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Taylor Swift vs. Apple

Swift v Apple picTaylor Swift is being hailed as an artist with more business acumen than Apple, one of the world’s largest companies. With one social media post, Swift was able to convince Apple to reverse its decision not to pay artists for the initial three months on Apple Music.

To her credit, Swift is the most popular pop star, she is worth in excess of $200 million, and she is only 25 years old. Her simple statement in a Tumblr post that her new album “1989” would not appear on Apple Music sent Eddy Cue, an Apple executive, backpedaling.

Cue responded to Swift saying that Apple would, in fact, be paying the artists royalties during the free trial period. “We hear you @taylorswift13 and indie artists. Love, Apple,” he tweeted.

True to her word that she believes offering music for free cheapens her product, Swift has not put her “1989” album on Spotify because they offer a free tier service. Her music is on Pandora, Radio, and now Apple Music.

It seems Apple has learned a valuable lesson about greed. Even though providing 90 days of free service would save Apple a few million dollars in royalties for the quarter, the loss of artists and the PR nightmare it was creating was not worth it. Besides, a few million dollars is pocket change for Apple.

As for Swift, she continues to be a role model for teens – she keeps it clean and stays out of trouble – as well as a role model for the business world. She is reenforcing the idea that capitalism is not a bad thing. It is about getting paid what you have earned. If you work hard and you create profits, you should reap the reward.

Even the largest and most successful companies make mistakes. They can even get too greedy, as was the case with Apple. As Swift put it: “But I say to Apple with all due respect, it’s not too late to change this policy and change the minds of those in the music industry who will be deeply and gravely affected by this. We don’t ask you for free iPhones. Please don’t ask us to provide you with our music for no compensation.”

Apple has hopefully realized that without content, they don’t have much to offer the world. Swift wasn’t asking for anything more than what was fair. And, to Apple’s credit, they admitted their mis-step and corrected it. In return, Swift signed on to Apple Music’s new streaming services.

Contact us today to schedule your initial consultation. The attorneys at The Swenson Law Firm provide a variety of business law services to entities of all sizes.

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