Jay Z has unleashed a “stream of consciousness” defence of his streaming service TIDAL.
The 45-year-old rapper is co-owner of the new tech company, which hosted a star-studded press conference in March with attendees like Madonna, Deadmau5, Alicia Keys, Daft Punk, Rihanna, Nicki Minaj and Jay Z’s wife Beyoncé Knowles.
Although the fanfare was initially huge the TIDAL buzz seemed to fizzle out quickly after this event took place and Jay Z took to Twitter Sunday in defence of his business.
“Stream of consciousness coming in 5, 4, 3, 2… (sic),” he wrote in the first of a series of tweets, which all ended with the hashtag #TidalFacts. “Tidal is doing just fine. We have over 770,000 subs. We have been in business less than one month.
“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 & get better.”
Jay Z then shared his concerns over how his competition has entered this conversation.
The hip hop mogul is convinced other companies are intentionally trying to give TIDAL a bad name.
“There are many big companies that are spending millions on a smear campaign. We are not anti-anyone, we are pro-artist & fan,” he wrote. “Rich getting richer? Equity values... YouTube $390 billion. Apple $760 billion. Spotify $8 billion. Tidal $60 million.”
TIDAL has come under fire by some critics who assert the service will only line the pockets of affluent artists like the superstars who attended last month’s press occasion.
But Jay Z has dismissed this claim as complete nonsense.
“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,” he wrote. “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 (sic).”
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