After a world premiere on HBO last night, Beyoncé's newest album "Lemonade" launched on Jay Z's music streaming service Tidal, with a period of timed exclusivity not divulged by the service. According to sources knowledgeable of the launch plans for Lemonade, that exclusivity window might be just 24 hours, with the album's release on services including iTunes, Amazon, and Google Play expected to hit Sunday night at midnight (via The New York Times).
Earlier today, Tidal announced that fans would be able to purchase Lemonade outright for $17.99 without having to subscribe to the service if they weren't already paying users. The $17.99 "visual album" includes 12 songs and videos, including the one-hour special that debuted on HBO Saturday night. The album's download cost on rival services will most likely be around the same amount.
Even though its download exclusivity will be quite short, Lemonade will remain a streaming exclusive on Tidal "in perpetuity," according to an official representative at Tidal. The unnamed source officially confirmed to Billboard today that "the service will be the only streamer that will carry Lemonade."
Tidal has had a few albums exclusively tied to the service that eventually went on to debut on platforms like Apple Music and Spotify. Most recently, Kanye West famously tweeted that his new album "The Life of Pablo" would "never never never" come to Apple Music or iTunes, which it did about two months later. The move has even put West and Jay Z in hot water with their fans, one of whom is suing the artists and Tidal itself, claiming that they had a plan to "fraudulently induce millions of American consumers into paying for Tidal's rescue," using a false exclusivity window for The Life of Pablo as a ploy to bring new users into the fold.
Update: Lemonade is officially available for users to purchase for $17.99 from the iTunes store [Direct Link].
Article Link: Beyoncé's New Album 'Lemonade' Rumored to Launch on iTunes Tonight [Update: Available Now]
