Taylor Swift tells fans she's 'watching closely' after UK iTunes unrest

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/oct/15/taylor-swift-uk-itunes-out-of-the-woods

Version 0 of 1.

Taylor Swift has addressed unrest among British fans about her new single Out of the Woods being unavailable to buy in the UK, even though it has been released elsewhere in the world.

The song has been released through Apple’s iTunes Store in some countries, but not in the UK, leading fans to vent their anger on social networks earlier in the week.

In a Tumblr post, Swift confirmed that this was no accident: in fact, it’s a deliberate marketing strategy by her record label.

“To all my wonderful UK fans, I realize that you are not yet able to get ‘Out Of The Woods’ due to a new strategy my record label is working on in the UK,” explained the Tumblr post.

“I’ve never been one to hold my music back from any of you so I will be watching closely to see if this is ultimately a better experience for you, the fans.”

Swift’s music has been held back in some ways before: her last album Red was withheld from streaming services like Spotify for seven months after its release, and her new album 1989 looks set to adopt a similar approach.

It is relatively rare to see songs made available to buy on iTunes in some countries but not other major music markets like the UK. However, Swift’s Tumblr post explains a little about the strategy.

“My good friend Ed Sheeran utilized the same strategy with ‘One’ in the UK and he seemed very happy with the feedback from his fans. But, ultimately, it’s down to you. Let me know.”

The Sheeran song was released as an “instant grat” track on iTunes in the run-up to the release of his last album X: instant grat being the music industry term used for tracks delivered early to fans who’ve pre-ordered an album.

Out of the Woods is likely to be available for at least some of Swift’s fans in the UK soon, then. But many will have turned to other means to hear the track: for example, there are already a number of uploads of its audio to YouTube.

• Tor can handle Aphex Twin – but could it deal with Taylor Swift?