Yes, it was with Beyonce that Jay-Z launched one of Aspiro's hi-fi streaming service branded as Tidal - the new kid on the block in music online streaming - with a promotional video that many claim has Illuminati written all over it. But it was not just with Queen Bey, rather and more specifically, the clip featured a slew of the industry's most popular artists as well, namely: Rihanna, Jack White, Kanye West, Madonna, Nicki Minaj, Daft Punk, and Calvin Harris.
Not only will it be poised to be in direct competition with Spotify and other popular streaming services, Tidal is set to be a new platform dubbed as a start of the new digital era where downloads are a thing of the past and artists get paid.
An Army of Superstars
At the onset, Tidal faces a daunting task squaring off with the likes of Spotify. But it has its own tricks up its sleeve and the operative word is superstars.
Yes, Tidal is owned by superstars and Jay-Z made sure of that.
As reported by FinalCall, the streaming service is a majority artist-owned endeavor.
"This is the beginning of a whole new era," disclosed the Grammy Award-winning Alicia Keys and a Tidal co-owner.
Each of Tidal's 16 superstar co-owners reportedly were given three percent of the streaming service as a gift from Jay Z, reports Billboard Magazine.
And it could be gaining needed momentum. Already, Tidal acquired exclusive rights to Taylor Swift's album catalog - sans recent releases.
In a famous strong move, Taylor denied Spotify access to her digital offerings giving Tidal an upper hand.
The Next Big Thing for Music
For a price of $56.2 million, Jay Z reportedly acquired the Norwegian music streaming company Aspiro re-branding it as Tidal.
But the 45-year-old hip-hop best-selling artist could be heralding a new digital era with this latest venture.
Boasting of over 25 million HiFi tracks along with 75,000 music videos Tidal is poised to be the next big thing where downloads are a thing of the past.
As Jay Z explained at a recent Q & A at New York University, "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. Before you had a CD, you put it in, you had the download, they eliminated the CD so just downloads. Now you're going to eliminate the download and you just play it. So it just seems like the next logical step in what's going to happen."
And for artists, Tidal could be a better platform for creative freedom - one free from the clutches of record companies and endless legal battles - armed with a better payout structure.
To note, Michael Jackson was at odds with Tommy Motola, head of Sony Music calling the company executive "A Devil." Prince, for his part, had the word "Slave" written all over his face in protest of unfair treatment from his label, Warner Bros.
"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," reveals Jay Z.
With all the good things Tidal is bringing on the table, it seems the Illuminati-rumored video is the least of Jay Z or Beyonce's worries.
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