Apple changes tune on royalties after Swift complains

PALO ALTO (California) —Apple says it's bowing to concerns raised by pop superstar Taylor Swift. The giant tech company now plans to pay royalties to artists and record labels during a free, three-month trial of its new streaming music service.

Swift had pulled her latest album from the Apple Music service and criticised the company in an open letter to her fans yesterday (June 21), saying it wasn't fair that artists and labels wouldn't be paid directly for the use of their music during the trial period.

Apple had already agreed to share revenue when paid subscriptions begin. But executive Eddy Cue told The Associated Press that Swift's criticism underscored complaints he'd heard from independent artists and spurred the company to change its position on payments during the free trial period. AP