Apple Music Signs Deal To Pay Independent Labels

In an unusually, well, swift move for such a monolithic company, Apple made waves this week by reversing course on a major issue. The electronics giant plans to launch Apple Music at the end of this month, and with it take the digital music streaming world by storm. However, when it became apparent that Apple would not be paying those who control a song or album's publishing during its three-month trial period, artists and observers were up in arms. The blowback included a widely-publicized op-ed by none other than Taylor Swift, who took the company to task for profiting off of creative work without compensating those who made it. In response, Apple changed its tune, agreeing in principle to pay artists and labels. Now, it appears that the ink is dry on several contracts to that effect. Billboard reports that the company has signed deals with Merlin and Beggars Group, two companies that between them represent over 20,000 independent record labels worldwide. (Beggars is a four-label group comprised of XL, Matador, 4AD and Rough Trade.)

In a statement, Beggars Group had the following to say:

"Over the last few days we have had increasingly fruitful discussions with Apple. We are now delighted to say that we are happy to endorse the deal with Apple Music as it now stands, and look forward to being a big part of a very exciting future."

As for Merlin, their CEO had the following to say in a letter to shareholders:

"I am pleased to say that Apple has made a decision to pay for all usage of Apple Music under the free trials on a per-play basis, as well as to modify a number of other terms that members had been communicating directly with Apple about. With these changes, we are happy to support the deal."