How Taylor Swift and Apple Both Came Out on Top

This past week has been a long back and forth between pop-star Taylor Swift and major music mogul, Apple Inc. It appeared to be the clash of the ages, beginning with Swift posting an open letter to Apple on her Tumblr account on June 21. In the letter, Swift explained she will not be supporting Apple’s new streaming service because during the 90 day free trial for customers artists that are available to stream will not be paid.

           

After the letter was published it immediately went viral and, eventually grabbed Apple’s attention. A few days after the letter was published Apple responded to Swift’s letter, saying that they will pay all artists that are available on the streaming service for the first three months.

           

Swift had won the battle she had sought to win, however, it was until June 26, nearly a week after the original letter was published, that Swift finally said she would allow her 1989 album on Apple’s streaming service. In typical Swift fashion she made the announcement in the form of a simple tweet thanking Apple for listening to her concerns.

           

What’s important to note here from a PR stand point is that, while at first, it might seem like Swift came out on top, there’s room for Apple at the top as well. For Swift, her all-star status was reaffirmed and her name is now being seen all over the news as the artist that stood up to Apple. For Apple, they saved millions in free publicity for their new streaming service. Now, not only does the public know about their new service and the fact that it’s free for the first three months, they also know it’s morally solid and that Apple did the right thing by agreeing to pay artists.

           

In the field of public relations the more a company can get their name and service out there without spending a cent is vital because it leaves more funds to do original, innovative or exciting things within a campaign. Though of course Apple isn’t hurting for money, the lesson learned from Taylor Swift v. Apple 2015 is something that all public relations professionals and students can apply to their work.

           

Free publicity can be negative or positive and PR professionals can never be quite sure what they’re going to get until they see it, however, taking a note from Apple it’s easy to see that the saying “all publicity is good publicity” still holds true in the world of PR.        

This guest blog post was written by PRowl Account Executive Hannah Litchfield 

Spotify Stays Creative with Statement after WWDC

On Monday, Apple announced at the Apple Worldwide Development Conference that it would be stepping back into the music scene. Not as far back as the days of Limewire, but not as recently as Touch Tunes, Apple did play a major role in the way that downloading music has developed. Apple Music is the company's new music service that ultimately serves the same needs as Spotify, iTunes, and Pandora. 

Innovations like these in the business world affect marketers because it immediately means competitors. Before announcing the big idea, Apple's communications team had to research and strategically plan how it would compare to the leading streaming services for music.

Spotify Chief Executive Officer, Daniel Ek, did not have much to say about the announcement initially, sharing only two words via Twitter:

Since then, Spotify posted a statement on their website sharing powerful statistics that they have reached 20 million paying subscribers. Not to mention, 75 million active streaming users. Basically - hey Apple, this is what we're working with - Spotify is getting personal with their audience and spreading the love to their fanbase in case they were thinking about turning.

In the statement, "The Spotify Team" include graphs to give users the inside scoop on how the numbers work behind the scenes. This type of reference makes the public think that Spotify thinks we are important even to know ourselves!

You haven't even heard the best part yet - as per any occasion, Spotify has come through and made us a playlist. "20 Million Thank Yous" is 17 popular, upbeat, happy-go-lucky songs, ranging from Zedd to Queen. It was a great idea for Spotify to take a creative approach when addressing the announcement of Apple Music. Spotify doesn't have to act or innovate now, but the PR team has to plan one way for the brand to publicly say something.

I decided to put "20 Million Thank Yous" on while I wrote this post. I couldn't be happier I did.