Apple might have huge clout with its Apple Music streaming service, but it can't convince Taylor Swift to get on board. Swifty is notoriously anti-streaming, and now comes word her smash hit album 1989 won't be available on Apple Music when the service launches.
Representatives from both Swift's label Big Machine Records and Apple confirmed the news to BuzzFeed News.
However, Swifty isn't completely anti-Apple. Her back catalogue will be available on Apple Music, the only free service to offer her past records. Others, including Rdio and Tidal, are pay services, whereas Apple Music will offer a free tier. (However, you can't choose what to listen to on the free tier. For that privilege you have to pay £9.99 a month.)
Swift pulled all her albums from Spotify in November, saying that free streaming services devalue her music. She has also previously said that music "should be consumed as albums".
1989 isn't available on any streaming service, and according to the Big Machine rep, there are no plans to change that anytime soon. The only way to buy it is as a physical CD – remember those? – or as a paid download from a store like iTunes. Such a stance hasn't hurt its sales – the album has sold more than 5 million copies since becoming available in November, making it the bestselling album of both last year and this one.
She's not the first to withhold her latest album from streaming services. Beyonce initially kept her self-titled album away from the likes of Spotify back in 2013, but then released it as a deluxe edition 11 months later.
Is Swifty big enough to stand up to Apple and Spotify? Is it hypocritical to keep your back catalogue available but not your latest album? Sing us your views in the comments.
