British indie labels balk at Apple Music's free trial terms

British indie labels balk at Apple Music's free trial terms

<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p class="intro">Apple Music could lack a number of popular independent British artists when in launches on June 30, thanks to Apple's terms for its three-month free trail.</p> <p>A number of independent record labels in the U.K. are voicing their concern over Apple's royalty terms for the upcoming Apple Music service. Specifically, the labels are objecting to the fact that Apple won't pay them for streams during the three-month trial period users will enjoy with the service. There is concern that the move might put many labels out of business, according to The Telegraph:</p>

<p>Mr Heath said: "If you are running a small label on tight margins you literally can't afford to do this free trial business. Their plan is clearly to move people over from downloads, which is fine, but it will mean us losing those revenues for three months."</p>

<p>British independent labels represent diverse groups of artists, from smaller musicians to bigger names like Adele and the Arctic Monkeys. If they do not agree to Apple's terms, it's likely that Apple Music could launch with some noticeable gaps in its lineup when it launches on June 30.</p> <p>With more resources, bigger labels should have an easier time with Apple's terms than independent labels, though they were still said to have had issues with them initially. Apple has said that they will pay slightly above the standard streaming royalty rate once customers actually start paying for the service, but that won't begin until the end of September.</p> <p>Source: The Telegraph, via: 9to5Mac</p> </div></div></div><img width='1' height='1' src='