Over the past week, a number of music labels and artists - including Taylor Swift - have spoken out against Apple's plan to not pay royalties during Apple Music's three-month free period. Apple listened.
Eddy Cue announced on Twitter that Apple has turned around its decision and "will pay artists for streaming, even during customer's free trial period" after all. "We hear you @taylorswift13 and indie artists."
Just hours before the announcement, Taylor Swift wrote an open letter to Apple, criticising the "unfair" plan to not pay artists for a quarter of a year. Swift said she was withholding her 1989 album from the service because of this.
We don't ask you for free iPhones
"I find it to be shocking, disappointing, and completely unlike this historically progressive and generous company," said Swift. "Three months is a long time to go unpaid, and it is unfair to ask anyone to work for nothing."
"We don't ask you for free iPhones. Please don't ask us to provide you with our music for no compensation."
Taylor was obviously pleased with Apple's response, with the singer tweeting "I am elated and relieved. Thank you for your words of support today. They listened to us."
Of course, the biggest takeaway here is that open letters do sometimes work. Apple Music will launch on June 30, and you can read more about it here.
