Independent labels sign Apple Music deal

Photo: Apple Music

The Apple Music story continues to roll on, but thanks to Taylor Swift's notorious open letter, the new streaming service will now pay royalties to artists during its three month trial period.

The turnaround has worked in favour of indie labels, with Beggars Group, the label group that includes the likes of Matador, XL, 4AD, Rough Trade, and Young Turks signing on, despite initially criticising Apple Music's royalty policy (watch Apple Music in action below).

In addition, indie digital rights organization Merlin, that represents about 20,000 independent labels has also endorsed Apple Music, with CEO Charles Caldas “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.”

[Source:Stereogum]