Unless you’re living under a rock, then you probably know about JAY Z recently launched music streaming company called TIDAL. With it’s official presser coming today, Hov decided to introduce the company properly — with the help of his business partners: Madonna, Beyonce, Kanye West, Daft Punk, Alicia Keys, J. Cole, Chris Martin, Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, Usher and more.
The press conference stressed why TIDAL is important and how it’s going to change the way people consume the music, through high-quality audio.
After the press conference, Billboard talked with the business mogul to talk about why he went into this business venture — explaining why he’s not trying to compete with the likes of Spotify or Pandora.
You have a long-standing relationship with Jimmy Iovine. Have you been in contact with him since the news has started trickling out?
Yeah, of course. My thing with Jimmy is, “Listen, Jimmy; you’re Jimmy Iovine, and you’re Apple, and truthfully, you’re great. You guys are going to do great things with Beats, but … you know, I don’t have to lose in order for you guys to win, and let’s just remember that.” Again, I’m not angry. I actually told him, “Yo, you should be helping me. This is for the artist. These are people that you supported your whole life. You know, this is good.”
Musicians have long complained that streaming has rendered music virtually worthless. It doesn’t sound like you’re solely driven by financial reasons, but also by a desire to reset the value proposition of music.
That’s correct, absolutely, and when I spoke to every single person involved that’s what I said. Music is … imagine your life without music. It’s a very valuable part of your life, and like I said, that’s why we got in this business. It seems to be going the other way. People are not respecting the music, and [are] devaluing it and devaluing what it really means. People really feel like music is free but will pay $6 for water. You can drink water free out of the tap, and it’s good water. But they’re OK paying for it. It’s just the mindset right now.
No additional details as far as who they’re partnering with on the audio companies but we’ll keep you posted when more information becomes available.
