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I find it highly unlikely this was a coordinated PR stunt. If revealed, this would damage the reputation of both parties, particularly Taylor. On a risk-adjusted basis, it’s not worth it for such established players to do this sort of thing. There’s also the secondary issue of how Apple would initially raise this topic. What are the chances she would have wanted to play along? Maybe she has a close friend at Apple who’d feel safe suggesting this, but it seems unlikely.

It’s very hard to exactly predict how stories will develop. What if lots of other artists came out and publicly supported Taylor’s stance? Then, even if Taylor agreed to Apple’s next deal, the other artists might not. In which case, Apple finds itself in a pickle and nobody would be suggesting that this was coordinated – even if it was.