Dear Apple: You're Ripping Off Artists. Love, Taylor

Singer disses free trial period for streaming: 'We don't ask you for free iPhones'
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 21, 2015 11:30 AM CDT
Dear Apple: You're Ripping Off Artists. Love, Taylor
Taylor Swift arrives at the Billboard Music Awards at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on May 17, 2015, in Las Vegas.   (Photo by Eric Jamison/Invision/AP)

First she yanked her music off Spotify. Now Taylor Swift is taking on an even bigger music-streaming behemoth: Apple. The singer decided to keep her 1989 album off of Apple Music after discovering users could hear her songs, and others', for free during the three-month trial period, but that those who created the songs won't be paid a cent during that time, CNNMoney reports. In a Tumblr blog post this morning entitled "To Apple, Love Taylor," Swift wrote, "Apple Music will not be paying writers, producers, or artists for those three months. I find it to be shocking, disappointing, and completely unlike this historically progressive and generous company." Swift insists that her firm missive is "not about me" and that these are "not the complaints of a spoiled, petulant child."

Instead, she's simply sticking up for the new kids on the music block, as she explains: "This is about the new artist or band that has just released their first single and will not be paid for its success. This is about the young songwriter who just got his or her first cut and thought that the royalties from that would get them out of debt. This is about the producer who works tirelessly to innovate and create." And in case Apple didn't get her message after all that, Swift put it in terms she knows the company will understand: "We don't ask you for free iPhones. Please don't ask us to provide you with our music for no compensation." Read her full letter here. (Taylor Swift is everywhere lately—even in the background of a graduation flash mob.)

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