{"id":96918,"date":"2015-06-23T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-06-22T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/apples-swift-response-taylor-provides-mutually-beneficial-pr\/"},"modified":"2015-06-23T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2015-06-22T23:00:00","slug":"apples-swift-response-taylor-provides-mutually-beneficial-pr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/us\/apples-swift-response-taylor-provides-mutually-beneficial-pr\/","title":{"rendered":"Apple’s Swift response to Taylor provides mutually beneficial PR"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Image:
Image: FashionStock.com \/ Shutterstock.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Yesterday, in an unexpected turn of events, Apple caved after receiving a bold request relating to its new franchise, Apple music.\u00a0 The most successful and valuable company on the planet submitted to an open letter from a 25 year old ex-country singer from Reading, Pennsylvania.\u00a0 But Taylor Swift isn\u2019t any 25 year old.\u00a0 With over 100 million followers on social media, a back catalogue of annoyingly catchy tunes and millions of YouTube views, Taylor Swift had the power to go head to head with the $700 billion company with the support of other artists.<\/p>\n

Swift\u2019s open letter on Tumblr<\/a> requested that Apple do a U-turn on their decision to not provide artists with any royalties from the first three months of the new Apple Music streaming service.\u00a0 Apple responded via social media<\/a> within a matter of hours agreeing with Swifts stance and undergoing a complete U-turn on their original trial period policy.<\/p>\n

Three things strike me about this story.\u00a0 First how quickly Apple responded; second that they gave into the request, and third how much decent exposure (sorry to steal 72Point’s marketing slogan here) this has given both parties involved.<\/p>\n

Firstly, let\u2019s look at the speed of the response. I truly believe this is the key to what has ultimately led to such good public relations for both Swift and Apple. The rapidity of the response shows a total commitment from Apple to get things right and to emphasise the fact they want to be on the side of the artists from day one.\u00a0 It\u2019s a shame they didn\u2019t make this decision initially, but I don\u2019t think going from bad cop to good cop has harmed their latest venture. In fact I think it\u2019s done them every bit of good.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the response was quick because Apple was already expecting it. Also, there\u2019s a case to be made that Swift\u2019s record label (Big Machine Records) may have been a driving force, as contractually, record labels generally have at least some power over what artists can do. The cynical side of me thinks that this publicised agreement could have been a pre-planned way for Apple to publicise Apple music, especially because Swift has previously indicated that she\u2019s not keen on streaming, making her the perfect candidate to make this story viral.<\/p>\n

Similarly with Swift, had this episode drawn out over a few weeks, we may have forgotten all about the fact it was her that complained in the first place (further promoting the idea that it’s one big PR stunt). However, the pixels on news sites had only just loaded onto our iPads and iPhones with the news that Swift had\u00a0taken Apple on,when almost immediately, Apple had backed down. Swift went from being a manufactured pop star to a guardian of the music industry in a matter of hours, with her partner Calvin Harris and other artists showing their support across social media<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Secondly, Apple backed down without any sign of a struggle.\u00a0 Apple are famous for holding firm with their commercial decisions, especially in the early days of digital music<\/a>, as they were offering music artists a new way to sell their music to millions of people across the world.\u00a0 Apple created a digital space that artists weren\u2019t ready for. The late Steve Jobs knew this and didn\u2019t buckle for requests to increase the cost per song on iTunes.<\/p>\n

Fast forward to 2015 and here we have a music streaming market that is competitive, established, and where artists are starting to flex their muscle to protect themselves financially.\u00a0 Apple is new to the game, and they appear to understand just how important it is to come across fair and on the artist\u2019s side.\u00a0 So whereas in the early days Jobs could put his foot down and that was that, now it\u2019s the turn of the artist to regain some power within the changing face of the music industry.<\/p>\n

Lastly, let’s discuss image.\u00a0After all\u00a0as\u00a0we\u2019re a PR company so we should probably talk about PR. \u00a0Apple historically has sold products, with the obvious exception of music or films on iTunes. Because of that, they can control our experience and attitudes towards those products.\u00a0 In the music streaming business, this is the first true service that Apple will be proving to millions of people.\u00a0 We\u2019ll be paying a monthly subscription in return for music and an experience with Connect and Beats 1.<\/p>\n

Apple knows that it’s vital that they start Apple Music with the right footing. The saying \u201cyou only get one chance to make a first impression\u201d really rings true here.\u00a0 Apple knew this was their chance to project a positive, collaborative, respectful and caring image onto Apple Music. They grabbed it with both hands. \u00a0Sometimes in business you can under promise and over deliver. Apple hasn\u2019t over delivered here, but they have certainly projected an image of being understanding and on the artist\u2019s sides.<\/p>\n

As for Taylor Swift, we can\u2019t underestimate how huge the impact of this coverage has made to her current image and her future career within the music industry.\u00a0 Not only her image towards fans and the general music loving public, but her music peers and other influential figures within the industry.\u00a0 The biggest news story I\u2019ve seen to date on Taylor Swift was her dating Harry Styles (among others), so I find it noteworthy that she is now achieving column inches by taking on (and beating) the most valuable company in the world.<\/p>\n

Swift put her neck (and possibly reputation) on the line to go head-to-head with Apple. Particularly risky bearing in mind how stubborn\u00a0Apple can be when meeting opposition over their business decisions.<\/p>\n

However, she has come out on top and many in the industry are calling her a shrewd businesswoman after this episode.\u00a0 Already recently named in the Forbes power women list, I\u2019m sure she\u2019ll be moving up the charts in more ways than one after this victory.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yesterday, in an unexpected turn of events, Apple caved after receiving a bold request relating to its new franchise, Apple […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":38464,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[269,277,278,301,377],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-96918","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pr-insight","category-featured","category-pr","category-topical","category-celebrity"],"yoast_head":"\nApple's Swift response to Taylor provides mutually beneficial PR - 72Point.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/us\/apples-swift-response-taylor-provides-mutually-beneficial-pr\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Apple's Swift response to Taylor provides mutually beneficial PR - 72Point.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Yesterday, in an unexpected turn of events, Apple caved after receiving a bold request relating to its new franchise, Apple […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/us\/apples-swift-response-taylor-provides-mutually-beneficial-pr\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"72Point.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-06-22T23:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Emma Elsworthy\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Emma Elsworthy\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/us\/apples-swift-response-taylor-provides-mutually-beneficial-pr\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/us\/apples-swift-response-taylor-provides-mutually-beneficial-pr\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Emma Elsworthy\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/#\/schema\/person\/eb335a50902fa0d6ce7014698ad4a523\"},\"headline\":\"Apple’s Swift response to Taylor provides mutually beneficial PR\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-06-22T23:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/us\/apples-swift-response-taylor-provides-mutually-beneficial-pr\/\"},\"wordCount\":1031,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/us\/apples-swift-response-taylor-provides-mutually-beneficial-pr\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"articleSection\":[\"PR Insight\",\"Featured\",\"PR\",\"Topical\",\"Celebrity\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/us\/apples-swift-response-taylor-provides-mutually-beneficial-pr\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/us\/apples-swift-response-taylor-provides-mutually-beneficial-pr\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/us\/apples-swift-response-taylor-provides-mutually-beneficial-pr\/\",\"name\":\"Apple's Swift response to Taylor provides mutually beneficial PR - 72Point.\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/us\/apples-swift-response-taylor-provides-mutually-beneficial-pr\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/us\/apples-swift-response-taylor-provides-mutually-beneficial-pr\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-06-22T23:00:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/#\/schema\/person\/eb335a50902fa0d6ce7014698ad4a523\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/us\/apples-swift-response-taylor-provides-mutually-beneficial-pr\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/us\/apples-swift-response-taylor-provides-mutually-beneficial-pr\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/us\/apples-swift-response-taylor-provides-mutually-beneficial-pr\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"\",\"contentUrl\":\"\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/us\/apples-swift-response-taylor-provides-mutually-beneficial-pr\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/us\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Apple’s Swift response to Taylor provides mutually beneficial PR\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/\",\"name\":\"72Point.\",\"description\":\"Creative PR Agency | Unrivalled Media Distribution | 72Point\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/#\/schema\/person\/eb335a50902fa0d6ce7014698ad4a523\",\"name\":\"Emma Elsworthy\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Emma Elsworthy\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/us\/author\/emma-elsworthy\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Apple's Swift response to Taylor provides mutually beneficial PR - 72Point.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/us\/apples-swift-response-taylor-provides-mutually-beneficial-pr\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Apple's Swift response to Taylor provides mutually beneficial PR - 72Point.","og_description":"Yesterday, in an unexpected turn of events, Apple caved after receiving a bold request relating to its new franchise, Apple […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/us\/apples-swift-response-taylor-provides-mutually-beneficial-pr\/","og_site_name":"72Point.","article_published_time":"2015-06-22T23:00:00+00:00","author":"Emma Elsworthy","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Emma Elsworthy","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/us\/apples-swift-response-taylor-provides-mutually-beneficial-pr\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/us\/apples-swift-response-taylor-provides-mutually-beneficial-pr\/"},"author":{"name":"Emma Elsworthy","@id":"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/#\/schema\/person\/eb335a50902fa0d6ce7014698ad4a523"},"headline":"Apple’s Swift response to Taylor provides mutually beneficial PR","datePublished":"2015-06-22T23:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/us\/apples-swift-response-taylor-provides-mutually-beneficial-pr\/"},"wordCount":1031,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/us\/apples-swift-response-taylor-provides-mutually-beneficial-pr\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"","articleSection":["PR Insight","Featured","PR","Topical","Celebrity"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.72point.com\/us\/apples-swift-response-taylor-provides-mutually-beneficial-pr\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/us\/apples-swift-response-taylor-provides-mutually-beneficial-pr\/","url":"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/us\/apples-swift-response-taylor-provides-mutually-beneficial-pr\/","name":"Apple's Swift response to Taylor provides mutually beneficial PR - 72Point.","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/us\/apples-swift-response-taylor-provides-mutually-beneficial-pr\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/us\/apples-swift-response-taylor-provides-mutually-beneficial-pr\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"","datePublished":"2015-06-22T23:00:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/#\/schema\/person\/eb335a50902fa0d6ce7014698ad4a523"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/us\/apples-swift-response-taylor-provides-mutually-beneficial-pr\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.72point.com\/us\/apples-swift-response-taylor-provides-mutually-beneficial-pr\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/us\/apples-swift-response-taylor-provides-mutually-beneficial-pr\/#primaryimage","url":"","contentUrl":""},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/us\/apples-swift-response-taylor-provides-mutually-beneficial-pr\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/us\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Apple’s Swift response to Taylor provides mutually beneficial PR"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/","name":"72Point.","description":"Creative PR Agency | Unrivalled Media Distribution | 72Point","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/#\/schema\/person\/eb335a50902fa0d6ce7014698ad4a523","name":"Emma Elsworthy","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Emma Elsworthy"},"url":"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/us\/author\/emma-elsworthy\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96918","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96918"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96918\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/us\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96918"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96918"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96918"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}