蘋果因泰勒·斯威夫特改變音樂版稅政策

When Taylor Swift speaks, even the most powerful company in the world listens.

泰勒·斯威夫特(Taylor Swift)發表意見的時候，甚至連世界上最強大的公司都會傾聽。

Less than 24 hours after Ms. Swift complained publicly that Apple was not planning to pay royalties during a three-month trial period of its new streaming music service, the company changed course, and confirmed that it will pay its full royalty rates for music during the free trial.

斯威夫特公開抱怨稱，蘋果公司(Apple)不會在其新流媒體音樂服務爲期三個月的試用期間支付版稅。之後還不到24小時，蘋果就改弦更張，確認公司將在免費試用期間全額支付音樂版稅。

“When I woke up this morning and read Taylor’s note, it really solidified that we need to make a change,” Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet software and services, said in an interview late Sunday.

蘋果的互聯網軟件與服務負責人艾迪·庫伊(Eddy Cue)週日晚些時候接受採訪時表示，”我早晨醒來後看到了泰勒發的博文，這真的堅定了一個想法，那就是我們需要做出改變。”

In a letter posted Sunday morning to her Tumblr page, called “To Apple, Love Taylor,” Ms. Swift addressed a situation that had begun to send shock waves through the music industry: Apple, which has announced a subscription streaming service to compete with Spotify, Rhapsody and Deezer, was not going to pay royalties during the trial period.

週日早晨，斯威夫特在博客網站Tumblr發表題爲《致蘋果公司，來自泰勒的心聲》(To Apple, Love Taylor)的公開信，提出了一個問題，這個問題已經開始在音樂界引起軒然大波：蘋果宣佈提供流媒體訂閱服務，與Spotify、Rhapsody和Deezer展開競爭，但蘋果在試用期間不會支付版費。

Ms. Swift, who last year pulled her music from Spotify in another dispute over royalties, called Apple’s policy “shocking, disappointing and completely unlike this historically progressive company.”

斯威夫特去年因爲另一場有關版稅的爭端，將自己的歌曲從Spotify撤出。斯威夫特稱，蘋果公司的政策“令人震驚、失望，完全不像這個一直以來不斷向前發展的公司。”

“We don’t ask you for free iPhones,” she added. “Please don’t ask us to provide you with our music for no compensation.”

“我們沒有要求獲得免費的iPhone，”她還表示。“請不要要求我們免費提供音樂。”

Ms. Swift had framed her letter as an explanation for why she was withholding her latest album, “1989,” from Apple’s new service. But she said that she was also speaking for other musicians who were afraid to speak up about the issue, and her comments found wide support in the music world. On Twitter, Elvis Costello called Ms. Swift’s note “a note from our future President.”

斯威夫特通過這封公開信解釋了，她爲何暫時停止通過蘋果的新服務來發布自己的最新專輯《1989》。她還表示，她的話也代表了那些敢怒而不敢言的音樂人。她的評論在音樂界獲得了廣泛支持。埃爾維斯·科斯泰洛(Elvis Costello)在Twitter上表示，這是“來自我們未來總統的信件”。

Apple’s new service, called Apple Music, is set to become available worldwide on June 30. Besides its longstanding iTunes download store, it will include a $10 streaming subscription plan, a free Internet radio station and a media platform that will let artists upload songs, videos and other content for fans. Unlike Spotify, which lets customers listen free or pay monthly fees to eliminate ads, Apple’s subscription feature will have no permanent free level.

蘋果原定於6月30日在全世界範圍內提供新服務Apple Music。除了早就推出的iTunes下載商店，蘋果還將推出售價10美元（約合62元人民幣）的流媒體訂閱服務套餐，一個免費的網絡電臺和一個媒體平臺，藝術家可以通過這個平臺上傳歌曲、視頻及其他內容供粉絲使用。Spotify爲用戶提供免費音樂服務，或每月收取一定的屏蔽廣告的費用。但與Spotify不同，蘋果的訂閱服務沒有永久免費的選擇。

Apple’s arrival in streaming music has been much anticipated by the music industry, but its plan not to pay royalties during its trial period drew complaints from independent music groups around the world, saying that the company’s terms were unfair.

蘋果進軍流媒體音樂領域的舉動在音樂界備受矚目，但試用期間不支付版稅的計劃在世界各地的沒有關聯的音樂團體中引發不滿，他們抱怨稱蘋果公司的條款是不公平的。

But the criticism from Ms. Swift — perhaps the biggest star in pop today — was a damaging public-relations misstep for Apple on the eve of its big new product release.

來自斯威夫特的批評是該公司推出其重要新產品前遭遇的頗具破壞性的公關失誤，因爲她可能算是當今流行樂壇影響最大的明星。

Mr. Cue, the Apple executive in charge of iTunes and Apple’s new music service, said that he had spoken to Ms. Swift on Sunday. “I did let her know that we heard her concerns and made the change,” he said.

負責iTunes和新音樂服務的蘋果高管庫伊表示，他週日與斯威夫特進行了交談。他說，“我告訴她我們注意到了她提出的問題，並做出了改變。”

Early Monday, after Apple’s change was announced, Ms. Swift tweeted:

週一早些時候，在蘋果宣佈做出改變之後，斯威夫特在Twitter發帖稱:

Mr. Cue said the company’s original plan was to pay a slightly higher royalty rate — at least 71.5 percent of the money it collects from sales, as opposed to the industry standard of about 70 percent — in exchange for the free trial.

庫伊稱，蘋果公司最初的計劃是，作爲試用期間免費的交換，會按照較高的版稅率——至少是銷售額的71.5%，而業界標準爲接近70%——支付費用。

But many record executives, particularly at small labels where margins are thin, had described a frightening scenario in which income from important new albums that came out during the free period would not only lose out on crucial download income, but also get nothing from Apple’s new streaming feature.

但很多唱片公司高管，特別是那些利潤較薄的小公司的高管，描述了一個可怕的場景，在免費試用期間推出的重要新專輯不僅會失去關鍵的下載收入，也不會從蘋果的流媒體音樂服務中獲利。

Mr. Cue said that Apple will now pay royalties to both record companies and music publishers for the use of music during the trial period. He declined to specify how much money that might cost the company, which is the biggest retailer of music.

庫伊表示，蘋果公司現在會在服務試用期間向唱片公司及音樂出版商支付版稅。他拒絕詳細說明蘋果此舉的成本會有多大。該公司目前是全球最大的音樂零售商。

Ms. Swift has long been outspoken on economic issues for musicians. In a piece in The Wall Street Journal last year, she wrote: “Valuable things should be paid for. It’s my opinion that music should not be free.”

斯威夫特很早就在經濟問題上直言不諱地爲音樂人發聲。她去年在《華爾街日報》(Wall Street Journal)發表文章稱，“有價值的東西需要付費才能得到。我認爲音樂不應該是免費的。“