Tonight’s TIDAL press launch has been met with some of the world’s biggest artists doing their best to literally break the internet, as some of the industry’s who’s-who unveiled the service, aka, the first-ever artist-owned global music and entertainment platform.
Set to rival the likes of Deezer and Spotify, the full unveiling of TIDAL saw a plethora of big-names enter the stage, including Alicia Keys, Jay Z, Usher, Madonna, Kanye West, Nicki Minaj, Beyonce, Rihanna, Daft Punk, Deadmau5, Arcade Fire and more, who, according to various sources, each received three percent of TIDAL stock as a gift from Jay Z.
To give you further context, Jay Z purchased TIDAL a couple of weeks back from Swedish company Aspiro, so the quick turnaround is even more inspiring!
With the press conference opened by Roc Nation’s Vania Schlogel, the charge was led by Keys, who affirmed that the service’s focus was “to preserve music’s importance in our lives”, quoting German scholar Nietzsche, saying “Without music, life would be a mistake.”
TIDAL has now launched in full swing over at the service’s official website (here) with price plans ranging from US$9.99 to US$19.99 on a monthly rolling contract, giving fans access to millions of tracks in variable definition, alongside HD videos and artist-curated playlists.
Speaking to Billboard earlier, Jay Z shared more about TIDAL’s pricing – “People are not respecting the music, and devaluing what it really means” he said, continuing “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 okay paying for it. It’s just the mindset right now.”
With all sixteen artists involved (the aforementioned, including Calvin Harris, Jack White, Drake and J Cole), it is hoped that TIDAL will herald a wealth of exclusive content before it reaches other sources (similar to Jay Z’s 2013 partnership with Samsung for Magna Carta Holy Grail), though anything further has yet to be divulged.
Catch the promo video, and full press conference for TIDAL below, and head over to their website to sign up.
