By: Amanda Anderson-Niles
If you’ve been keeping up with Jay Z’s latest business move, than you already know he has partnered up with multiple A list music artists to take over the streaming business.
The rapper has purchased Aspiro for reportedly $56 million to create Tidal. The streaming service is supposed to rival the ever so popular Spotify. For the same price ($9.99 a month for premium and $19.99 a month for Hi Def), Jay Z is hoping artists and music makers can start making decent money from streams.
Artists can actually become partners with Tidal and stand to make more money from music.
So far heavyweights such as Rihanna, Beyonce, Usher, Alicia Keys, Kanye West and Madonna have jumped on board.
While artists are rallying behind the cause, the majority of the media is hard at work to convince the general public not to give the new streaming project a chance.
Major publications like Tech Crunch are already calling the service “doomed,” while others such as Wired are telling music fans the service is “great for artists” but not great for them.
It’s kind of strange to see such respectable publications so determined to make all these artists back down on what they are actually owed. But with it looking as if artists may agree to exclusive album releasing deals with Tidal, the media’s decision to attack Tidal starts to make sense. Jay Z is pissing off a lot of important people.
Regardless, Jay Z is standing firm. On the venture, he tells Billboard:
“We didn’t like the direction music was going and thought maybe we could get in and strike an honest blow and if, you know, the very least we did was make people wake up and try to improve the free vs. paid system, and promote fair trade, then it would be a win for us anyway.
“Music is … imagine your life without music. It’s a very valuable part of your life, and like I said, that’s why we got in this business. It seems to be going the other way. People are not respecting the music, and [are] devaluing it and devaluing what it really means. People really feel like music is free, but will pay $6 for water. You can drink water free out of the tap, and it’s good water. But they’re OK paying for it. It’s just the mind-set right now.
“For someone like me, I can go on tour. But what about the people working on the record, the content creators and not just the artists? If they’re not being compensated properly, then I think we’ll lose some writers and producers and people like that who depend on fair trade. Some would probably have to take another job, and I think we’ll lose some great writers in the process. Is it fair? No. If you put in work, everyone else, you go to work you get paid. That’s fair trade. It’s what our country is built on.”
Jay once again expresses that he feels this must be done to ensure artists and content creators are making the money they deserve from streaming:
“I’m just saying the producers and people who work on music are getting left out — that’s when it starts getting criminal. It’s like you’re working hard and you’re not receiving. In any other business people would be standing before Congress. They have antitrust laws against this kind of behavior. It almost seems like when it applies to music no one really cares who’s cheated. It’s so disorganized; it’s so disconnected from reality.”
I don’t see the big deal. You either want the service or you don’t. People are so f-cking stupid. They are acting like he’s forcing them to use it. Idiots.
People have gotten so accustomed to stealing music that they get offended when you tell them to buy an album now. I can’t get with stealing. I buy my music. To each its own though.
He is so correct with this. The nerve. People will go out and buy water that cost $6 but want to steal music and movies. I’ve heard people say why should I go buy music when I can download for free or buy it from the parking lot guy who recorded the movie out of the theatre. Music and Theatre is Art. It is a job that involves a team of people and if it is downloaded for free then they are not getting paid and neither is the team who was part of the creation. It is just not fair. I buy my music and movies. I’m happy for this and will definitely become a member. Gonna have to leave Rhapsody :/
That’s what the broke and biter do…they steal!!!!
I plan on doing a free trial first but if I like it, I will dump Spotify. I felt guilty about Spotify from day one because they pay artists peanuts for their music. That’s why Aaliyah’s estate won’t put it on there.
Spotify’s quality isn’t all that. Tidal is definitely better as far as sound quality. Jay is going to burn so many bridges with this. He is real bold.
They want Jay to sit his black a-s down. Now everyone knows these white executives don’t like the fact that he is making all these moves. They want us to stay in our place and just be happy with the crumbs they give us. That is why I want to slap any black person who is hating on this in the face. Did their dumb a-sses not see it was more black artists on that damn stage than white? F-ck.
^^^^Stands up and claps cause you hit the nail on the head. They don’t want to see a black man make this kind of money when they are steady ripping us off. But black people quick to support other races and down our own for at least trying.
Preach!
Jay is making business moves. I’m all for it!
I already signed up and I love it.
I’m all for it. I’m just glad at least one blog and pointing out the obvious. The media is really mad and trying to make this fail. All it does is make me pull out my wallet though.
I act a damn fool when I don’t get my money, so I can understand where they are coming from. Too many people don’t want to admit what they are doing is stealing. But I’m going to sign up later on tonight.
I love y’all man. Y’all never let me down. I had to log of Twitter yesterday because the hate coming from our own people was just too much. Crabs in a barrel I swear.
That’s how they do when it comes to Carters. But when you’re on top, it should be expected that the miserable will come out in full force.
get money
I like it so far. #shrugs
This is about the rich getting richer and the poorer getting poorer….jayz and bey are worth a billion together. This is not about them not being compensated…the same goes for everyone that was there. Its not like they had struggling artists up there..
You sound like a certified hater and crab in the bucket. You don’t have a right to steal from anyone. Everyone deserves to be paid for their work no matter what their bank account looks like. Do you know Spotify will only pay an artist up to a few thousand dollars for over a billion streams? Does that make sense to you? And you do know that writers and producers aren’t making much either from Spotify, right? But that’s ok because YOU’RE broke? Y’all are hilarious and embarrassing. Y’all hate anyone who makes more money than you do. I don’t steal from anyone because I wouldn’t want anyone making up reasons for why they shouldn’t pay me. And last but not least, any artist who signs up for Tidal will be paid way more than they would be on Spotify. Why do you think people are starting to remove their music from Spotify? I’m sure you’d be ok with all of this if Jay was a white Jewish man. Idiot. And you shouldn’t call yourself greendreams. You don’t have any green and you don’t have any dreams either so you hate on those who live theirs.
“And you shouldn’t call yourself greendreams. You don’t have any green and you don’t have any dreams either so you hate on those who live theirs” Lol!! Clocked!!
But it’s true though. They can’t stand to see people out here making it. Get off your butt and make your own billions. It can be done. I don’t get mad at people for getting rich. It inspires me to handle my business and please believe I do. We have to stop teaching our kids to grow up with these bitter and jealous mindsets.
Amen!!
Ah I knew the broke people would arrive shortly.
How the hell are the poor getting poorer from signing up for an optional music streaming service? Who the f-ck is forcing anyone to even use Tidal anyway? I want to throw an economics book at some of you. Y’all ain’t been right since she told y’all there was a billion dollars in the elevator that night. Get over it. Damn.
This!
I’m not understanding your logic because this streaming service can benefit struggling artists and indie artists who maybe won’t get as much from album sales or whatever.
Exactly. You can tell who didn’t research this beforehand. Every artist benefits from this platform. Tidal is going to give them more than YouTube and Spotify combined. People let their jealousy cloud their common sense.
Green dreams you really don’t know what you’re talking about. Don’t let Black Twitter have you out here looking foolish. Get the facts first. Smh.
Lol. People are so pressed about this. Shame on any black person who is hating on black artists coming together and fighting for their money. We should have done this a long time ago.
With premium for Tidal being the same cost as the subscription for Spotify, I’m switching over just off the strength of supporting Jay. I wish I could automatically transfer all my playlists and saved albums over tho 🙁
BTW why wasn’t Black Twitter pissed when YouTube/Google started sending indie artists those terrible contracts forcing them to agree to less money or be kicked off YouTube? That was ok but Jay putting this together to make sure all artists make more money has y’all upset? Man talk about transparency.
I can only roll my eyes at some people. Anyway, Nicki touched on this on IG a few months ago. She has been angry at Spotify for a while now, but her label put her music on there anyway. I’m glad she has signed on with Tidal.
*blank stare* This isn’t about the rich or the poor. This is about either wanting to use a new music service or not. People are so dramatic and it’s getting old. Anything this couple does results in faux outrage. Enough already.
I think this is a phenomenal idea. Good for them. Does this mean consumers will get a better product/music bc artist have more control?