Taylor Swift's Apple Music Letter Surprised Her Record Label, but Pushed Talks 'Over the Edge'

[MacRumors]

Ahead of the launch of Apple Music, Taylor Swift made headlines when she wrote a scathing open letter to Apple, criticizing its decision not to pay artists for their work during its three-month free trial. Her letter, combined with pushback from indie labels, led Apple to reverse course and opt to pay artists during the three months that customers can listen for free.

Record label exec Scott Borchetta, who serves as the head of Big Machine Records and signed Swift when she was 14, recently spoke at Fortune's Brainstorm Tech conference and shared some backstory on the negotiations that eventually led Swift to write the letter. According to Borchetta, he'd been in talks with Apple and told the company that his label couldn't support no compensation during the three-month free trial, but wasn't making headway.

Borchetta hadn't spoken to Swift about the negotiations and was caught unawares by her letter, which she didn't clear with her record label. He wasn't angry, though, because her post, as we know, caused Apple to change its policy and made negotiations easier.

"She literally texted me and said, 'Don't be mad,' with the link," Borchetta said. "She was in Europe. I responded and said, 'You don't have any idea how good your timing is right now.'"

A day after Swift's letter, Borchetta had a conference call with Jimmy Iovine and Eddy Cue, where they capitulated and agreed to the demands of both Swift and many other artists who had been resisting signing on with Apple Music due to the free trial.

Scooter Braun, Justin Bieber's manager, was also at the Fortune event and said that Swift's letter gave Apple the push the industry needed to secure a better deal. "Everyone was fighting that fight," he said. "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."

Shortly after Apple changed its policy, the company secured a deal with Swift and signed deals with thousands of indie labels a week ahead of Apple Music's launch. Apple Music became the first and only streaming music service to offer Swift's most recent album, 1989.

Article Link: Taylor Swift's Apple Music Letter Surprised Her Record Label, but Pushed Talks 'Over the Edge'

 

[jmh600cbr]

i hate taylor swift, but even more than that i hate that apple music has a hip hop taste to it

 

[Tubamajuba]

Had Justin Bieber been the one to write that letter, things would have turned out very differently.

 

[randymac09]

Swift action, right on cue.

 

[topmounter]

Well played Apple and Taylor, well played. The claims of spontaneity are almost believable.

 

[BSben]

Looks like the first surge of her album streaming are over, so the label had to put a statement out to improve performance.
I still don't buy the whole story.....

 

[6836838]

A PR dream. Probably staged.

 

[Benjamin Frost]

Taylor Swift=Steve Jobs.

She holds Apple in the palms of her hands.

 

[Tubamajuba]

Well played Apple and Taylor, well played. The claims of spontaneity are almost believable.

Where's the proof that this was scripted? I'd like a link, please.

 

[jpgr15]

i hate taylor swift

I'm amazed how many people proclaim they hate Taylor Swift. You see it in every comments thread, every time. It's as if people need to be the first one to say it like it's a thing or something. Obviously someone out there must like her.

 

[hlfway2anywhere]

“Artist Friendly, Artist First” isn’t Jimmy’s philosophy because if it was, they would’ve never had to fight about these royalties to begin with. I’m a musician, and I’m usually “All Apple, All the Time” but let’s not all just forget that they originally tried to get away with this.

 

[NachoGrande]

Taylor Swift if pure evil. If you fall for that super nice facade I feel badly for you. Her songs are oddly catchy though, but they fade fast...

 

[arggg14]

Well played Apple and Taylor, well played. The claims of spontaneity are almost believable.

haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate

 

[Dark Void]

Oh no, not Taylor Swift again.

Cue "Does Taylor Swift Approve of this lols Please like my post" unoriginal comments for the next few days.

 

[ChrisCW11]

What I love about all this is how everyone is claiming Swift is a saint, but all she really is doing is pimping her music out to the service that pays her the most. When there is a threat to her monetary gain, she issues a Tweet or "open letter", and she secures millions of more profit, period.

"Taylor Swift Inc." couldn't care if indie artists gets paid during a trial period of Apple Music, "Taylor Swift Inc." wanted their rightful dues, period.

 

[randymac09]

“Artist Friendly, Artist First” isn’t Jimmy’s philosophy because if it was, they would’ve never had to fight about these royalties to begin with. I’m a musician, and I’m usually “All Apple, All the Time” but let’s not all just forget that they originally tried to get away with this.

I'm not a musician so I can't understand how you feel personally, but from an outsiders point of view, I look at things from a business standpoint. Jimmy might still feel that way about artists, but he also works for a company who is very tight with their money. Any business opportunity you're going to do your best to save, pinch pennies, and not give away any money that you feel you can save.

They ultimately made the right choice, it was probably always a fallback in case something like this happened. I do think Apple and Jimmy appreciate musicians and the music industry. But at the end of the day, they're a part of a business and there is no room for feelings and emotions in business deals.

 

[discounteggroll]

wow, people guzzling down the haterade.

 

[mattopotamus]

I don't think this is really news to anyone. She writes a letter and a few hours later (maybe a day) the policy changes.

 

[Mockenrue]

Ahead of the launch of Apple Music, Taylor Swift made headlines when she wrote a scathing open letter to Apple

Not sure "scathing" is the best word to describe that open letter...

"Apple has been and will continue to be one of my best partners"
"I respect the company and the truly ingenious minds that have created a legacy based on innovations and pushing the right boundaries"
"historically progressive and generous company"
"we admire and respect Apple"
"beautiful progress"
"astronomically successful"
"incredible company"

Yes, she criticized "this particular call", but it still seemed pandering to me.

 

[jpgr15]

all she really is doing is pimping her music out to the service that pays her the most. When there is a threat to her monetary gain, she issues a Tweet or "open letter", and she secure millions of more profit, period.

You say this as if she doesn't have a right to set a price for her work. It's a free market. Power to her.

 

[vanylapep]

They love Swift so much that they named a language after her.

 

[Rogifan]

Where's the proof that this was scripted? I'd like a link, please.

There's no proof but does anyone really believe this all just randomly happened? No way. Btw, right after Apple announced they would pay during the free trial Nikki Sixx from Mötley Crüe was on CNBC and said labels had been meeting with Apple for 10 days trying to get something worked out. There may not have been coordination between Apple and Taylor Swift but clearly Apple was moving towards paying and realized responding to Swift's letter would be a good PR opportunity.

 

[Muscle Master]

What I love about all this is how everyone is claiming Swift is a saint, but all she really is doing is pimping her music out to the service that pays her the most. When there is a threat to her monetary gain, she issues a Tweet or "open letter", and she secures millions of more profit, period.

"Taylor Swift Inc." couldn't care if indie artists gets paid during a trial period of Apple Music, "Taylor Swift Inc." wanted their rightful dues, period.

Agreed... its just buisness!

 

[2457282]

I am amazed about Taylor Swift. She is still very young but seems to have a solid business sense. Pull out of Spotify, push Apple to pay, and then sign exclusive deal with Apple Music. Not to mention all those gold and platinum records. I am not a fan of her music, but it does seem she is solid in business. Hopefully she stays true and humble (from what I hear) and does not go to the dark side like so many before her.

 

[CmdrLaForge]

Taylor is just great !