Taylor Swift Speaks, Apple Listens

     Generally speaking you don't want to get on Ms. Swifts' bad side. Particularly if you're an ex-boyfriend.

    http://hollywoodlife.com/2014/11/22/taylor-swift-lyrics-harry-styles-out-of-the-woods-song-taylor-lautner/

     Turns out Apple doesn't want to displease her either.

     "Apple will pay artists while its customers get its new Apple Music service for free."

    "Apple has come under fire from musicians recently, most notably from Taylor Swift, over concerns that it would not pay artists during a three-month free trial period it was offering its customers to sample its new streaming service. But it reversed course Sunday night, announcing the change via a tweet from Senior Vice President Eddy Cue."

    "Apple subsequently confirmed to BuzzFeed News that it will, in fact, be paying for the rights to stream music throughout the trial period."

    "In an interview with BuzzFeed News, Cue, Apple’s media boss, said the company will pay artists on a per stream basis during the free three-month trial. Cue declined to say what the rate per stream might be. Afterwards, it will pay music owners 71.5% of Apple Music’s subscription revenue in the United States. Internationally, the number will fluctuate, but will average out at around 73%."

     "The initial decision to forego payments was met with heavy criticism from the music industry at large, especially independent record labels who would be facing a steep charge to be a part of the platform."

    "The deal’s loudest detractor, however, was Swift, who wrote a blog post Sunday morning after BuzzFeed News reported last week that she would not stream her latest album, 1989, on the new service."

     http://www.buzzfeed.com/brendanklinkenberg/apple-now-says-it-will-pay-artists-during-customer-free-tria?bftw&utm_term=4ldqpfp#.oxp4qRMl4

     As for for my take on it, I guess I have no issue with it. Some commentators seemed to feel that she's getting too much praise-its not like she did it to help the indies.

    Look, it''s not a lot of money for her but it's like A-Rod breaking Willie Mays record-it's not the $6 million-neither he nor even less the Yankees need $6 mil-though most of us could use it.

    Yet this is not the point. Sometimes it''s the principle that matters. Now if her stand led Apple to not only pay artists during the free trial period then you might say this extra money in her pocketbook is from the little guy who downloads her music.

    As this is not the case I don't see that it hurts anyone. Arguably it might benefit some indie bands who otherwise wouldn't' get paid during the free trial period.

    The big picture though is: don't mess with Taylor Swift, She's this millennium's dominatrix so far.

    She may not be Robin Hood but she's kind of an impressive example of the famous girl power.