Is the initial glow from Apple Music already fading among independent labels?
Beggars Group, the label consortium that includes esteemed imprints like XL, 4AD and Matador, posted a statement to its website that lambastes the new streaming service for its royalty policy. Namely, the prospect of a lack of royalties paid out during the free first three months of its service.
"[U]nfortunately it was created without reference to us, or as far as we know any independents, and as such unsurprisingly presents problems for us, and for our coming artist releases," said the statement. "We are naturally very concerned, especially for artists releasing new albums in the next three months, that all streaming on the new service will be unremunerated until the end of September.