As with any other streaming service, the rollout of Apple Music was greeted with a great deal of drama. When the powerful corporate monolith decided not to pay out royalties during its three-month trial period, everyone was pissed. Then Taylor Swift saved the day with a carefully worded open letter. Now, another musician is taking a bite out of Apple Music for its practices, as Jon Burr has launched a petition for the company to start displaying album credits.
Burr is a New York-based jazz bassist, meaning his instrument of choice comes from a long lineage of four-string fret walkers who don't quite get the credit they deserve. He's now standing up for the little guys, however, with a new petition called "Show the Album Credits on Apple Music!"
The MoveOn.org petition is directed towards Apple CEO Tim Cook. "Album credits are the lifeblood of musicians," it reads. "Musicians need them to be displayed when their music is played. Showing the headline artist and track title only anonymizes and minimizes the contributions of all the others involved and forecloses opportunity."
Further, the write-up reads, "We want to know who's playing the music we're hearing, who produced it, who arranged it, where it was recorded and by whom. When this information is withheld, our identity has been stolen."
Speaking with Billboard, Burr said he's trying to change the way digital files are handed over to streaming services.
"We understand that doing this will create a burden on these services — many just don't have access to the information due to the way digital music is delivered to them. If we can encourage a cultural shift going forward and develop enhanced supply chains, we'll be making the kind of progress needed by musicians, composers, lyricists, engineers, photographers, designers, and other contributing creatives."
Here's hoping he can get the all-powerful Taylor Swift on board with his campaign, which has so far amassed more than 20,000 signatures.
You can sign the petition here.
Burr is a New York-based jazz bassist, meaning his instrument of choice comes from a long lineage of four-string fret walkers who don't quite get the credit they deserve. He's now standing up for the little guys, however, with a new petition called "Show the Album Credits on Apple Music!"
The MoveOn.org petition is directed towards Apple CEO Tim Cook. "Album credits are the lifeblood of musicians," it reads. "Musicians need them to be displayed when their music is played. Showing the headline artist and track title only anonymizes and minimizes the contributions of all the others involved and forecloses opportunity."
Further, the write-up reads, "We want to know who's playing the music we're hearing, who produced it, who arranged it, where it was recorded and by whom. When this information is withheld, our identity has been stolen."
Speaking with Billboard, Burr said he's trying to change the way digital files are handed over to streaming services.
"We understand that doing this will create a burden on these services — many just don't have access to the information due to the way digital music is delivered to them. If we can encourage a cultural shift going forward and develop enhanced supply chains, we'll be making the kind of progress needed by musicians, composers, lyricists, engineers, photographers, designers, and other contributing creatives."
Here's hoping he can get the all-powerful Taylor Swift on board with his campaign, which has so far amassed more than 20,000 signatures.
You can sign the petition here.
