Apple courts musicians for exclusive streaming deals as Beats gears up to take on Spotify

Apple has reportedly approached more than a dozen musicians, including US superstar Taylor Swift, in an effort to sign exclusive deals for some of their music to be streamed on Beats.

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Apple is reportedly attempting to sign Taylor Swift to its soon-to-be-relaunched music streaming service Beats. Photo: Reuters

Published: 8:00am, 13 Apr 2015

Apple has reportedly approached more than a dozen musicians, including US superstar Taylor Swift and British band Florence and the Machine, in an effort to sign exclusive deals for some of their music to be streamed on Beats.

According to Bloomberg, the company is in talks with Florence and the Machine to give Apple limited streaming rights to a track from their album set to be released in June.

Apple has also approached Taylor Swift and other artists about partnerships, the report said.

Swift removed her entire back catalogue from Sweden-based music streaming service Spotify in November 2014, saying she didn't feel the company "fairly compensates" artists.

“We started Spotify because we love music and piracy was killing it. So all the talk swirling around lately about how Spotify is making money on the backs of artists upsets me big time,” the company's chief executive Daniel Elk wrote following Swift's announcement.

Tidal, the streaming service launched last month by rapper Jay Z, also cited Spotify's low royalties as a reason for artists to switch to its service. Tidal, which unlike Spotify has no free version, purports to offer users better audio-quality for a higher price, but early reviews have been mixed.