Apple will pay same streaming royalty rate as Spotify during free trial

By

Iovine
Jimmy Iovine talks up Apple Music at WWDC 2015.
Photo: Apple

Having agreed to pay out royalties to music artists during the initial three-month trial period of Apple Music, Apple will reportedly pay rights holders 0.2 cents per stream, according to a new report.

This rate is similar to that paid by other streaming companies, such as Spotify, for their free tier. Apple is also said to be still negotiating a smaller free for songwriting rights which be paid to publishers.

Apple initially insisted on not paying artists during the three-month free trial of Apple Music, since no money will be generated by the service during this time. The issue was a major point of contention with record labels during negotiations, and eventually prompted an open letter from best-selling artist Taylor Swift, which led to Apple reversing its stance.

“Apple will always make sure that artist (sic) are paid,” tweeted Eddy Cue following Swift’s letter.

It’s not clear how the 0.2 cents per stream fee will change after the three-month trial is over. As per a previous report, once Apple Music is making subscription money, Apple will pay artists a percentage of Apple Music revenue, rather than on a per-stream basis.

Yesterday it was announced that Apple’s streaming music service will now include the catalog of Beggars Group and Merlin, which represent more than 20,000 labels and distributors worldwide — bringing thousands more indie labels onboard.

Apple Music is set to launch next Tuesday in over 100 countries around the world.

Source: New York Times

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