“These are difficult times for the music industry globally,” the letter said. “Livelihoods are at risk, with multiple sources of income that our industry relies on vanishing overnight. Apple has a deep, decades-long history with music, and we are proud to be in close partnership with the best labels and artists in the world. We want to help.”
Not only are artists losing their live concerts and tours as a result of the pandemic, but orders to socially distance and stay at home have had a domino chain of negative consequences across the entire music industry. ASCAP recently announced that late payments from licensees have forced it to postpone its April distributions.