Si quelqu’un avait encore des doutes que Taylor Swift était l’artiste la plus influente au monde, elle vient de confondre les sceptiques en faisant plier Apple de payer les artistes qui seront entendus sur leur nouveau service de streaming qui cherche à concurrencer Spotify.
Celle qui sort officiellement avec Calvin Harris avait écrit une longue lettre à la compagnie au logo de pomme en fin de semaine. Swift demandait que les artistes se fassent payer. Elle ne parlait pas pour elle, car la chanteuse de 25 ans peut très bien vivre sans ce genre de revenu. Elle parlait plutôt pour les artistes indie et émergents qui ont besoin de recevoir les redevances de lorsque leur musique est entendue.
La lettre complète est ci-dessous.
“I write this to explain why I’ll be holding back my album, 1989, from the new streaming service, Apple Music. I feel this deserves an explanation because Apple has been and will continue to be one of my best partners in selling music and creating ways for me to connect with my fans. I respect the company and the truly ingenious minds that have created a legacy based on innovation and pushing the right boundaries.
I’m sure you are aware that Apple Music will be offering a free 3 month trial to anyone who signs up for the service. I’m not sure you know that Apple Music will not be paying writers, producers, or artists for those three months. I find it to be shocking, disappointing, and completely unlike this historically progressive and generous company.
This is not about me. Thankfully I am on my fifth album and can support myself, my band, crew, and entire management team by playing live shows. 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 tirelessly to innovate and create, just like the innovators and creators at Apple are pioneering in their field…but will not get paid for a quarter of a year’s worth of plays on his or her songs.
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.
I realize that Apple is working towards a goal of paid streaming. I think that is beautiful progress. We know how astronomically successful Apple has been and we know that this incredible company has the money to pay artists, writers and producers for the 3 month trial period… even if it is free for the fans trying it out.
Three months is a long time to go unpaid, and it is unfair to ask anyone to work for nothing. I say this with love, reverence, and admiration for everything else Apple has done. I hope that soon I can join them in the progression towards a streaming model that seems fair to those who create this music. I think this could be the platform that gets it right.
But I say to Apple with all due respect, it’s not too late to change this policy and change the minds of those in the music industry who will be deeply and gravely affected by this. We don’t ask you for free iPhones. Please don’t ask us to provide you with our music for no compensation.
Taylor”
Vraiment bien dit et son point est bon. Les artistes émergents doivent être payés pour leur musique. Point final.
Dans la même journée d’hier, Apple a entendu Taylor Swift. Eddy Cue, l’un des dirigeants les plus influents de Apple, a personnellement appelé Swift pour lui mentionner que tous les artistes seraient désormais payés. Et ce, même lors des 3 mois d’essais du nouveau service.
Le tout s’est terminé avec un échange de tweet.
Incroyable quand même. Taylor Swift a réussi à faire plier Apple en moins de 24h après son billet Tumblr.
Cela dit, ce n’est pas encore certain que le nouveau disque de T-Swift, 1989, sera disponible sur le nouveau service de streaming.
Pendant ce temps, la chanteuse de 25 ans continue de passer du temps avec son nouveau copain Calvin Harris.