What Is TIDAL? Jay Z Explains
EntertainmentOn Monday, Jay Z held a bonkers, star-studded press conference for his new streaming service Tidal where he explained…well, nothing in particular. BUT a declaration was signed. And Alicia Keys referenced Nietzsche. When it was all said and done, we Replied All: “What?”
What is Tidal? It’s a music streaming service whose slogans include “TIDAL for All” and the very dadly “The Tides They Are A-Changing.” As Jay Z puts it, Tidal is for all, but not everybody. It’s very much in its infancy and critics are still figuring out if it’s worthwhile. But just like with Spotify and Beats Music, we won’t know until real people start testing it out.
On Wednesday, Jay Z attempted to break down some of Tidal’s specifics during a Q&A session at NYU’s Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music, along with Tidal executive Vania Schlogel. Fader has the full transcript of the NYU talk. Here’s some footage of Jay Z speaking. And some Jay Z excerpts below.
Is Tidal competing with Spotify?
“I know everyone thinks “new company, main business competitor is Spotify” but we’re really not here to compete with anyone. We’re actually here to improve the landscape. If just the presence of TIDAL causes other companies to have better pay structure, or to pay more attention to it moving forward, then we’ve been successful in one way. So we don’t really view them as competitors. As the tide rises, all the boats rise.”
Boats? Will Tidal offer exclusive artist content?
“I don’t know. It’s available for streaming immediately. I don’t know where streaming will go in the future. The analytics that we’re seeing tell us that streaming is the next thing, and downloads are going down. I feel like with the history of this platform, from vinyl to where we are now, it just seems like the next logical step.”
What was that cool DECLARATION you guys signed?
“Just a declaration that we’re going to work really hard to improve what’s going on in the pay system as we know it. You guys may have seen some of the stats like, Aloe Blacc had a song that was streamed 168 million times and he got paid $4,000. For us, it’s not us standing here saying we’re poor musicians. If you provide a service, you should be compensated for it. And not just artists — just think about the writers and the producers.”
True. Will people really pay for this?