Anita Baker Chin-Checks Apple Music on Twitter, Argues It Doesn’t Have the License to Stream Her Music

Anita Baker probably felt as if Apple Music was adding insult to injury when it sent this tweet out Wednesday.

https://twitter.com/AppleMusic/status/667094902245732352

Yep, the music-streaming service was promoting Baker's work that it had put in a special "80s" playlist. Baker hopped on Twitter and told Apple Music that it didn't have a "digital licensing agreement" for any of her work. Not to mention that it probably felt like a double whammy that the service was putting her music in a special discount deal.

https://twitter.com/IAMANITABAKER/status/667103622065360896

She kept going in, saying that it was "piracy" and an "attempted theft of [her] catalog." 

https://twitter.com/IAMANITABAKER/status/667104975793709057?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Baker argued that it represents a bigger shift that's happening in the music business, where artists make and "they take."

https://twitter.com/IAMANITABAKER/status/667108367702163456?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

She especially feels bad for smaller artists who may want to take a stand against these streaming service arrangements but can't because they need the pennies they make from it.

https://twitter.com/IAMANITABAKER/status/667115977776074753?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

That'll probably be the last time Apple Music makes mention of Anita Baker. And she's probably just fine with that.

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Diana Ozemebhoya Eromosele is a staff writer at The Root and the founder and executive producer of Lectures to Beats, a Web series that features video interviews with scarily insightful people. Follow Lectures to Beats on Facebook and Twitter.

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