Later this month, when Apple launches its Spotify Killer, Apple Music, it’s going to have a hole shaped like a certain cheery, blonde girl with a lot of ex-boyfriends. As reported by Buzzfeed, Taylor Swift has declared that her latest album, 1989, will not be available on Apple Music at launch, and her label says that there are “currently no plans” to change that or release 1989 to any other streaming services. Older Taylor Swift albums will still be on Apple Music, but the only way to hear 1989 will be to buy a copy for yourself (assuming you’re the one person in the world who hasn’t already). This comes only a few months after Swift pulled all of her music from Spotify, arguing back then that she doesn’t believe the streaming service’s business model “fairly compensates the writers, producers, artists, and creators” involved.
Now, Swift—being a young person who feels ways about stuff—has taken to her Tumblr blog to explain why she decided to pull 1989 from Apple Music. Her reasoning follows the same thread as her issue with Spotify, but she’s particularly offended by the three-month trial period that Apple Music is extending to all new subscribers. For those three months, users can listen to whatever they want for as long as they want, and since Apple isn’t making any money off of those three months, neither will the artists who licensed their songs to Apple. In the music industry, they call that “a pretty shitty deal.” Also, Swift wants to make sure people know that this isn’t about protecting her music specifically, it’s about sticking up for the little guys:
This is not about me…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 tireless to innovate and create…but will not get paid for a quarter of a year’s worth of plays on his or her songs.
She later says that, “These are not the complains of a spoiled, petulant child. These are the echoed sentiments of every artist, writer, and producer in my social circle who are afraid to speak up publicly because we admire and respect Apple so much. We simply do not respect this particular call.” Swift wraps up her post saying that “it’s not too late” for Apple to change this policy and come up with one that supports the artists more, adding, “We don’t ask you for free iPhones. Please don’t ask us to provide you with our music for no compensation.”