In just ten days, Apple Music, the new streaming service that has the potential to completely reshape the music industry as we know it, will go public, and it doesn’t sound like everything is ready to go. As of now, the service has millions of songs (the company says 30 million) and almost every artist one could want to listen to...almost.
Apple Music has not secured deals with some very important acts, and that means that the company may have to launch without them. Taylor Swift has so far denied the tech giant streaming rights, and because most independent labels haven’t agreed to Apple’s plan to deny all artists payment for the first three months (which will be a free trial), the company doesn’t have a deal in place with thousands of other acts, including the all-important Adele (who is signed to XL Records, an independent label based in the UK).
Now, these are only two artists, but they are BIG names to be missing from any music-related venture, especially from one that’s looking to completely change an industry (as these two singers have). Taylor’s latest pop opus, 1989, was the best-selling album of 2014, and it is on track to claim the same distinction this year. The record has produced three number one hits, and every cut released is still dominating radio around the country. Adele’s 21 was also the best-selling album for two years (2011 and 2012), and it won the industry’s highest honor, the Grammy for Album of the Year.
The platform will also be missing a little band known as The Beatles, which a few people kind of like. Now, this is odd, as The Beatles struck a deal with Apple years ago to begin selling their catalog on iTunes, and since then they’ve moved quite a bit of product.
These are just some of the biggest names in music that won’t be available on Apple Music (as things stand now), but certainly not the only ones that may not be there when launch day comes. Organizations representing the interests of independent artists and record labels around the world have all advised their members not to sign deals with Apple, or to at least think long and hard before doing so.
It is worth noting that other big-name streaming services (Spotify, for example), are also missing some of these names, so Apple isn’t the only one missing out. The trouble here is that if a consumer is already settled into their ways with another option, and Apple can’t provide access to any of the artists not available on other platforms, is there really much incentive to switch services?
Unless a deal is reached in the next week and a half, Apple may actually be forced to move forward without many of the most beloved acts on the planet. Combined with the slew of negative publicity that has so far surrounded the new entrant to the streaming industry, this launch doesn’t seem to be going too well, does it?
