News - 15/07/2015

Scott Borchetta: I did not know about Taylor Swift’s letter until she texted me to say "Don't be mad"

Scott Borchetta: I did not know about Taylor Swift’s letter until she texted me to say "Don't be mad"

Big Machine Records’s CEO Scott Borchetta told the audience at Fortune’s Brainstorm Tech conference that he did not know Taylor Swift was going to publish her now famous letter to Apple. 

Borchetta stated that he was in negotiations with Apple over Apple Music and that the corporation’s request not to pay royalties during the three-month free trial was a difficult issue for the label to overcome. 

However, Taylor’s decision to take a stance was not prompted by Borchetta, and Swift actually texted him with a link to the letter stating “Don’t be mad”.

In this case however there was nothing for Borchetta to be mad about since Swift’s letter seemed to tip the scales and convince Apple that it should pay for the three-month free trial after all, leading to the two parties to reach an agreement over royalties which saw Swift distribute 1989 on a music streaming platform for the very first time.

It is worth pointing out that Swift’s action was not the only reason why Apple changed course, the independent sector had been very vocal about this policy in the days leading up to the letter which had likely prompted Apple to consider the consequences of a change of heart, but now we’ll never know whether Apple would have changed its mind regardless. 

 

(Andrea Leonelli)

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