Taylor Swift arrives at the Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas on May 17, 2015. Swift publicly rebuked Apple Inc. on June 21 for not paying artists during the trial period for its new music-streaming service, Apple Music, which will debut next week with 30 million songs.Eric Jamison
Taylor Swift and Apple Inc. have shaken it off and won't trouble each other any more.
The seven-time Grammy winner has agreed to put her top-charted album 1989 on Apple Music after she persuaded the world's largest company by market capitalization to pay royalties for songs played on its new music-streaming service during a three-month free trial.
"I've decided to put 1989 on Apple Music … and happily so," Ms. Swift said in a tweet Thursday. The album includes such hits as Shake It Off and Blank Space.
Ms. Swift publicly rebuked the maker of iPhones on June 21 for not paying artists during the trial period for its new music-streaming service, which will debut next week with 30 million songs. Apple Music is the company's big gamble to catch up with other subscription music services, such as Spotify Ltd., which are threatening to rewrite the industry. Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president for software and services, responded to Swift, saying in an interview with Billboard that Apple had decided that she was right.
With the feud now over, Ms. Swift thanked Apple and clarified that she wasn't getting any special treatment.
"In case you're wondering if this is some exclusive deal like you've seen Apple do with other artists, it's not," Ms. Swift said in a subsequent tweet today. "This is simply the first time it's felt right in my gut to stream my album. Thank you, Apple, for your change of heart."
Apple's Mr. Cue welcomed the news on his Twitter account: "See you on #AppleMusic on June 30th!" A company spokesman said, "We are thrilled."
1989 scored the biggest debut of any album since 2002, according to Billboard, selling more than 1.2 million copies. It was Ms. Swift's third record to top one million sales in the first week, according to the artist's website. Seven months after its initial release, it is one of the 10 bestselling albums on iTunes. Ms. Swift withheld her full album from streaming services such as Spotify because they devalue her music, she said.
Apple Music will debut on June 30. After the free trial, the service will cost $9.99 (U.S.) a month per user or $14.99 per family.
The company had been aggressive in courting artists for the service and has argued they should be paid. The service will be available on iPhones, iPads, iPod touch, Macs, Apple TV, personal computers and – in a surprising twist – Android smartphones running software from Google Inc.