Apple Music Does Deal With Indies

The turning point in Apple’s talks with the music industry came late Sunday night, when — after a
rebuke from Taylor Swift — the company reversed course on a proposal to not pay royalties during test drives of a new streaming music service, reports The NY Times.

But for thousands of small record companies for whom Apple is a crucial source of income, a crisis had already been in effect for two weeks, and was resolved only late Tuesday, when the independent groups agreed to licensing terms with the tech giant.

“Over the last few days, we have had increasingly fruitful discussions with Apple,” Martin Mills, the founder of Beggars Group, whose acts include Adele and Vampire Weekend, said in a statement on Wednesday. “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.”

The deal, which was also endorsed by Merlin, an organization that represents small labels in digital negotiations, will let thousands of labels join the new streaming service, Apple Music, which will open around the world on Tuesday. The new service is Apple’s long-awaited entry to the world of on-demand streaming music, and will include $10-a-month subscription plans to rival Spotify and others.

Apple did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday about the indie deals, and representatives of Beggars, Merlin and other independents declined to comment further.

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