By Mikah Sargent, AJC.comCUPERTINO, Calif.
— Less than 20 hours after
Taylor Swift posted an open letter to Apple asking the company to reconsider its unpaid music-streaming trial, the Cupertino, California, company responded — on Twitter, of all places.
Apple's Eddy Cue — who is in charge of Apple's media deals —
announced the company will pay artists for their music even during the free three-month trial of its upcoming Apple Music service.
So here's how this all played out:
At its World Wide Developers Conference two weeks ago,
Apple unveiled Apple Music, its answer to the music streaming market.
Later, we learned Apple
wouldn't be paying music owners for music streamed during the free trial period — only for streaming that occurs after a user starts paying.
Early Sunday,
Taylor Swift called Apple out, saying,
"We don't ask you for free iPhones. Please don't ask us to provide you with our music for no compensation." Then she said she wouldn't stream her album "1989" on the service. (Video via
Big Machine Records / Taylor Swift)
And just 17 hours later, Apple —
through Eddy Cue — responded.
Re/code
spoke to Eddy Cue, who said he talked with Apple CEO Tim Cook and, prompted by
"Swift's letter, coupled with complaints from indie labels and artists," the company moved to make the change.
