Apple’s war with Spotify for exclusives can be a great thing for artists, according to three time Grammy winner Chance the Rapper.

In a series of tweets posted this morning, Chance the Rapper elaborated on his music with Apple Music and revealed how much the company paid him for exclusive access to his award-winning album Coloring Book.

Chance has remained a fiercely independent artist by shunning labels that have offered him record deals. His decision to give Apple Music exclusive streaming rights to Coloring Book for two weeks caused some critics to question whether he’s truly an “indie,” so Chance cleared the air on Twitter.

Half a million for two weeks sounds like a killer deal for both parties. Especially considering Chance gave the album away for free on SoundCloud after the two weeks were up.

“I think artists can gain a lot from the streaming wars as long as they remain in control of their own product,” Chance said in another tweet. “If you come across opportunities to work with good people, pick up cash and keep your integrity I say Do It.”

Apple Music has lined up a number of exclusive album deals since launched in June 2015. Drake, Taylor Swift, Future, Frank Ocean, Travis Scott, DJ Khaled and others have all struck exclusive deals with the company.

Despite Apple’s penchant for exclusives, its paid subscriber numbers are about half of Spotify’s which recently revealed it has 40 million paying streamers. Spotify plans to take a cue from Apple Music though and pull some albums off of its free music tier.

Source: cult of mac