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Kanye West settles lawsuit over 'The Life of Pablo' Tidal exclusivity
Kanye West has settled a lawsuit with fan Justin Baker-Rhett, who sued the artist over claims that West's album The Life of Pablo would be available exclusively through Tidal. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed but all charges filed in the case have been dismissed, including a potential class-action lawsuit that will no longer move forward.
Tidal under criminal investigation in Norway over 'faked' streams
High-fidelity music streaming service Tidal is under criminal investigation in Norway for allegedly inflating album streams for Beyoncé's Lemonade and Kanye West's The Life of Pablo. The alleged faking of streaming numbers was exposed last year by Norwegian newspaper Dagens Næringsliv (DN), which said it had obtained a hard drive with the tampered data. Around 1.3 million accounts were supposedly used to lift the play counts of said albums by "several hundred million", with Tidal paying out higher royalty fees to the two artists and their record labels as a result.
Pornhub's year in review defined by 'Fortnite' and Stormy Daniels
Like Twitter before it, Pornhub is crowning its biggest trends of 2018. There's no mention of its parent Mindgeek's age verification tool for the UK -- which could see it become the gatekeeper for porn in the country -- or its custom VPN and launch of closed-captions for viewers with hearing loss for that matter. Instead, this flashback is all about porn searches. And what a year it's been for the web's leading purveyor of potentially pirated adult entertainment.
Recommended Reading: Google Assistant's new bag of tricks
Google's Duplex could make Assistant the most lifelike AI yet Richard Nieva, CNET Google has big plans for Assistant, and some of what it showed at I/O this week is equal parts fascinating and worrisome. CNET took a closer look at the so-called Duplex technology that will allow Google Assistant to do things like make phone calls on your behalf. The company has since said it will alert the person on the other end that they're speaking to AI, but for many, questions remain.
Tidal reportedly inflated streaming stats for Beyoncé and Kanye West
Tidal is under fire once again for allegedly inflating its streaming numbers. This time, it's for misreporting the amount of plays Beyoncé's Lemonade and Kanye West's The Life of Pablo had by "several hundred million" false plays. According to a report (translated) from Norwegian newspaper Dagens Næringsliv (DN), there's no way that the streaming numbers could've been that high without Tidal manipulating its data. More plays meant that the two artists garnered higher royalty payments. The publication received a hard drive brimming with Tidal play data including play times, song titles, user IDs and country codes.
Kanye just played Twitter like a fiddle
Kanye West finally ended his social media hiatus this past weekend, nearly a year after he randomly deleted his Twitter and Instagram accounts. Over the past few days, the producer/rapper/fashion designer has sent out an avalanche of tweets ranging from accusations that Nike copied one of his latest Adidas shoe designs, to sub-Philosophy 101 ruminations on how "hardcore" capitalists don't understand the value of time and friends over money. His return to the site caught fans by surprise, but the timing of it can now be linked to one major reason: West just revealed on Twitter that he has two new albums coming out on June 1st and June 8th.
Kanye West bought Kim Netflix and Apple stock for Christmas
It's Christmas morning in the Kardashian-West household. The family, possibly wearing Final Fantasy-inspired pyjamas, gathers under an enormous blinged-out tree. "Can we listen to Christmas songs?" North might ask, with the hopeful glee of a small child during the holidays. "Maybe later," says Yeezy, as he once again hits play on The Life of Pablo, which is definitely not streaming through Tidal. Kim chooses a gift from the mountains of presents piled up in their living room, and unwraps it to find a Disney toy, Apple headphones, Adidas socks and gift cards for Netflix and Amazon.
Kanye West may be working on a streaming service called 'Yeezy Sound'
Yeezy and Jay Z haven't had the most comfortable of relationships lately. Kanye West terminated his exclusivity deal with Tidal a few months back, apparently because of the $3 million bucks West says the streaming service owes him for bringing in 1.5 million new subscribers for The Life of Pablo. Of course, it's probably more about ego than cash. Either way, the plot thickens today as The Blast reports a new trademark request on behalf of West for a streaming service that may be named, we kid you not, Yeezy Sound.
How Kevin Durant’s attempt to clap back at trolls backfired
What does an NBA champion and Finals MVP have in common with Taylor Swift? In the case of the Golden State Warriors' Kevin Durant, it's that internet trolls love calling them snakes. Swift earned that label last year after a feud with Kim Kardashian and husband, Kanye West; for Durant, that scorn came after he decided to leave the Oklahoma City Thunder to join a main Western Conference rival, the Warriors. Since that day, July 4th, 2016, his mentions have been overtaken by angry basketball fans calling him a cupcake, coward, sellout, traitor and, yes, a snake. That's right, a cupcake and a snake.
Celebrities are vanishing from social media to make a statement
Platforms like Instagram and Twitter have taken the relationship between celebrities and fans to new heights. Those who follow famous people on social media feel closer to them than ever before, since these networks act as a window into the lavish personal lives of individuals they admire. Celebs can share anything from selfies and family pictures to random thoughts about topics they feel strongly about. But, as we've seen with Kanye West, Solange Knowles and Taylor Swift recently, that online presence doesn't last forever. Some vanish for unknown reasons (West), while others do it because of the current political climate (Solange) or as a marketing scheme to promote a fresh music album (Swift). And if you're Rob Kardashian, well, you just get banned for revenge porn.
Kanye's Tidal breakup is about ego, not money
The relationship between Tidal and Kanye West, one of the streaming service's original artist-owners, is seemingly coming to an end. According to various reports, which Engadget confirmed independently, 'Ye has decided to terminate his exclusive streaming deal with the company, claiming it owes him more than $3 million dollars. Most of that sum was allegedly supposed to be a bonus for him bringing in 1.5 million new subscribers with the release of his last album, The Life of Pablo, in 2016. Tidal is shutting down Kanye's claims and, per TMZ, doesn't seem to be too concerned with his threat to quit since he's still under contract. It's also been reported that, if he were to jump ship and join another streaming service, Tidal's prepared to take legal action.
Kanye West terminates his exclusive Tidal streaming deal
Tidal no longer has exclusive rights to stream Kanye West's music, according to Complex and Billboard. Engadget was also able to independently confirm that Jay-Z's streaming service and West, who was one of its 16 original artist-owners, have terminated their deal. A report published by TMZ says Ye made the decision due to a financial dispute: the company apparently still owes him $3 million, a bonus he was promised for bringing in 1.5 million new subscribers after The Life of Pablo dropped. He also says Tidal hasn't reimbursed him for the music videos he shot for the service yet, a claim the company denied. According to one of TMZ's sources, Tidal didn't pay because Kanye hasn't delivered the videos, but West refuses to hand them over until he's paid what he's owed.
Jay-Z’s Tidal-exclusive ‘4:44’ went platinum in less than a week
Jay-Z's latest album 4:44 had a very exclusive release. It was available only on Tidal and new customers signing up to the streaming service days before the album dropped were also required to be Sprint customers in order to get access to 4:44. But despite those limitations, the album is the latest streaming-only release to go platinum. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) tweeted the news today, meaning 4:44 hit the milestone in less than a week.
Kanye West reportedly quits Tidal over money dispute
Kanye West has been one of Tidal's biggest champions: he joined the company the moment Jay-Z relaunched its service, and The Life of Pablo was one of the streaming music service's largest (if temporary) exclusives. However, it appears that the relationship has... soured. TMZ sources claim that Kanye has left the company over a payment squabble involving both Life of Pablo and music videos. It's reportedly a messy dispute, and certainly not what Tidal wanted in an already tumultuous period for the business.
Kanye West just deleted his Twitter and Instagram
People are freaking out because Kanye West just deleted his Twitter and Instagram accounts. Not surprisingly, there's no explanation as to why the producer-turned-rapper-turned-designer decided to shut down his social media pages, but don't be surprised if it's part of a sneaky marketing plot. Yesterday, his wife Kim Kardashian revealed that the two were collaborating on a children's clothing line named Kids Supply, so the timing of Kanye's decision may be tied to that.
Kanye West album is the first to go platinum from streaming alone
Kanye West's The Life of Pablo may have had excessive hype between the initial Tidal exclusive, the expansion to other services and the changing tracklist, but it's definitely a commercial success. The RIAA has confirmed to Engadget that Pablo was recently certified platinum, making it the first-ever album to get the honor based solely on listens through streaming-only services. While it's not exclusively a streaming album (Kanye sells it as a download on his site), its 1.5 billion US streams were enough to achieve platinum status by themselves. Downloads represented less than 0.1 percent of Pablo's performance back in May 2016, and it's safe to say they didn't climb higher without availability in iTunes and other download stores.
Kanye West says Facebook and Google 'lied to you'
You're not the only one upset that the internet might have misled you. Kanye West cut short a Sacramento concert with an epic 15-minute speech where he railed against the state of the music industry, politics, and... the internet. The superstar says that people feel like they lost (due to the election, among other issues) because Facebook and Google "lied to you." He even calls out Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg by name around the 12-minute mark. Supposedly, the internet mogul reneged on a promise that he "would help" Kanye and then decided to "look for aliens." We're not sure where that last part comes from, since Facebook's out-there projects are largely limited to Earthly concerns like solar-powered internet drones.
Kanye: Apple and Tidal 'bullshit' caused Drake rift
Kanye West says that he and Jay Z didn't appear on the final "Pop Style" track of Drake's Apple Music exclusive Views album because of Apple's rivalry with Tidal. "Y'all didn't get, what y'all were supposed to get with me and Drake on this song because of some Tidal/Apple bullshit," he said in a Saint Pablo tour video spotted by The Fader (below). He added that Jay Z pulled his own vocal "out of respect to Meek Mill," presumably over the infamous Mill and Drake Twitter tiff.
Frank Ocean's 'Blonde' has been pirated 750,000 times
It seems streaming exclusives are continuing to create a rise in piracy. After a four-year hiatus Frank Ocean finally resurfaced, dropping his long-anticipated sophomore album, Blonde, on Apple Music last weekend. Critics and fans are enjoying it, but it's not all good news for the R&B singer. So far, the album has been illegally downloaded over a whopping 750,000 times.
