Taylor Swift is a multimillion dollar recording artist with seven grammys under her belt. She has a networth of $200 million and the youngest person on the Forbes “100 Most Powerful Women” list. So why, since she is unbelievably successful, does she not want her latest album, “1989,” on Apple’s new streaming service Apple Music?
In an open letter to Apple, titled “To Apple, Love Taylor,” she penned on her Tumblr page, Swift explains exactly why.
She begins explaining that she supports Apple since the company “has been and will continue to be one of my best partners in selling music and creating ways for me to connect with my fans,” but this new innovation is not something she supports.
She says this is because for the first three months, subscribers to Apple Music pay nothing for the service. This means that for those three months, the writers, producers and artists will not be compensated.
“Three months is a long time to go unpaid, and it is unfair to ask anyone to work for nothing,” she writes.
Swift makes sure she added that this letter was not about her, since she is lucky enough to be able to support herself and whoever she works with. “This is about the new artist or band that has just released their first single and will not be paid for its success.”
As Rolling Stone reported, last year, Swift pulled her entire catalog off of Spotify, a free music streaming site, for the same reasons.
She ended the letter with a chilling comparison between Apple’s bestseller, the iPhone, and a musician.
“We don’t ask you for free iPhones. Please don’t ask us to provide you with our music for no compensation.”
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