Last night saw the star-studded press conference for the launch of Tidal, the much-talked about new streaming service from Jay-Z. Here’s your need to know.
It’s meant to help artists make money out of their music again
Tidal is all about taking to task the fact that artists aren’t making money out of streaming. And, while your heart might fail to bleed at the fact that Kanye West isn’t making all that much from his songs being streamed on Spotify, (TBF artists can make as little as $0.006 per play), Tidal might just be the thing that helps to give smaller struggling artists a chance to make money from their music in the digital age.
It’s owned by about 17 gazillion celebrities
Introducing Tidal’s celeb owners at last night’s press conference took longer than a trip on a rail replacement bus service. The owners are (deep breath) Alicia Keys, Beyoncé, Calvin Harris, Jay-Z, Win Butler and Regina Chassagne from Arcade Fire, Chris Martin, Daft Punk, (although is it them or just two chancers wearing helmets? Who knows), Jack White, Jason Aldean (a country singer), J Cole, Kanye West, Deadmaus (again, maybe just a dude in a helmet), Madonna, Nicki Minaj, Rihanna, and Usher.
It’s gonna cost you
If you’re not arsed by adverts (and TBF you’re advertised at so many times a day do you even notice any more?) then you’ve likely been getting your music for free up until now through Spotify. Tidal is currently £19.99 per month in the UK (gulp), although you can get a free seven-day trial (small yay). Be careful though; there’s a disclaimer saying that if you use a card that's not Swedish there may be a ‘transaction fee’. There’s currently no free ad-funded option like Spotify.
It’s got Taylor Swift on it, sort of
The singer famously took herself off Spotify with the launch of her new album in protest at how little artists recieve from the service. While Taylor’s music is available on Tidal, it’s only her back catalogue and not new album 1989 as of yet.
The sound is banging
Like, even to my tone deaf ears, through my crappy £3 headphones, music on Tidal does sound better. Have a listen for yourself here. The sound quality is called ‘Lossless’ which, as this video explains, is what happens when you leave in all the little details normally taken out in order to make the music file sizes smaller.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.