Apple Music will pay royalties for the three-month free trial period

Apple will pay royalties to labels, publishers, and artists during the three-month free trial of its new streaming service Apple Music, the company has confirmed.

Previously it was reported that the tech giant would make no payouts during its trial period, which drew the ire of independent labels – and one Taylor Swift.

Swift, who has previously been outspoken against Spotify's royalty rates and has even pulled music from the service, published a blog post criticising the system. "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," she wrote, "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 seemed to be the tipping point, as Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president for internet software and services, responded directly to Taylor Swift: "Apple will always make sure that artist are paid," he tweeted, "#AppleMusic will pay artist for streaming, even during customer’s free trial period. We hear you @taylorswift13and indie artists. Love, Apple."

Apple Music is the company's rival to streaming services like Spotify and TIDAL, and is set to launch at the end of June in over 100 countries.

[via The Guardian]