Taylor Swift withholds ‘1989’ album from Apple Music

“Taylor Swift’s 1989, which has not been released to any streaming services, will not be available at launch on Apple Music, either, representatives for both Swift’s label Big Machine Records and Apple confirm,” Reggie Ugwu reports for BuzzFeed.

“Only Swift’s back catalog, which is currently available on many streaming services that require users to pay for a subscription… will be found on Apple Music, the Big Machine rep said,” Ugwu reports. “In November, she removed all of her music from Spotify, the most popular on-demand streaming service, arguing that its free version devalues the art form.”

“The Big Machine rep said there are currently no plans to release 1989 to any streaming service in the near future,” Ugwu reports. “1989 has sold nearly 5 million copies since its release last November, making it the best-selling album of both last year and this one.”

Read more in the full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: With her entire back catalog available on multiple streaming services, Swift comes off looking significantly more greedy than principled here.

That, or all of her prior work isn’t “art,” as she seems to have no issues with “devaluing” her life’s work by plopping it on Spotify.

In short, Taylor, pull your whole catalog from all streaming services or STFU. You can’t have it both ways without sacrificing your integrity.