember they took down games with the Confederate flag? Historical flags are not illegal - Apple's political jihad is entirely unfounded and terribly disrespectful to the company that made that game.
      Might want to check this out also: https://youtu.be/AFFLQ9w1f8o
      Apple was against a flag that was not even approved by the confederacy, guess Apple did not bother googling
    1. sheltons.iphone's Avatar
      sheltons.iphone - 2015-07-18, 03:43 AM
      Quote Originally Posted by Jahooba View Post
      She definitely deserves respect for this. She's incredibly wealthy and she's still taking the time and effort to speak for struggling artists.
      Don't think for one minute that she did that for anyone but herself. She's not worried about any "struggling" artists.
    1. NewD's Avatar
      NewD - 2015-07-18, 06:32 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by sheltons.iphone View Post
      Don't think for one minute that she did that for anyone but herself. She's not worried about any "struggling" artists.
      You're obviously not well-read and just want to post nonsense from behind the safety of an anonymous keyboard. Wise up - and get yourself a little educated about a topic before you post.
    1. Albut's Avatar
      Albut - 2015-07-18, 10:02 PM
      If only Apple listened to its customers!

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