If only every blog post written by a woman could carry as much clout as one published by Taylor Swift.
The singer songwriter has successfully defended her right to be paid for her work by one of the world’s largest companies, after taking to her keyboard to declare what’s fair for artists.
In a move that will have Swift moving further up the Forbes’ most powerful women list (she’s currently No. 65), the popstar blogged that she would not be putting her latest album 1989 on Apple’s new streaming service, because Apple refused to pay artists during its three month free trial period offered to users.
The threat worked. A senior Apple executive tweeted overnight that Apple would pay artists whose music is streamed on Apple Music, “even during the free trial period”. So Swift gets paid, as does every other artist streamed by Apple.
In the open letter titled “To Apple, Love Taylor”, the popstar acknowledged her respect for the company and its role in allowing her to connect with fans. However, she added Apple’s decision to not pay artists is: “shocking, disappointing, and completely unlike this historically progressive and generous company.”
Swift went on to explain that her stance is not about getting more money personally — she’s on her fifth album and is managing just fine — but rather about pushing Apple to do what’s right.
“This is about the new artist or band that has just released their first single and will not be paid for its success,” she wrote.
“Three months is a long time to go unpaid, and it is unfair to ask anyone to work for nothing.” Then things got a little more pointed: “We don’t ask you for free iPhones. Please don’t ask us to provide you with our music for no compensation.
“These are not the complaints of a spoiled, petulant child. These are the echoed sentiments of every artist, writer and producer in my social circles who are afraid to speak up publicly because we admire and respect Apple so much. We simply do not respect this particular call.”
She finished by telling Apple it’s “not too late” to change the policy. The post’s received more than 76,000 notes on the Tumblr page where it’s published, and been described as gracious, stern, polite and necessary.
Swift’s 1989 sold 3.5 million copies last year, making her one of only a tiny number of artists to sell platinum albums in 2014. Album sales have been falling generally due to the rise of streaming services like Spotify – of which Swift has become one of the world’s most outspoken critics of.
Swift couldn’t win Triple J’s Hottest 100 in Australia, but she can certainly get major multi-nationals to take notice.
And knowing what she’s worth and how much she should be paid? Not bad for a 25-year-old at all. It was no surprise to see her tweet overnight that she’s “elated and relieved” over Apple’s response.