Taylor Swift Stands Up To Apple

After famously snubbing Spotify AG because of the company's royalty payment scheme, Taylor Swift is at it again—this time criticizing Apple's AAPL new music streaming service. In an open letter to Apple, the pop-star apologized to fans for withholding her album, "1989", from Apple's streaming service saying that the company's decision to offer a three month free trial was robbing artists of a large chunk of their royalties. A Voice For The Masses Swift claims her resistance toward Apple's new program is motivated by her desire to protect smaller artists and has little to do with her own royalty payments. As Apple's three month free trial won't pay artists for content played during that time, Swift said it would be "unfair to ask anyone to work for nothing". How Will Apple Respond? Without Swift's hugely popular album available in Apple's streaming service, there could be some backlash from fans. However the company could take a page out of Spotify's book and continue on without including her music. If Apple chooses to go ahead with its three month trial as planned, some artists say they will wait to release their albums until many of the services' users have finished their trial period. The Artist Connection Swift's letter to Apple underscores the importance of music industry connections and making artists happy as music streaming grows in popularity. While low cost services appeal to the public, popular musicians could start following in Swift's footsteps and withholding their content in hopes of better terms. Such a movement would add momentum to services with strong connections in the music industry like rapper Jay-Z's Tidal service.