Indies Happy With New Apple Deal

IMPALA, the indies’ Brussels-based trade association, says it’s pleased the U.S. company has made a decision to pay for all usage of Apple Music under the free trials on a per-play basis, as well as to modify a number of other terms and issues raised by the independent labels.

IMPALA says Apple has a longstanding, deep-rooted relationship with the independent music community and has always helped ensure artists get paid for their work. “We think Apple Music provides artists with a business model that is good for the long term and we look forward to its launch on June 30,” it explained in a statement.

“The new terms, negotiated by Merlin, will apply to all contracts whether already signed or not, so the whole community benefits from these negotiations.” “This is a great precedent in any sector on the benefits of working together and taking a stance to achieve a fair result,” said IMPALA executive chair Helen Smith.

“With 80 percent of all new releases produced by independent labels, this is also a great result for Apple,”. “IMPALA has repeatedly called on online platforms to ‘play fair’ and this is an impressive outcome for independent labels and artists.”