Apple Music to pay artist royalties after Taylor Swift pulls 1989 album from streaming service

Apple has announced it will pay artists and producers royalties during the free trial period of Apple Music, senior vice president for internet software and services Eddy Cue has confirmed.

The move comes after pop star Taylor Swift published a blog post explaining why she pulled her album 1989 from the streaming service, underlining that she wants to stand up for small artists who will not get paid for three months.

Cue told Buzzfeed News about the U-turn. He said: "We want artists to be paid for their work, and when we hear from them... Taylor's tweet today solidified the issue for us and we decided to make a change."

In the post, Swift said that she felt the need to explain her move because of her relationship with Apple: "Apple has been and will continue to be one of my best partners in selling music and creating ways for me to connect with my fans."

Swift's protest against unpaid royalties is not her first. In 2014, she pulled her music from Spotify, saying she thought it did not pay artists enough for their music.

Buzzfeed News confirmed that Swift is in talks with Apple but she has not yet confirmed she would make her music available on Apple Music.

Swift was not the only one who criticised Apple's decision not to pay royalties to artists for the three months of the free trial.

Rolling Stone reported that many independent indie labels did not want to work with Apple because of the lack of payment.