There is a new music streaming service that will be released later today (March 30th), and it has the support of a slew of high profile musicians. The new service is Jay Z’s TIDAL, and it has been taking over social media sites across the internet as celebrities like Madonna, Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, Coldplay, and countless others have changed out their photos in favor of an aquamarine square in support of the project. The artists have also urged their fans to join in and help “turn the tide.” Kanye West proclaimed “together, we can turn the tide and make music history,” while Nicki Minaj asked fans to join in. “Change your avi in support of what is fair, of what is the future. The tides of changed, Barbz…” The musicians are also promoting the use of the hashtag #TIDALforALL.
Along with the social media takeover, Jay Z has also released a short promotional commercial that has been winging its way across the internet since this morning. In the video, many of the same artists can be seen coming together for a meeting, where it is assumed that they discussed the future of music streaming on TIDAL. Those who were unable to make it to the meeting in person, including Usher, were projected on screens so that their presence would be known.
At 5 pm EST today (March 30th), Jay Z is expected to release TIDAL to the general public. Customers will be able to utilize the system for free for a seven-day trial, but afterwards, they will need to purchase a subscription with the company. For $19.99 you will be able to stream unlimited music in lossless high fidelity quality, or for $9.99 you will be able to listen to regular audio quality.
TIDAL is operating with the goal of becoming “the first music streaming service that combines the best High Fidelity sound quality, High Definition music videos, and expertly Curated Editorial.” Earlier this month, it was announced that Jay Z purchased 90% of the stock in the Swedish streaming company with a fee of $54 million. This massive purchase and new streaming system is being heralded as the answer to problems that have arisen from Spotify streaming royalties, but it remains to be seen how TIDAL will perform in the wake of its release.
In recent months, several artists have refused to stream their music on services such as Spotify. Most famously Taylor Swift removed her entire discography from the service before releasing 1989. She has spoken publicly about the drawbacks of streaming her art for free, and she is not alone. Many artists have claimed that they made pennies per spin on such services. It can be assumed that Jay Z’s TIDAL will promote more equality in terms of royalties, especially since Swift has announced that she will be allowing her albums to stream with the service.
FDRMX Eyes: From down under comes Australia-native Sahara Beck. The singer-songwriter has released a music video titled “Pretender.”
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