NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Nashville songwriters reacted to Taylor Swift's stance against Apple's original plan to not pay royalties during a 90-day trial period for its new music streaming service.
Swift took to her blog on Tumbler this past weekend with an open letter to Apple explaining why she would not offer her music on the company's new service.
Apple quickly responded and said they would reverse its decision not to pay for the music it will stream during the trial period.
At the Nashville Songwriters Association International Headquarters on Music Row two songwriters applauded Swift for taking a stand.
"I think an artist should get paid, and a songwriter should get paid, for what they create," said songwriter Rachel Hutcheson.
Often the songwriting process can be lengthy, with songwriters who put in many hours of their time.
"For Rachel and I, we put in a lot of work on every song we write, and some songs, it make take us a year to write a song," said songwriter Devon Cox.
The laws that govern artists, and songwriters, are very different. A songwriter can not dictate where a song can, or cannot, be played.
The amount of money they are paid is also drastically different than what an artist collects from each play of a song.
"It is significant income. Taylor, and artists, are under different rules than the songwriters. They can do what she did and pull the songs, but they get 1/10,000th of a penny for streaming royalties, and they can pay their bills," said Bart Herbison, the executive director of Nashville Songwriters Association International.
Herbison is hopeful Swift's stance with Apple will shine a spotlight on this topic, and lawmakers will take notice.
"We just want to be under more marketplace rules, and make it more fair. We'd like to be able to say no to these services, if we think that's a smart business decision, just like Taylor Swift was able to do," said Herbison.
Apple is expected to start its music streaming service on June 30th. It will be free to Apple customers for the first 90-days, and then the subscription will be $10 monthly.
