Ben Sisario, writing for The New York Times:

For each song that is streamed free, Apple will pay 0.2 cent for the use of recordings, a rate that music executives said was roughly comparable to the free tiers from services like Spotify. This rate does not include a smaller payment for songwriting rights that goes to music publishers; Apple is still negotiating with many publishers over those terms, several publishing companies confirmed on Wednesday.

I can imagine Apple signing up tens of millions of customers for Apple Music. But if we conservatively estimate at 10 million users streaming an average of 20 tracks per day, that’s $400,000 a day paid to artists and record labels. Or $12 million a month. That may be insignificant to Apple’s bottom line, but might make a huge difference for some independent band that manages to release a hit single.