But There's More To The Story 5. What's Music paying out to artists? This really got a bad rap in the press last week, but here's the reality: - Artists get paid zero if played during the 3 month free trial period. But it's not like Apple is making any money either, since there's no advertising. It's a wash.
- There's a sample contract excerpt floating around online stating that Apple is paying only 58% with Music instead of iTunes 70%. Read carefully as it states this is the minimum amount paid. Many believe that in the end Music will actually pay higher than iTunes current 70%. We'll know for sure in a couple of months.
6. Apple has 850 million of our credit cards on file. Yes, but more than half of those are for the app store, so don't expect a huge conversion right away. That said, Apple expects to hit 100 million subscribers quickly, and that changes the music industry almost overnight with a lot more revenue in the bank.
7. Connect just might be Ping in disguise. Another feature is a social aspect called Connect that allows artists to upload pictures, lyrics and videos to share with fans. Apple tried and failed with social networking already with Ping, and this feels like an extension of that. It's just another way to try to keep artists locked into the Apple ecosystem.
8. Then there's YouTube Music Key. Google has been vying to launch this new competitive music service for months, but perhaps it was strategically holding back waiting to see what happens with Apple Music.
9. Then there's Amazon - Amazon Prime is still lurking too, with a huge catalog and a large number of subscribers. It can turned into a formidable competitor to Apple Music in no time.
10. And don't count out Spotify. It has some very deep pockets behind it (like the sovereign wealth fund of Abu Dhabi) and it just announced it has passed 75 million subscribers with 20 million of them paid.
The Bottom Line Streaming is growing stronger every day and is about to take a giant leap forward as some real heavy hitters come online. If you're an artist, this means that your revenue can grow again. Just how that happens is the substance for another newsletter.
That said, now you know more about our Music 4.0 world than the majority of people in the business today. Aren't you glad you subscribed to my list? | 
