Apple Music and Taylor Swift weren’t always friendly: back in June, she reprimanded the company in an open letter about streaming royalties. But after the streaming service agreed to pay artists during its three-month trial period, Apple and Swift started to develop a rapport, and the singer recently sat down with Zane Lowe for an interview in Australia before a show for 75,000 fans.
The show is also being filmed by Apple Music and is part of Swift's new deal with Apple that gives the platform exclusive rights to the tour documentary and reportedly the chance to use her "name and likeness in promotions at [Apple] stores."
She addressed her open letter early in her conversation with Lowe. The singer recalled being terrified after she posted it on her blog. “I was struck by this overwhelming sense of fear,” she said. “Are they gonna turn my phone off? Am I gonna wake up tomorrow and all my music is gonna be off iTunes?... Fast forward a few hours and everything was different… they showed so much humility in what they did.”
“I didn’t have a personal relationship with Apple until that point,” she continued. “I’m sure there are better ways to introduce yourself… [the letter] got more attention than I thought it would, because I’ve been echoing those sentiments for years. I was thinking the way it would go over is, ‘here is Taylor nagging again’… [but] for any little kid who’s taking piano lessons right now, I want them to have an industry to go into. Looking at it now, having Apple change something so important for us in the music community, it opened my mind to the thought of working with them.”
The singer also discussed the conception of 1989, touring in support of the album, and the genre-defying stream of special guests that joined her on stage all year: “I wanted people who bought a ticket to leave having seen something they didn’t expect.” Fans will be excited to hear that she’s continued to write new songs this year as well.
Find out what it’s like for a young singer to get a co-sign from Swift.
