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I think this all stems from larger companies being able to take 3 months of a hit for higher percentages later. Indie labels don't want to make nothing from apple for three months regardless what they make later. Which is probably why they're indie labels and not large. Because their business sense is sub-par
 
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Now I could be wrong but this is how I am understanding their complaint. The indie labels feel that if they don't get paid for the 3 months of free streaming service then they will be forced out of business.

Now here is where I find fault with that logic. Apple currently does not have a streaming service where they are paying royalties so at the current moment they are receiving 0.00 a month in royalty payments. For the first three months they will also be receiving 0.00 a month. Then they will be payed according to the contract agreements. If being paid 0.00 now isn't breaking them how is 3 months going to? I not a mathematician but I am pretty sure zero equals zero, and if your current deal is working just fine now being paid zero because the streaming service does not yet exist, then for a three month trial when it does should not have any affect on your financial standing.

Again I could be completely wrong here, but to me the argument doesn't make sense. Also from this consumers standpoint the amount of royalties they will see from me will most likely always stay at zero because I have no plans to use Apple Music as a paid or trial member.

Theoretically, if Apple offers a free service for 3 months, people will cancel their Spotify accounts and/or not buy music from iTunes that they otherwise would have bought. So artists could potentially lose money over those 3 months, but they're not seeing the big picture. Apple Music WILL have more customers than Spotify and other streaming services and in the long run, artists will see more money than they did before.
 
these companies and artists seem to be extremely short-sighted. the 3 month trial is the only way i would have even considered subscribing. those 3 months may be so awesome that i decide to pay $9.99 a month. without the trial i don't think i'd have ever even given apple music a glance.

i'm betting there are a poop-ton of people who feel the exact same way as i do.
 
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...

Edit: I'm trying to imagine the reaction from Cupertino if someone tried to give away Apple's intellectual property for free for three months as part of a "business model"...

Another nominee to the Stupid Analogy award
 
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these companies and artists seem to be extremely short-sighted. the 3 month trial is the only way i would have even considered subscribing. those 3 months may be so awesome that i decide to pay $9.99 a month. without the trial i don't think i'd have ever even given apple music a glance.

i'm betting there are a poop-ton of people who feel the exact same way as i do.
to be fair i dont think i would be listening to the same artists anymore by the time theyd get paid 3 months later. i think thats one of their issues
 
these companies and artists seem to be extremely short-sighted. the 3 month trial is the only way i would have even considered subscribing. those 3 months may be so awesome that i decide to pay $9.99 a month. without the trial i don't think i'd have ever even given apple music a glance.

i'm betting there are a poop-ton of people who feel the exact same way as i do.
The artists/bands who aren't huge sellers don't really care about you subscribing to Apple Music. They care about getting paid when people stream the music they put out, period.
 
So I make music right? I can make money on that music by performing live, selling tracks and albums digitally, or make a fraction of a sold track by allowing songs to be streamed to users on a subscription service..

Now, I have already made the music because I am an artist and I love to make music. I perform live to make the most amount of money I can out of the music I have made. In order for people to know I exist and that I make good music I might offer my songs to be played on radio for a fee, post samples on social media, or maybe I distribute my music through a service like iTunes that will show my music next to artists that are similar.

In comes a new Apple Music service. Now, I am a small time artist, Independent label and I don't have massive reserves to market my music. So, I make a little money on Spotify right now, and some of the money from digital sales on iTunes as well. I still make the most money by selling tickets to see me perform in concert, and this is why I tour. After each tour, people who came to the concert might go look me up on iTunes/ Spotify, and I may make a bit more money from that. Apple Music comes in and says, "You can be on our service, but if a user is new, then they can listen to your music, or anyones, for free for three months. Oh, and we have this service ready for 100's of millions of Apple devices right away."

If I say no, I make no money indefinitely from Apple Music, and people who will still inevitably use Apple Music can't hear my stuff, and maybe some of those people forget about me or never discover me.

If I say yes, the small percent I get from streaming services as people play my song are not paid to me for three months from Apple Music. After three months, I then have the potential to reach millions more people, who may find me for the first time using the only service they have, Apple Music. They may decide that I am good enough to see live, and buy a concert ticket as I play live.




---- Does anyone get this?
 
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So I make music right? I can make money on that music by performing live, selling tracks and albums digitally, or make a fraction of a sold track by allowing songs to be streamed to users on a subscription service..

Now, I have already made the music because I am an artist and I love to make music. I perform live to make the most amount of money I can out of the music I have made. In order for people to know I exist and that I make good music I might offer my songs to be played on radio for a fee, post samples on social media, or maybe I distribute my music through a service like iTunes that will show my music next to artists that are similar.

In comes a new Apple Music service. Now, I am a small time artist, Independent label and I don't have massive reserves to market my music. So, I make a little money on Spotify right now, and some of the money from digital sales on iTunes as well. I still make the most money by selling tickets to see me perform in concert, and this is why I tour. After each tour, people who came to the concert might go look me up on iTunes/ Spotify, and I may make a bit more money from that. Apple Music comes in and says, "You can be on our service, but if a user is new, then they can listen to your music, or anyones, for free for three months. Oh, and we have this service ready for 100's of millions of Apple devices right away."

If I say no, I make no money indefinitely from Apple Music, and people who will still inevitably use Apple Music can't hear my stuff, and maybe some of those people forget about me or never discover me.

If I say yes, the small percent I get from streaming services as people play my song are not paid to me for three months from Apple Music. After three months, I then have the potential to reach millions more people, who may find me for the first time using the only service they have, Apple Music. They may decide that I am good enough to see live, and buy a concert ticket as I play live.




---- Does anyone get this?
Why does the small artist have to take the risk they never decided to take? Why can't they take their music off and in five months go back in?

The artists/bands don't have to pay for the infrastructure to distribute the music as they weren't the ones who decided to offer this platform.
 
that was a purely emotional response to the person who said only that one ridiculous statement. i somehow doubt they were thinking very contextually about the article. people actually feel like this, and it's absolutely appalling to me. and i'm merely a musician hobbyist, so i don't care personally about making money at it. but for those that do, i feel for them. they have people like nando87 as hurdles. the '87' standing for his mother's birth year, i assume :rolleyes:
No one including me thinks that it is wrong for Artists to want to get paid for their work, however all I am pointing out is that Apple is under no obligation to carry an artist's music.
 
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Why does the small artist have to take the risk they never decided to take? Why can't they take their music off and in five months go back in?

The artists/bands don't have to pay for the infrastructure to distribute the music as they weren't the ones who decided to offer this platform.

What do you mean take the risk they never decided to take? The small artist is deciding whether to 'YES' offer music on Apple Music, or 'NO' do not offer music on Apple Music.

Did you understand that small artists make their most money from playing live?! The more exposure they get ANYWHERE, the more people know about them when they perform in a local pub, coffee shop, bar, or event!
 
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You have to work with the system your given or leave. I can see Apple trying to get smaller artists to sign up or removing content off iTunes music store. But then having a change of heart when the story goes beyond a phone call or email. Interesting.... It has a very mob boss mentality.. hum
 
What do you mean take the risk they never decided to take? The small artist is deciding whether to 'YES' offer music on Apple Music, or 'NO' do not offer music on Apple Music.

Did you understand that small artists make their most money from playing live?! The more exposure they get ANYWHERE, the more people know about them when they perform in a local pub, coffee shop, bar, or event!
Yes I know that most musicians, even big ones, make their music live.

For the last, oh, decade, many of these bands have been on iTunes. Now due to this new service that Apple is deciding to do which really isn't a big growth area as there are many music services already, they lose a source of revenue and either 1) get to advertise for free or 2) don't get to be on the service anymore(or until after it settles down).
 
Apple wouldn't do such a thing. Not from a company that also tried to get the music labels to ditch Spotify's free tier.
 
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...The artists/bands don't have to pay for the infrastructure to distribute the music as they weren't the ones who decided to offer this platform.

Yes, Napster decided for them long ago, but then came evil Apple and... wait, what?
 
Why does the small artist have to take the risk they never decided to take? Why can't they take their music off and in five months go back in?

The artists/bands don't have to pay for the infrastructure to distribute the music as they weren't the ones who decided to offer this platform.

They don't have to take the risk. The independent label can say "No Thanks". Then Apple can decide that they don't want to sell that independent label's stuff any longer. I am not getting where the outrage is. Why is Apple, Google, Spotify, RDIO, etc obligated to carry an Artist's music?
 
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To be fair its two way street - Apple have invested heavily in Apple Music, a platform which artists will likely benefit from in the long run. If just 5% of iTunes account holders sign up, they'll be on a par with paying Spotify subscribers almost immediately.

Something the artists will surely benefit from. And they won't have had to pay Apple a dime towards any of those investment costs.

Again, I don't see what the fuss is - a free trial to lure people in is one of the oldest tricks in the book - the way some people are going on anyone would think this was some new, devious tactic dreamt up by the evil Apple.

Agree with everything you're saying but for the artists not paying Apple a dime for the investment costs... isn't that part of what Apple's cut is covering?

The artists absolutely benefit from that payment, though. Just as they benefit from the free trial. Give a little, get a lot. Sounds like a good system to me.
 
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