Apple Music

Taylor Swift’s blockbuster album ‘1989’ will stream on Apple Music

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated September 6, 2017

Well, good PR doesn't get any better than this. Following a week of back and forth between Apple and Taylor Swift over royalty payments during Apple Music's free trial, the popular pop musician and actress said her top-selling album “1989” will stream on Apple's service, which launches next Tuesday.

“After the events of this week, I've decided to put '1989' on Apple Music,” she wrote on Twitter.

The newsworthy development bears special significance as “1989” won't be available on any streaming service, at least for the time being, with the sole exception of Apple Music.

Eminem will be the first guest interviewed on Beats 1

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 25, 2015

According to an image that former BBC Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe shared on Instagram and Twitter, Beats 1—Apple's new 24/7 Internet radio—will interview hip-hop artist and music producer Eminem as its first guest. Lowe is one of the there celebrity DJs on Beats 1. Lowe will be providing live radio programming from Los Angeles, with a little help from Ebro Darden in New York and Julie Adenoma in London.

Spotify responds to Apple Music by extending free trial to 60 days for non-US users

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 14, 2018

Following Apple Music ad blitz with a massive Beats 1 billboard on Times Square ahead of the service's public launch next Tuesday, the world's leading music-streaming service Spotify has decided to extend its Premium trial from 30 to 60 days for users outside the United States, as noted by Android Authority.

Like Apple Music, Spotify Premium costs $9.99 per month, but Apple's service offers a three-month free trial period before charging users' credit cards. It was also revealed this morning that Apple Music pays an industry-standard royalty rate for free users of 0.2 cents per stream, comparing roughly to Spotify's 35 percent revenue share during the trial period.

Apple Music free trial pays record labels industry-standard 0.2 cents per stream royalty rate

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 25, 2015

Lots of ink was spilt regarding Apple's decision to not pay artists during the free trial only to reverse course after Taylor Swift raised a stink about it. Apple's said it'll pay for free users and keep the royalty a bit higher for subscribers but stopped short of specifying the exact sum paid during the free trial.

According to unnamed record label executives who spoke to The New York Times newspaper, Apple is paying an industry-average royalty rate of 0.2 cents per each streamed song during the free three-month trial, roughly on par with Spotify.

Huge Beats 1 billboard takes over Times Square

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 24, 2015

Often referred to as The Crossroads of the World, New York City's Time Square is always brightly adorned with billboards and advertisements from the world's top brands. With less than a week until June 30 Apple Music launch, the iPhone maker is now advertising Beats 1 with a massive billboard.

It's dominated by enormous Beats 1 promotional graphics accompanied by the “Worldwide. Always on” tagline and the 6.30.2015 launch date. Interestingly enough, the Apple logo is nowhere to be seen on the advertisement, perhaps indicating the Cupertino firm might be counting on Beats' brand power to push the upcoming radio service into public consciousness.

Pharrell William’s new single ‘Freedom’ will be an Apple Music exclusive

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 3, 2016

Hip-hop artist Pharrell Williams has revealed that his upcoming single titled “Freedom” will be exclusive to Apple Music, which launches June 30 in a hundred countries across iPhones, iPads, iPods and Mac and Windows PCs, with a native Android app and Apple TV support due this fall.

The revelation of the exclusive agreement with Apple Music came in the ending credits of a teaser video for “Freedom” that was shared on Facebook and Twitter last evening.

Thousands of indie labels get on board with Apple Music ahead of June 30 launch

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 24, 2015

Following a change of heart that will see artists paid for a free 90-day Apple Music trial, Apple's $9.99 per month streaming-music service has landed an important victory by signing up 20,000 independent labels and distributors through a licensing agreement with Beggars Group and Merlin Network, Billboard reported late Tuesday.

The group represents 20,000 labels and distributors worldwide, including artists like 4AD, XL, Matador and Rough Trade, meaning songs by such bands as FKA Twigs, Radiohead and M.I.A. will be part of Apple Music's debut lineup. Beggars has also had a hand in the career of Adele, among others.

Google launches free ad-supported Internet radio just ahead of Apple Music launch

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 23, 2015

Ahead of the June 30 Apple Music debut, Google has cunningly enabled a free streaming tier on its music subscription service called Google Play Music.

The ad-supported tier, which acts as a personalized radio station, is only available in the U.S.

It has hand-made playlists that are personalized around activity, feelings or musical tastes and designed to accompany every moment of your day. You can instantly start radio stations based on songs, artists, or albums—or browse stations by genre, mood, activity, decade and more.

Apple lays out why it relented to compensate artists during free Apple Music trial

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 22, 2015

Apple is in full-on PR damage control mode with a sudden change of heart after pop artist Taylor Swift posted her strongly worded editorial on the controversial and much maligned decision to not pay musicians during Apple Music's free of charge three-month trial period. Eddy Cue, Apple's Senior Vice President of Internet Software and Services, took to Billboard to discuss what prompted this decision.

Apple will pay artists for streaming their songs during Apple Music free trial after all

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated September 6, 2017

Apple's senior vice president of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue put an end Sunday night to several days of controversy by saying that Apple will pay artist for streaming their songs during the customer's free trial period of its new Apple Music service.

In a series of tweets representing a change of stance for the company, Cue clarified that Apple will always make sure that artists are paid.

Apple denies claims that it’s threatening artists to force Apple Music deals

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Apple denies claims made by some artists that it's threatening to remove their songs from iTunes if they don't sign up for Apple Music, reports Rolling Stone. A company spokesperson told the outlet that music "will not be taken off" as a result of license negotiations.

The controversy arose earlier this week when Anton Newcombe of psychedelic rock group Brian Jonestown Massacre took to Twitter to complain about Apple and its bullying tactics. "I said what if I say no, and they said we'll take your music off itunes. hard ball?"

Apple Music will not feature Taylor Swift’s hit album ‘1989’

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Apple was unable to secure the streaming rights for Taylor Swift's '1989' album, BuzzFeed reports. The outlet says both Swift's label and Apple have confirmed the story, meaning the massively popular album won't be available on Apple Music at launch.

Apparently Apple Music will feature Swift's back catalogue, however, which includes 4 other highly sought-after records. But those can already be found on other subscription services such as Rdio and Tidal, so they won't serve as a differentiating feature.