T.Swift & The Groundswell VS Apple Music!

While first beginning our reading in Groundswell, one topic in particular stood out to me. It was regarding Digg and how the Groundswell overpowered decisions and even laws, truly an eye-opener of how powerful social media can be. 

This sparked another story in my mind. I'm sure most have heard about it. If you haven't, feel free to brush up here. Essentially, Taylor Swift forced one of the (if not the) most popular tech companies in the world to change their policy within hours. 

Apple introduced Apple Music, which is a music streaming service by Apple, Inc. It's where users can select music to stream to their device on demand. Apple began advertising its "3 month free trial" and artists, like Taylor Swift, received contracts stating they will not be paying the artist, the writers, or the producers during those 3 months. This prompted Taylor Swift to pen her late-night, open letter to Apple and post it to her Tumblr account. You can jump to the letter in it's entirety here. Her letter was to bring attention to the thousands of new artists, that can't really afford to go that long unpaid, while their work is being used. She puts it better than I could ever paraphrase it: 

"This is not about me. Thankfully I am on my fifth album and can support myself, my band, crew, and entire management team by playing live shows. This is about the new artist or band that has just released their first single and will not be paid for its success. This is about the young songwriter who just got his or her first cut and thought that the royalties from that would get them out of debt. This is about the producer who works tirelessly to innovate and create, just like the innovators and creators at Apple are pioneering in their field…but will not get paid for a quarter of a year’s worth of plays on his or her songs."

This is something I feel I can stand behind. It's hard to say you can't. Taylor went on to say...

" Three months is a long time to go unpaid, and it is unfair to ask anyone to work for nothing. I say this with love, reverence, and admiration for everything else Apple has done. I hope that soon I can join them in the progression towards a streaming model that seems fair to those who create this music. I think this could be the platform that gets it right.
But I say to Apple with all due respect, it's not too late to change this policy and change the minds of those in the music industry who will be deeply and gravely affected by this. We don't ask you for free iPhones. Please don't ask us to provide you with our music for no compensation."

And just like that she took her stand and refused to join Apple Music until things were changed. Yes, she, without a doubt, used her place of power in the music industry to cause such a change. BUT, the Groundswell also took this and ran. Even Apple was no match for the swarms of Taylor Swift fans (and music fans in general). Within hours, Apple announced that it has changed it's policy and will now pay artists. Eddy Cue, the senior vice president of internet services and software, told Billboard "When I woke up this morning and saw what Taylor had written, it really solidified that we needed a change. And so that's why we decide we will now pay artists during the trial period." 

The reason I believe this relates to what we read in Groundswell is because if this was an unknown artist, with minimal social media followers, do you really think this would've grabbed the attention of Apple and forced them to change their ways so quickly? I, personally, doubt it. Taylor Swift has a huge fanbase. And I'm willing to bet that almost all of her fans have social media and are following and supporting her every move. You can't stop such a force. Similar to Digg's force - it can just be unstoppable. 

This story encompasses Groundswell as a whole. The definition of "groundswell" is, as Li and Bernoff state it, A Social Trend in which people use technologies to get the things they need from each other, rather than from traditional institutions like corporations.

Even Taylor Swift chose to go through social media to get something she wanted. She is a business woman that could've easily done this privately with Apple, Inc. Instead, she chose to make this very, very public. This isn't a mistake or an under-thought decision. She is a social media and "customer service" genius. She knows how to keep her fans engaged and she knew the groundswell would help her carry her point home. 

As mentioned in the book and in class, the groundswell is evolving rapidly. Good for T.Swift for embracing this and using it effectively. AND kudos to Apple for rolling with the punches and actually joining the groundswell! 

Apple Music is now predicted to be the most popular music streaming service. As the TIME article mentions, "Apple would need to do lots of promotion to get significant numbers of users on board — die-hard Apple fans might have been good for as many as 15 million users off the bat, but not more than that. Because of Swift’s letter, millions more potential users are now aware of the service". Swift, and the groundswell, created a win-win for all involved.
"Apple gets additional marketing and promotion for the forthcoming service launching in nine days or so,"

From CNBC's Power Lunch - "They get to look like they have a soul because they actually have one. Taylor is fighting out there for what appears to be the little guy and she actually is. And it raises all the boats in the water higher."
(Sadly, Blogger will not allow me to embed the video in this link, but it is a short video worth watching!)

Social media is a powerful thing!