When you sign in to use Apple Music for the first time, you may find that you’re unable to find the music of many of your favorite artists.
Apple has made efforts to make its music streaming service a more artist-friendly product than competitors like Spotify, which offers music creators 71.5 percent of revenue in the U.S. and 73 percent in the U.K. as compared to the 70 percent industry average, Business Insider reports.
Huge congrats to jimmy and @AppleMusic on the launch!! I’m celebrating for you!!!! 🙂 pic.twitter.com/F9dM5oohtp
— Zedd (@Zedd) June 9, 2015
Though some musicians welcomed the new service, a bevy of prominent artists, including Taylor Swift, Adele, Radiohead and many others, remain unconvinced.
Swift announced yesterday that her latest and most popular album, 1989, will not be available on Apple Music. Though Apple did manage to secure the rights to Swift’s back catalog, giving it a leg up on Spotify, the absence of the biggest record of the last two years will certainly be noticed.
A number of independent record labels, including Matador Records, 4AD, Rough Trade Records and XL Recording have been similarly hesitant to partner up with Apple, failing to reach an agreement to put their music on the service.
These labels include a number of prominent artists, meaning that Apple Music will likely have to do without Adele, The White Stripes, Radiohead, Vampire Weekend, The Strokes, Queens of the Stone Age, Lou Reed, M.I.A. and many more at launch.
Complaints are focused around Apple’s plan to roll out a 3-month free trial starting in July. During this trial, artists won’t receive any payment when users stream their songs, and so many feel like they would be funding the launch themselves.
Independent labels will be particularly affected by this trial period, as many simply do not have the cash to give away their music. As Andy Heath, chairman of music lobby group UK Music told Business Insider, “If you are running a small label on tight margins you literally can’t afford to do this free trial business.”
The trial would also have a disproportionate effect on artists who are releasing albums during the 3-month span between July and October, as they would miss out on the normal jump in sales that accompanies a new release.
As a result, many Indie labels say they’ll stick with Spotify, which pays artists for each play. However, these labels have run into a tough negotiator with Apple, which has threatened to pull certain artists’ back catalog from iTunes if they don’t agree to forego royalties for the trial period. For now though, most labels are refusing to back down, determined to protect their artists from Apple’s potentially damaging trial period.
