Earlier today, noted hater of streaming music Taylor Swift published an open letter to Apple, blasting its decision to not pay artists during the three-month free trial for Apple Music. A few hours later, it appears that Apple got the message, and is changing its policy on paying artists.


In a series of messages posted on Twitter, Apple SVP of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue (also known as Apple’s Mr Fix-It) reaffirmed the company’s dedication to indie artists, and more importantly, announced that Apple will pay artists for streams during the three-month trial period.


In the wake of the Apple Music announcement, record labels and artists have been appreciative of Apple’s industry-high revenue-sharing offer (Apple is offering artists 71.5% of revenues, versus a standard 70%), but labels — in particular those representing indie artists — blasted the company’s decision not to pay artists anything during customers’ three-month free trial.

Although Apple argued that the higher revenue share would lead to greater payouts over time, artists worried that anyone releasing a new album during the first three months of Apple Music’s existence would receive diddly squat.


Although this is a big win for Ms Swift, there’s a few questions that still need answering: namely, will 1989 now be available on Apple Music, and how much revenue will Apple be sharing with artists during the 3-month trial period?

Update: According to Recode’s Peter Kafka, Apple will be paying artists on a different, per-stream basis during the free trial, rather than the revenue-sharing model used for paying subscribers.


Contact the author at chris@gizmodo.com .