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How a 25-Year-Old Blogger Took Down Apple

6 minute read

Lots of 25-year-olds write blog posts. One would have to imagine the incidence is even more pronounced among 25-year-old creative types, who have not yet been ground into submission by the machinery that makes the American culture industry levitate and whirr. It’s exceedingly rare that one of those blog posts accomplishes anything, except perhaps a phone call from a parent who wants the author to give law school another shot.

It’s exceedingly surprising, when the proper nouns are stripped away, that a 25-year-old’s blog post—on a Sunday—could compel Apple, the world’s most valuable company (by market cap), to change course later that day on an already-announced major consumer product, one that had presumably occasioned dozens of previous meetings and strategy sessions and chin-stroking over the product’s peculiarities.

But this is a story about Taylor Swift, who was already before Sunday the biggest thing going in popular music and is now manifesting herself as something even bigger, a singular commercial powerhouse with the strength and resolve to fight the continued devaluation of recorded music—and to get things done.

The brouhaha began when Apple announced on June 8 that it would launch its own streaming music service, one with the presumable aim of eating into the 60 million users Spotify says it has. Apple Music even announced its price as $9.99 per month, the same figure Spotify charges for its premium subscriptions.

Spotify has, after all, been the subject of intense criticism from artists and labels about its comparatively meager royalty payments. After Swift yanked her music off Spotify in November, her record label told TIME that over the prior 12 months it had been paid less than $500,000 for domestic streaming of Swift’s music, despite her status as one of the service’s most popular artists. (Spotify, for its part, said Swift’s payout for global streaming, including in the U.S., had been $2 million over that period.)

What Swift and others have reasoned is that any music service which offers a free, ad-supported option, as Spotify does, cannot offer them a worthwhile fee for their recordings. (Country singer Rosanne Cash said in September her songs were streamed 600,000 times over an 18-month period—and she received $104.)

Apple’s service has no such option. But its launch would come with three free trial months of service—months during which it would not compensate labels for the music it streamed. Hence Swift’s ire (and others’), and the singer’s Tumblr post, “To Apple, Love Taylor,” on Sunday morning. By nightfall, Eddy Cue, Apple’s media chief, had announced on Twitter that the company would reverse course and pay artists out of its own pocket (deep, incidentally, as the Marianas Trench, which makes you wonder why Apple didn’t think to pay in the first place). Cue told Billboard on Sunday, “When I woke up this morning and saw what Taylor had written, it really solidified that we needed to make a change.” He said he called Swift directly to tell her the news.

There’s a rich tradition of mass-media artists fighting the corporate interests in their workplaces, from the founding of Mary Pickford and Charlie Chaplin’s United Artists in 1919 all the way to Louis CK self-releasing standup specials in recent years. But even in that context Swift’s evangelism stands out. One imagines no other artist could mobilize a fan base like hers—nursed as it has been on free, on-demand content (whether music, video, or, yes, journalism) and accordingly addled—to pressure Apple. But there they were, earning their tribute, in Swift’s victory tweet early Monday morning: “I am elated and relieved. Thank you for your words of support today. They listened to us.”

Swift has benefited from a cultural change—many millennials are more sympathetic to corporations than their predecessors might have been. Her listeners came of age, prevailingly, in the era of free or cheap music—not one in which a teenager might have to shell out two to three weeks’ allowance to buy a CD with one or two worthwhile songs. Today, labels look to music fans like champions for beleaguered artists rather than uncreative conglomerates hellbent on ripping fans off. And her fans look to Apple as an artist-supporting American triumph capable of doing better, rather than, say, an income-tax dodger responsible for Foxconn.

PHOTOS: See Taylor Swift Over the Years

2006 CMT Music Awards - Arrivals
Taylor Swift arrives at the 2006 CMT Music Awards at the Curb Event Center at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee.John Shearer—WireImage/Getty Images
2007 CMT Music Awards - Red Carpet
Taylor Swift arrives at the 2007 CMT Music Awards.Kevin Mazur—WireImage/Getty Images
42nd Annual Academy Of Country Music Awards - Show
Taylor Swift performs during the 42nd Annual Academy Of Country Music Awards held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2007.Ethan Miller—Getty Images
2008 ACM New Artists Party For A Cause
Taylor Swift performs during the Academy of Country Music New Artists' Party for a Cause show at the MGM Grand Hotel/Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2008.Ethan Miller—Getty Images
Taylor Swift and Michelle Williams Visit MTV's "TRL" - June 16, 2008
Taylor Swift performs live on MTV's "TRL" at the MTV Studios in Times Square in New York City in 2008.Gary Gershoff—WireImage/Getty Images
The 42nd Annual CMA Awards - Arrivals
Taylor Swift attends the 42nd Annual CMA Awards at the Sommet Center in Nashville, Tennessee in 2008.Ed Rode—WireImage/Getty Images
CNN Heroes "An All-Star Tribute" 2008
Singer Taylor Swift arrives at CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California in 2008.Jon Kopaloff—FilmMagic/Getty Images
Saturday Night Live
Taylor Swift performs on Saturday Night Live in 2009.NBC/Getty Images
The Brit Awards 2009 - Arrivals
Taylor Swift arrives at the Brit Awards 2009 at Earls Court in London, England.Gareth Cattermole—Getty Images
44th Annual Academy Of Country Music Awards All-Star Jam
Taylor Swift performs during the 44th annual Academy of Country Music Awards All-Star Jam at the MGM Grand Hotel/Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2009.Ethan Miller—Getty Images
Taylor Swift in Concert
Taylor Swift performs at Madison Square Garden in New York City in 2009.Theo Wargo—WireImage/Getty Images
2009 MTV Video Music Awards - Arrivals
Taylor Swift arrives to the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Stephen Lovekin—FilmMagic/Getty Images
The 43rd Annual CMA Awards - Show
Taylor Swift performs at the 43rd Annual CMA Awards from the Sommet Center in Nashville, Tennessee in 2009.Katherine Bomboy—Getty Images
The 52nd Annual GRAMMY Awards - Show
Taylor Swift performs onstage at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards held at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California in 2010.Michael Caulfield—WireImage/Getty Images
Taylor Swift drops one of her awards dur
Taylor Swift drops one of her awards during the 52nd annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, California in 2010.Valerie Macon—AFP/Getty Images
Taylor Swift 13 hours on the 13th. & some songs
Taylor Swift performs at the CMA Music Festival in Nashville, Tennessee in 2010.Rick Diamond—Getty Images
Grand Ole Opry 85th Birthday Bash
Taylor Swift performs during the Grand Ole Opry 85th birthday bash at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, Tennessee in 2010.Tony R. Phipps—Getty Images
44th Annual CMA Awards - Show
Taylor Swift performs "Back to December" at the 44th Annual CMA Awards at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee in 2010.Rick Diamond—Getty Images
taylor Swift attends the 'Alexander McQu
Taylor Swift attends the 'Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty' Costume Institute Gala at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2011.TIMOTHY A. CLARY—AFP/Getty Images
2012 MTV Video Music Awards - Show
Taylor Swift performs at the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.Jason LaVeris—FilmMagic/Getty Images
BBC Radio 1 Teen Awards - Show
Taylor Swift performs at the Radio One Teen Awards at Wembley Arena in London, England in 2012.Mike Marsland—WireImage/Getty Images
BBC Radio 1 Teen Awards - Show
Taylor Swift performs at the Radio One Teen Awards at Wembley Arena in London, England in 2012.Mike Marsland—WireImage/Getty Images
Taylor Swift Switches On Westfield London Christmas Lights
Taylor Swift switches on the Christmas lights and performs for fans and shoppers at Westfield London in London, England in 2012.Mike Marsland—WireImage/Getty Images
26th Annual ARIA Awards 2012 - Arrivals
Taylor Swift arrives at the 26th Annual ARIA Awards 2012 at the Sydney Entertainment Centre in Sydney, Australia. Don Arnold—WireImage/Getty Images
26th Annual ARIA Awards 2012 - Show
Taylor Swift performs on stage during the 26th Annual ARIA Awards 2012 at the Sydney Entertainment Centre in Sydney, Australia.Brendon Thorne—Getty Images
KIIS FM's Jingle Ball 2012 - Night 1 - Show
Taylor Swift performs during night 1 of the 2012 KIIS FM Jingle Ball at Nokia Theatre LA Live in Los Angeles, California.C Flanigan—FilmMagic/Getty Images
Taylor Swift At Gillette Stadium
Taylor Swift in concert at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts in 2013.Barry Chin—Boston Globe/Getty Images
2013 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show - Show
Taylor Swift performs while Candice Swanepoel walks the runway at the 2013 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show at the Lexington Avenue Armory in New York City.Jamie McCarthy—Getty Images
Taylor Swift Lives In Shanghai
Taylor Swift performs at the Mercedes-Benz Arena on May 30, 2014 in Shanghai, China.ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images
2014 American Music Awards - Show
Taylor Swift performs onstage during the 2014 American Music Awards held at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on Nov. 23, 2014 in Los Angeles, Ca.Michael Tran—FilmMagic/Getty Images
2014 American Music Awards - Roaming Show
Taylor Swift performs at the 2014 American Music Awards at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on Nov. 23, 2014 in Los Angeles, Ca.Christopher Polk—Getty Images
The Voice - Season 7
Taylor Swift performs on The Voice in 2014.NBC/Getty Images
2014 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show - Show
Taylor Swift performs during the 2014 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show at Earl's Court exhibition centre on Dec. 2, 2014 in London, England.Dimitrios Kambouris—Getty Images for Victoria's Secr
KIIS FM's Jingle Ball 2014  Powered by LINE  - Show
Taylor Swift performs onstage during KIIS FM's Jingle Ball 2014 at Staples Center on December 5, 2014 in Los Angeles, Ca.Christopher Polk—Getty Images

Funny, or not-so-funny, enough, the Apple Music service and several music labels are under investigation by two state attorneys general for anticompetitive practices—namely, are they colluding to crush Spotify? Apple was in similar straits two years ago when a federal judge ruled that it had colluded with book publishers against Amazon to fix e-book prices; the company agreed last year to a $450 million settlement. (For whatever it’s worth: recent history delivers a withering critique of the businesses of content creation and distribution built prior to the great digital disruption. That is, if the only way to restore their past margins is to run afoul of regulators.) Whatever happens, Apple will be fine and Taylor Swift will be fine. The class imperiled, as it has been since the music industry began to shrink, is (as Swift put it) ” the new artist or band … the young songwriter … the producer who works tirelessly,” not to mention the rank-and-file at the record label.

Swift has cast her lot with them, and she has cajoled Apple into taking baby steps toward the same, which is a feat. Swift is not only the sole artist who can make a mass audience pay full freight today for its listening choices; she’s the only one who can make it feel altruistic while doing so. That’s big. She has distinguished herself as a leader, even if she has yet to broaden her aperture beyond areas of self-interest. I, for one, can’t wait until this young blogger finds out what’s happened to the journalism business.

READ MORE: “The Power of Taylor Swift,” TIME’s Nov. 2014 cover story

1. Apple Music

Apple

A new streaming service to take on companies like Spotify.

2. iOS 9

Apple

New iPhone software that will make the smartphone more intelligent.

3. OS X Yosemite

Apple OS X El Capitan
Apple

A new Mac update packed with features like a split-screen viewing mode.

4. Native Apple Watch Apps

Apple

Native apps are coming to the Apple Watch, which should make the device run faster.

5. Apple’s News

Apple

The Apple News app is finally replacing Newsstand for the journalism junkies among us.

6. Apple Pay

Apple

Apple is adding some retailers’ rewards points systems.

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Write to Jack Dickey at jack.dickey@time.com