Jay Z’s decision to debut his new album 4:44 exclusively on Tidal came as a surprise to no-one, given the hip-hop megastar owns part of the company.
However, within the album itself, the star seems to offer confirmation of rumours the streaming platform was the subject of a takeover offer from Apple last year.
9to5Mac points out a lyric on the track ‘Smile’ in which Mr. Beyoncé calls out Apple Music boss Jimmy Iovine.
As per the lyric site Genius:
“F*** a slice of the apple pie, want my own cake,
Chargin’ my own fate,
Respect Jimmy Iovine,
But he gotta respect the Elohim as a whole new regime”
Interesting.
Strangely, those in the US signing up to Tidal specifically to listen to the album today, won’t be able to do so unless they’re customers of the Sprint mobile network, which owns a $200m share in Tidal.
Those existing Tidal customers in the clear.
The 4:44 album won’t be available on Spotify or Apple Music (for now anyway), but fans can listen to the 35-minute track list without signing up for Tidal. It’s free on iHeartRadio for one day.
The company says: “Beginning today at 12:01 a.m. ET June 30, iHeartMedia, in conjunction with TIDAL X Sprint, will world premiere the full album with an exclusive 35-minute Album Roadblock to tens of millions of listeners nationwide on more than 160 Pop, Rhythm and Urban stations with a record-breaking 43 million total audience spins. The album will continue to play across iHeartMedia’s Urban and Rhythm formats until 12:01 a.m. ET July 1, featuring never-before-heard audio from JAY-Z about the album.”
Which music streaming service is doing the most to earn your monthly dues right now? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.