71.5% of the monthly premium, which would work out to a difference of about a hundredth of a cent per stream. So, instead of an average $0.005 per stream, it'll be $0.0051 per stream. (I think that's what spofity averaged the last few years)
I'm honestly surprised it's that low. I know the difference is supposed to be that Apple Music accounts will all be 'paying'. But if they're only paying out low-single-digit higher rates than Spotify, I don't see how it's supposed to be meaningfully different than Spotify Premium or Tidal, except that people paying for Spotify/Tidal through iDevices are paying $13/month instead of $10, and $3 is still going to Apple.
And that actually makes the previous stiffing of artists an even more raw deal. I had read elsewhere that the rate was rumored to be closer to 90%, and at that rate it would take about a 10 months of someone subscribing to Apple Music to pay out higher than Spotify Premium, which pays out at roughly 70% (considering 3 unpaid months).
If you make the same comparison with Apple Music at 73% and 3 months free/unpaid trial, Spotify at 70% and 1 month, it would take more than 4 years before Apple paid out more. If you think you'll subscribe to either for more than 4 years and you care about the artists, it might be worth it. But it's going to take a long time.
If that payout number is correct, a conscientious consumer might as well subscribe to Tidal (who pays out at a similar 70% rate), because they'd at least get access to higher-quality tracks and the artists aren't getting payed significantly more or less.
The Major Difference is Apple will not be offering an ongoing free tier to compete against their paid tier. That's got to be attractive to people like Taylor.
The goal is obviously to convert free tier users to paid tier users. If you can do that, then eventually this stunt might pay off, at least for the record companies and artists who last enough to absorb 3 months of missing revenue. But if you're converting someone from a different paid service and not paying the artists, you are literally taking money away from them, and making them pay for your bet.
It does not at all seem clear that you're going to convert a ton of free users - like you said in a child comment, there are numerous other places where people can stream music for free. It seems like an admirable goal, but then that's how Spotify pitched it's model to begin with as well.
The artists hate it - and the return is almost nothing. For example - look at Youtube - you can stream anything you want, including all of Taylor Swifts catalog - zero to no advertising.
I was at a party this weekend with a bunch of 20 somethings here in Singapore - and that's all they used - Nobody even mentioned Spotify - they just logged onto the wireless and added their songs to the queue - it was slick and 100% free (to the user) - and seriously, I don't recall a single ad in 3+ hours.
http://recode.net/2015/06/15/heres-what-happens-to-your-10-a...