苹果改变流媒体政策 将在试用期付费

Swift Change to Apple Streaming Policy 苹果改变流媒体政策 将在试用期付费

Pop music queen Taylor Swift took a bite out of Apple this week and the company responded with “Love.”

The technology company had announced plans to make its new music streaming service free to customers for the first three months of its existence. The service is to start June 30. Apple said in early June it would not pay any royalties¹ to the artists’ whose music is streamed on Apple Music during the trial.

Many independent bands and artists protested the Apple decision earlier this month. Apple remained firm about its plan, however. Then, on Sunday, Taylor Swift posted her protest, “To Apple, Love Taylor,” on her Tumbler blog.

She wrote, “These are not the complaints of a spoiled, petulant² child. These are the echoed³ sentiments⁴ of every artist, writer and producer in my social circles who are afraid to speak up publicly because we admire and respect Apple so much. We simply do not respect this particular call.”

Swift argued that three months is a long time to go without being paid for “new artist or band that has just released their first single and will not be paid for its success.”

Apple did not even wait a day. Just a few hours after Swift’s open letter appeared online, Apple changed its mind.

Company official Eddy⁶ Cue⁷ said he called Taylor Swift to tell her about the new policy. He also discussed the issue on the social media site, Twitter. He tweeted “Apple will always make sure that artists are paid,” and “Apple Music will pay artist for streaming even during customer’s free trial period.”

As Taylor Swift had titled her letter, “To Apple, Love Taylor,” Eddy Cue closed his final tweet with “Love, Apple.”

So, how was Taylor Swift able to move the powerful technology company toward her position? She is powerful, too. She has tens of millions of fans, sold tens of millions of albums and is huge in digital music sales.

Swift already had received public praise for another move in support of artists’ rights. Last year, she withdrew her music from the streaming service, Spotify. She argued that the company paid too little for music which she called “rare and important” art.

However, Spotify and Apple pay artists about the same rate in royalties. And Spotify is a much smaller force in the industry.

The storm produced by Taylor Swift’s protest lasted less than 24 hours. And did it even damage Apple? Now the company looks like a music hero, less than a month before Apple Music opens for business.

Words in This Story

streaming – adj. playing continuously as data is sent to a computer over the Internet

customer – n. someone who buys goods or services from a business

royalty⁸ – n. an amount of money that is paid to the original creator of a product, book, or piece of music based on how many copies have been sold — usually plural⁹

petulant - adj. having or showing the attitude of people who become angry and annoyed when they do not get what they want

sentiment⁵ – n. an attitude or opinion

digital – adj. using or characterized by computer technology

1 royalties   

特许权使用费

参考例句：

• I lived on about £3,000 a year from the royalties on my book. 我靠着写书得来的每年约3，000英镑的版税生活。 来自辞典例句
• Payments shall generally be made in the form of royalties. 一般应采取提成方式支付。 来自经济法规部分

2 petulant   

adj.性急的，暴躁的

参考例句：

• He picked the pen up with a petulant gesture.他生气地拿起那支钢笔。
• The thing had been remarked with petulant jealousy by his wife.

3 echoed   

重复，随声附和( echo的过去式和过去分词 )； 类似； 发射（声音等）； 发出回声

参考例句：

• Their shouts re-echoed through the darkness. 他们的喊声回荡在黑暗中。
• Their footsteps echoed in the silence. 他们的脚步声在一片寂静中回荡着。

4 sentiments   

（基于情感的）观点( sentiment的名词复数 )； （对怜悯、怀旧等的）柔情； （失之过度或不恰当的）伤感； 态度或意见

参考例句：

• the spread of nationalist sentiments 民族主义情绪的传播
• He expressed his sentiments about the war with great eloquence. 他雄辩地表达了他对那场战争的看法。

5 sentiment   

n.感情，情趣，意见，观点，多愁善感

参考例句：

• He has illustrated this sentiment thoroughly in a drama.他在一出戏剧里充分地表现了这种感情。
• Should sentiment be controlled by reason?感情应受理智的控制吗？

6 eddy   

n.漩涡，涡流

参考例句：

• The motor car disappeared in eddy of dust.汽车在一片扬尘的涡流中不见了。
• In Taylor's picture,the eddy is the basic element of turbulence.在泰勒的描述里，旋涡是湍流的基本要素。

7 cue   

n.暗示，信号，提示；vt.提示，暗示

参考例句：

• When she coughs,it's my cue to come onto the stage.她一咳嗽，就是给我暗号出场。
• The actor missed his cue and came onto the stage late.这演员错过了向他发出的提示，上场晚了。

8 royalty   

n.皇家，皇族

参考例句：

• She claims to be descended from royalty.她声称她是皇室后裔。
• I waited on tables，and even catered to royalty at the Royal Albert Hall.我做过服务生， 甚至在皇家阿伯特大厅侍奉过皇室的人。

9 plural   

n.复数；复数形式；adj.复数的

参考例句：

• Most plural nouns in English end in's '.英语的复数名词多以s结尾。
• Here you should use plural pronoun.这里你应该用复数代词。