Apple
Music wins exclusive video deal with Taylor Swift
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[December 14, 2015]
By Sam Forgione
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Apple
Inc won a deal with pop star Taylor Swift to exclusively
release a concert video of her recent world tour through
its music streaming service, Apple Music, the company
and singer said on Sunday.
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Swift, who celebrated her 26th birthday on Sunday, tweeted a
trailer for the "1989 World Tour Live" concert video and said:
"Thank you so much for all the birthday wishes. I have a little
surprise for you." The video will air on Dec. 20.
The singer also tweeted that an interview discussing the video
would be broadcast at 9 a.m. PST (1700 GMT) on Monday on Beats
1, Apple's radio station. Apple officials were not immediately
available for comment.
"It sounds like a very, very significant win for Apple," said
John Jackson, an analyst at market research firm IDC in Boston.
"It's on the order of a coup for Apple inasmuch as we all know
that Apple is late to this party and the competition is fierce,
the market is heavily subscribed with services."
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Jackson cited music streaming services Spotify and Songza as
examples of such competitors.
Launched in June, Apple Music is Apple's attempt to carry its
dominance of digital music through its iTunes store into the era
of music streaming.
Chief Executive Tim Cook said in October the music streaming
service had netted more than 6.5 million paid users, and that an
additional 8.5 million people were participating in a free
trial.
Analysts have predicted that Apple's service will find a strong
following because of the vast installed base of iTunes users.
But few think the iPhone maker will eclipse other music
streaming companies. Spotify, founded in 2006, has over 20
million subscribers and over 75 million active users, according
to its website.
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Swift said in June she would put her hit album "1989" on Apple
Music, days after the tech giant bowed to pressure from Swift and
some independent music groups and labels and agreed to pay artists
during the free trial period for its music service.
Swift's decision came after she pulled her entire catalog of music
from Spotify in November 2014 and refused to offer "1989" on
streaming services, saying the business had shrunk the numbers of
paid album sales drastically.
She is not the only star challenging the streaming services.
British singer Adele's much-anticipated album "25" was withheld from
streaming on digital music services, including Spotify, Apple Music
and Deezer.
(Reporting by Sam Forgione; Additional reporting by Julia Love in
San Francisco and Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Stephen R. Trousdale
and Peter Cooney)
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