#marcus anthony

I wanted to know that by signing up for Apple Music, as a customer, I am of real value to the artists who give their best work to the service because in my reality, I have had no problem purchasing songs on iTunes. It feels better in my heart when currency values a product – it merits producers of a product to give us more.

That’s not how Apple Music was originally going to operate though.

Originally, Apple was not going to pay royalties to any artists bounded to Apple Music during the company’s three-month free trial period for all new subscribers, after which subscribers pay $9.99 per month. For independent artists, this dictated choice pushed upon them meant they were going to put food on Apple’s tables rather than their own.

Taylor Swift took exception to that.

“I’m not sure you know that Apple Music will not be paying writers, producers, or artists for those three months,” Swift said in regards to Apple’s three-month free trial period. “I find it to be shocking, disappointing, and completely unlike this historically progressive and generous company.”

“This is not about me,” though she insisted. “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.”

As I read Swift’s Tumblr post, I felt like her words echoed my thoughts. I wanted to jump onboard with Apple Music at the onset, but not when it was going to destroy livelihoods. If we destroy artists, we destroy quality music in the future.

Like with Spotify, Rdio, Google Play Music, and a slew of other music streaming services, Swift explained that she would be withholding her latest album, 1989, from appearing on Apple’s new streaming service. That sentiment wasn’t cemented though when said with “love, reverence, and admiration for everything else Apple has done,” that she hopes she can soon join "the progression towards a streaming model that seems fair” for the collective music community worldwide that depends on digital income.

“I think this could be the platform that gets it right,” Swift proclaimed.

Her post measured the power of the Taylor Swift celebrity brand because it was not even 24 hours later when Eddy Cue, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Internet Software and Services, publicly responded via Twitter and announced a major change in the way Apple Music will conduct business.

It was the news everyone wanted to hear, including Taylor Swift.

For me, it solidified my decision to leave Google Play Music upon my impending subscription with Apple Music on June 30, 2015.

According to a new report from The New York Times, Apple will now pay record labels 0.2 cents for each song streamed during the three-month free trial of Apple Music. In addition, record labels will reportedly get an additional 0.047 cents per stream for song rights.

Now when I will be listening to John Lennon and George Harrison on Apple Music, I will feel like I am constantly supporting their estates and everyone involved with their Beatlemania legacies.

When I listen to Omer Bhatti on Apple Music, I will now feel like I am always supporting an artist who is cutting his teeth in Norway, trying to make it big on his own merits when he could do it bigger in America.

With the global reach of Apple Music and its reocurring base of royalty payouts, rather than a one-time iTunes purchase, artists from all corners of the globe may not have to relocate to “make it big” anymore.

Apple Music is the spotlight artists around the world have been waiting for.

"As a kid growing up, I always wondered if my city (Toronto) or even my country (Canada) would have somebody break into the global scene as a true superstar," Drake said at Apple WWDC 2015. "The dream of being an artist like myself and connecting directly with an audience has never been more close and reachable than right now."

We’re living in an interconnected world and now with Apple Music, not only through its curated music streaming service, but also through its packaged features like Discover, Connect, and Beats 1 Radio, we will begin to see a new rising effect for independent artists worldwide.

Apple Music is for me because it supports music the right way.

Thank you Taylor Swift and thank you Apple for listening to her voice that echoed everyone else.