The sales pitch was that if they would forgo their fees for three months, Apple would bring in millions of new subscribers who would listen to more songs and allow Apple to funnel more money back to the labels and artists. Though large labels like Sony and Universal agreed to deals, independent labels balked, leaving Apple without music from popular artists such as Adele and Radiohead. Their absence threatened to overshadow the launch by fueling stories about what Apple Music didn’t have instead of what it did.
