The chairman of the British music industry lobby group UK Music says that independent labels may not agree to Apple’s terms for inclusion on Apple Music. Andy Heath told the Telegraph that receiving no payment during the free trial period could leave indies, which include big-name artists like Adele and the Arctic Monkeys, “completely screwed.”
Heath said that while Apple’s argument is that it will pay slightly more once the free trial is over, smaller labels may be concerned that they will see fewer download sales during the free trial – and that this could put smaller companies out of business.
If you are running a small label on tight margins you literally can’t afford to do this free trial business. Their plan is clearly to move people over from downloads, which is fine, but it will mean us losing those revenues for three months.
While this argument wouldn’t apply to big-name artists signed to indie labels, some of them have in the past taken a stand against terms they consider unfair, such as the low payments from Spotify’s free members. Adele famously refused to allow her hit album 21 to appear on Spotify until long after its release …
Heath’s claim that “to his knowledge no British independent labels have agreed to Apple’s terms” seems somewhat misleading: Billboard reported yesterday that Apple has yet to contact any of them.
“With the launch of Apple Music exactly two weeks away (set to launch on June 30), indie music publishers say that they have had no contact from the company seeking licenses, leading many in the music publishing community to suspect that the Cupertino giant will send a bulk email to publishers with an opt-in contract attached.”
The music magazine’s sources said that it is believed Apple will be offering the same 71.5% total split agreed with larger labels once the trial period is over, 1.5% above the industry standard rate for streaming services.
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“completely screwed.” because of a 3-month free trial? Really?
Aren’t they millionaires already?
Yeah talk about hyperbole.
Carl Icahn is a billionaire and he wants more money. What’s your point?
The vast majority of artists on indy labels get paid next to nothing when it comes to streaming. Streaming is great for the music consumer — unlimited access to music, but it pretty much blows for the artist. The NYT had a profile of an indy musician — her songs were streamed over 500,000 times, her royalties didn’t cover the cost of groceries.
It used to be a musician could make money off of their music — now they need streaming to gain exposure so they can try to sell t-shirts or sell tickets to shows. The internet makes content a commodity. Again, it’s great for the consumer, but a complete sh*t sandwich for the artist.
If they’re concerned they should just wait for three months when the majority of the free trials will take place. Beginning in October they could collect from individuals who elected to keep the service unless I’m misunderstanding and the labels themselves collect nothing for three months.
id you think about the full situation this is really a legitimate concern. If all of the millions of iTunes users get Apple Music when it begins at the end of the month with the three month free trial that’s MILLIONS of dollars in losses that are no longer coming from music downloads. Larger commercial music groups may be able to afford such a hit. If you think about the smaller independent artist that put up their own money to finance their projects that’s millions that they may not be able to afford.
Another thing to consider is how long is the 3 month trial going to last. Most likely its an initial launch, but considering how long the initial trial last will also contribute the the losses as well
I wish the writer of this article should not have included such large names as Adele and the Arctic Monkeys because they are main stream enough to not be concerned
I agree with miglopez. This will only be a legitimate concern during the initial 3 month Apple Music sign up. After that, there will be significantly less users signing up for the service with that 3 month free trial. And the artists can wait longer than that if they want! Just hold off until you feel that the majority of your fans have already made the switch! Then, sign up! But, don’t whine about it… Just be an adult and make the business decision that is right for your company.
If they are in trouble from losing 3 months of iTunes download sales they’re going to be in trouble even if those 3 months of streaming revenue are paid at lower streaming rates, surely?
the more i hear about apple music the more im persuaded to keep my Google Music subscription service
Good luck with that.
There are so many other choices out there for music, I don’t see the point of Apple Music.
i don’t understand the thinking behind the “it already exists thus Apple shouldn’t do it” mentality. Because Coke exists should Pepsi fold shop, because the Ford Model T was invented why did chevrolet even bother? I just don’t understand the apple music sucks because spotify exists crowd.
I just downloaded Adele and Arctic Monkeys discographies from PirateBay to protest this.
Its always fun when things like this come out, because you really see who the greedy artists are
Not to mention those who didn’t think well enough ahead to broker better deals with their labels who pocket the majority of the money before way before the artist gets paid.
So artists are greedy because they expect that they should be paid for their hard work?
Do I see you going to work and taking a voluntary 3 month period without pay?