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Jay-Z pulls another album from streaming services he doesn't own
While Jay Z took his album Reasonable Doubt off Spotify just before he launched his own music service , the artist has recently pulled his Blueprint albums. Pitchfork noticed the disappearance of the 2001 album from iTunes, Spotify, Amazon Music and Apple Music. You can still listen to the majority of Mr. Carter's back-catalogue on music services besides the one he owns -- although he won't make as much money from it.
Ariana Grande channels pop stars to save Tidal on SNL
Things aren't going great at Tidal right now, and it's trying to save itself with exclusive exclusive releases from the likes of Rihanna. But what if a power outage messed up their streams? As SNL humorously imagines, it's Chloe the intern (aka Ariana Grande) to the rescue. As glimpsed on the Tonight Show, the diminutive pop star has got a gigantic voice and flawlessly belted out hits from the likes of Britney Spears, Shakira and Celine Dion until the music was restored.
Kendrick Lamar releases a new album in response to tweets
Twitter can apparently be used for more than just mischief making, activism and unexpected beefs, as it appears LeBron James managed to coax a new album out of rapper Kendrick Lamar. SBNation notes that the NBA star tweeted at TDE label head Anthony Tiffith after seeing the performance at this year' s Grammy awards (pictured above), asking for the release of Lamar's unreleased tracks . Fast forward a couple of weeks, and the eight-track album untitled unmastered. has just appeared on iTunes, Google Play, Tidal and Spotify.
Kanye caught on Pirate Bay while his album streams on Pornhub (update)
In the picture above, you'll spot Joel Zimmerman's alter ego, Deadmau5, standing side by side with Kanye West. Last night, the rodent-headed musician was putting a little distance between him and his Tidal buddy, for apparently using Pirate Bay to download a software synthesiser called Xfer Serum (a $190 purchase). Deadmau5 was responding to a tweet from West that simply read "Day 3," along with a screen shot of what he was listening to (Sufjan Stevens' "Death with Dignity"). Zimmerman noticed West's other browser tabs in view, which included one for Xfer Records' Serum, one for "Pirate Bay Torrent Xfe..." and another for "The 50 best VSTs" (software instruments). Oh, and the surest giveaway you're browsing something dodgy: MacKeeper.
Tidal fires its CFO and COO in latest executive shuffle
We've become accustomed to hearing about executive shuffles at Tidal over the last several months. According to both Norweigan newspaper Dagens Næringsliv and Swedish news outlet Breakit, the streaming service fired both its CFO Chris Hart and COO Nils Juell. Breakit reports that Hart was axed after a dispute over the company's refusal to release streaming numbers. Tidal confirmed that it terminated those two execs, but didn't offer any further details. Hart and Juell are the latest in a line of Oslo-based employees to leave the company since Jay-Z purchased it, following the departures of CEO Peter Tonstad and product chief Ervin Draganovic last year.
Kanye West's Tidal exclusive could hurt both him and his fans
Kanye West spent the weeks leading up to the release of his long-awaited new album going wild on Twitter. He simultaneously reaffirmed his runaway ego and also gave an inside look at his thought process as he finalized The Life of Pablo before its Valentine's Day launch. Album titles changed at will and West continually added and dropped songs. He took so long to finish things up that he missed the promised February 12th release date. Whatever you think of West, he's an artist. Even if his personality or songs turn you off, he's one of the most creative and successful musicians of the last decade. That makes his stubborn insistence on making The Life of Pablo a Tidal exclusive even more puzzling, because he's putting his stake in the music streaming service over his art. Both West and his fans will likely suffer for the decision.
Pirates prove Kanye's new album isn't really Tidal-exclusive
Kanye West's anticipated album had a bizarre launch, but once the album was finally released early Sunday morning, we hoped the drama would be over. We were wrong. Shortly after putting up The Life of Pablo as a Tidal streaming exclusive that you could also buy outright, West decided to pull the album from standard sales entirely. In one of his increasingly-commonplace Twitter rants, West practically begged followers to sign up to Tidal and proclaimed The Life of Pablo will "never never never be on Apple" and would never be for sale.
Kanye West's new album is streaming exclusively on Tidal
Music icon (and owner of perhaps the weirdest account on Twitter) Kanye West has finally delivered his highly-anticipated new album, The Life of Pablo. West has been teasing the album on Twitter for weeks now, changing the title and adding tracks at will. But now the full album (18 tracks, with four of those considered "bonus tracks, if you're keeping count) is streaming exclusively on Tidal for the next week. If you don't want to sign up for Tidal, you can also purchase a digital version for the eye-raising price of $20.
Tidal's Rihanna exclusive drove a ton of interest in the app this week
Rihanna released her long-awaited new album ANTI earlier this week, her first release since 2012's Unapologetic. It was a surprise launch, and it had a twist: Rihanna offered it up for free in partnership with Tidal and Samsung. They offered 1 million free copies, which ran out less than two days after the announcement; to get the album, you had to install the Tidal app and get a download redemption code. The album is now out to buy on iTunes, but Tidal retains the exclusive streaming rights for Rihanna's latest, at least for now -- you can't stream it on Spotify, Apple Music, Google Play Music or the rest.
Tidal charged ex-subscribers and re-activated accounts (update)
If you gave Tidal a shot and have since cancelled, you likely noticed you were charged for the service in the last day or so. You're not alone. The Verge's Chris Welch was charged $20 by the streaming service, the price of its Premium or hi-fi tier. As if the bogus charge wasn't enough, Tidal offered those affected by the error three months of Tidal Premium in addition to a refund. This means that accounts that were closed have now been re-activated.
Jay-Z's Tidal music service to offer original TV shows
Under the management of Jay Z, music streaming service Tidal has slowly grown to more than one million subscribers. The company has sought to differentiate itself from the likes of Spotify and Apple Music with a mixture of high-fidelity tracks and exclusive video content, but it now believes that original programming could give it an extra edge over its rivals. Variety reports that Tidal has ordered two new series: Season 2 of New York street drama Money & Violence, which will debut in January, and No Small Talk, a series profiling rising comedians, which hits the streaming service today.
George Harrison's solo catalog is available at most streaming services
If you enjoy listening to solo work from members of The Beatles, the library of options just got larger. The solo catalog of guitarist George Harrison hit most music streaming services today. This means that you'll be able to access the musician's tracks on the likes of Apple Music, Deezer, Google Play, Rdio, Spotify, Tidal and others, including albums like Living in the Material World. If you aren't familiar with Harrison's solo music, now's a good time to get acquainted. The newly-posted albums join those of former bandmates Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr on streaming services, but the music of the group as a whole remains off limits there. To make things easy for you, we've embedded All Things Must Pass on the other side of the break. [Image credit: AP Photo/Brich]
Tidal's music-streaming service reaches 1 million subscribers
Remember when Jay Z said Tidal, the streaming music service he acquired earlier this year, was doing just fine? Well, as it turns out, things are still on a respectable course. The musician/entrepreneur took to Twitter to reveal a significant milestone for Tidal: 1 million subscribers. "'Nothing real can be threatened, nothing unreal exists,'" Jay Z tweeted. "Tidal is platinum." To celebrate, Tidal announced it will be hosting a charity concert in Brooklyn's Barclays Center on October 20th, featuring high-caliber artists such as Beyonce, Nicki Minaj, Prince and, of course, Jay Z himself. And don't worry if you can't attend, the service says it plans to stream it to everyone (including non-subscribers) on its website.
Deezer needs more cash to fight Apple and Spotify
According to various sources, music streaming service Deezer is preparing to float itself on the Paris stock market in the hope of raising some much-needed cash. The company has found itself struggling in comparison with richer rivals like Apple or Spotify, while Tidal can count on Jay-Z's cash and industry connections. As such, the firm is going to try and sell off chunks of its business, currently valued at $1 billion, in order to build a bigger war chest to take on its three nearest rivals.
Tidal kicks it old school by selling Prince CDs
Jay-Z's Tidal service may believe that streaming music is the future, but it's apparently willing to embrace the past... in certain circumstances, at least. Hot on the heels of launching his latest album on Tidal as a streaming exclusive, Prince is selling a CD version of that same album (along with downloads) through the company's store. Yes, you too can get a plastic copy of HITNRUN to play in those few moments when you're nowhere near your computer or phone. Tidal already lets musicians sell posters, shirts and other merch through its site, but this appears to be the first time that CDs have found their way to the online shop.
Tidal claims Apple prevented it from streaming a Drake performance
It's no secret that Apple and Tidal are at each other's throats over music exclusives, but that fight might have reached a new peak. Tidal claims that Apple stopped it from streaming Drake's brief guest appearance at New Orleans' Lil Weezyana Fest on August 28th, presumably due to an exclusivity deal with the Canadian musician. If you take Tidal's word at face value, Apple was an Orwellian tyrant "interfering with artistry." One of the New York Post's tipsters goes so far as to contend that Apple is trying to "dictate" when and where artists can perform, which would be harsh... if it were true.
Dr. Dre's 'Compton' makes its way to Google Music, Rdio and others
Apple Music's exclusive grip on Dr. Dre's new album lasted two weeks. Compton: A Soundtrack by Dr. Dre is now streaming from the likes of Google Play, Deezer, Tidal, Rdio and Rhapsody based on our quick look through music services. It's still absent from Spotify, though, perhaps due to its free tier that many artists aren't too thrilled about. If you didn't sign up for Cupertino's free trial, you can now give it a spin from the aforementioned repositories -- just in time for the weekend. We're curious to see if the Apple Music exclusive period in the future remains at 14 days or if it changes with each release.
Prince's 'HITNRUN' arrives September 7th as a Tidal exclusive
In case you missed it, Prince pulled his catalog from nearly every streaming service recently except for a select few. And as you might expect, he's releasing his next album in one place: Tidal. HITNRUN is the title that arrives on September 7th, and the exclusive release is the latest development between the artist and the streaming service since the two first got friendly back in May. Back in the spring, Tidal livestreamed Prince's Rally 4 Peace concert in Baltimore. Of course, pulling his music from those other services isn't stopping the artist from using them to promote singles. Last week, "Stare" popped up exclusively on Spotify -- a service which boasts a few more subscribers than Tidal.
Cash Money hits Tidal with $50 million lawsuit over Lil Wayne album
Tidal dropped Lil Wayne's The Free Weezy Album on July 4th, and doing so may cost the streaming service $50 million. According to TMZ, Cash Money Records, Lil Wayne's label, is suing Tidal claiming that it owns the rights to all of the artist's material since he is still under contract. This isn't the first spat between the rapper and the label, as Lil Wayne has been in a battle with Cash Money over the release of his album Tha Carter V. In the lawsuit, Cash Money claims that it has exclusive rights to the music and that Tidal's actions were a "a desperate and illegal attempt to save their struggling streaming service."
Tidal is the latest streaming service to offer a family plan
Following in the footsteps of Spotify, Rdio and, most recently, Apple Music, Tidal has announced a family plan of its own. With this new pricing scheme, Jay Z's music-streaming service will allow a primary account holder to have multiple people, up to four, under one roof. Tidal's discount is fairly simple: you get 50 percent off for each person added to your main subscription, including both the Premium and HiFi options -- which are $10 and $20 per month, respectively. A few weeks ago, Tidal also introduced student pricing, in an effort to match what competitors are offering. The real value to listeners, however, may ultimately come down to Tidal's exclusive content, as evidenced by the recent news from Prince and Weezy F. Baby.
