Jay-Z‘s streaming service Tidal has not had the smoothest launch – the site has been criticised for its poor interface, Rihanna fans nearly rioted when she tried to make her ‘American Oxygen’ video exclusive to the site, while last week, in an act of “streamlining”, the company shed 25 employees, as well as its CEO Andy Chen.
We all kind of figured that a response would be forthcoming, and today, right on time, Hov took to Twitter to defend the fledgeling business, and offer some #TidalFacts as clarification. It all started with this:
Stream of consciousness coming in 5, 4, 3, 2… #TidalFacts
— Mr. Carter (@S_C_) April 26, 2015
Over the course of several more Tweets, transcribed here for the sake of not making you skim a million and one of them, he said:
Tidal is doing just fine. We have over 770,000 subs. We have been in business less than one month. #TidalFacts
The iTunes Store wasn’t built in a day. It took Spotify 9 years to be successful … We are here for the long haul. Please give us a chance to grow and get better. #TidalFacts
There are many big companies that are spending millions on a smear campaign. We are not anti-anyone, we are pro-artist & fan. #TidalFacts
We made Tidal for fans. We have more than just music. We have video, exclusive concerts, tickets for events early, live sports!… ….Tidal is where artists can give their fans more without the middlemen. #TidalFacts
Indie artists who want to work directly w/ us keep 100% of their music. “If you don’t want the CEOs all in the videos” haa #tidalfacts
Tidal pays 75% royalty rate to ALL artists, writers and producers – not just the founding members on stage. Rich getting richer? Equity values… YouTube $390 billion. Apple $760 billion. Spotify $8 billion. Tidal $60 million. #TidalFacts
My cousin just moved to Nigeria to discover new talent. Tidal is a global company. We have Tidal X – it supports artists by giving them a platform to connect with their most loyal fans. Tidal is for all. #Tidalfacts
Our actions will speak louder than words. We made Tidal to bring people the best experiences… and to help artists give that to their fans over and over again… We are human (even Daft Punk ha). We aren’t perfect – but we are determined. #TidalFacts
While he covered a lot of ground, he did not address the number one complaint of potential users, which is Tidal’s pricing structure. Unlike its main rival, Spotify, Tidal does not offer free, ad-supported streaming, and its basic tier costs as much per month as Spotify Premium.
Meanwhile, there appears to be a turf war of sorts looming between Tidal and Apple, who will soon launch their own streaming music service in June this year.
The internet, as always, was direct and to the point in its response to Jay-Z’s rant:
when ur check bae’s timeline and see they went on a confusing rant about their streaming music service pic.twitter.com/iKdSHNihNQ
— Desus Nice (@desusnice) April 26, 2015
Photo: Jamie McCarthy via Getty Images
