Tidal Owner Jay Z Has Removed All of His Albums From Apple Music [Updated]

[blumpy]

This makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. "CD mastering is converted from source mix into 16 bit after processing. Unlike AAC which during the conversion from 24bit to AAC the extended dynamics is preserved.".

Seriously I can't argue with illogic like that. It's seriously troll-worthy. Let's take up the argument on a Hi-Fi forum and see who comes off better off. You're seriously trying to say to say 256 kbps AAC with Apple marketing can be better than uncompressed CD. Bizarre.

Yes, 256 kbps AAC encoded from a 24bit source (Mastered for iTunes) is a higher resolution than an PCM at 44.1k 16bit (Tidal High Resolution).

I'll show you:

I've attached 6 images
The first is a 25hz sine wave at -95db at 24bit. The second photo is the same freq at 16bit.

Image 3 says it all: The 25hz tone at 24bit at -95db was exported as 16bit 44.1k wav and AAC 256kps from a the 24bit source.
The Oscilloscope for both files (wav file on the left, AAC 256kps on the right)

At 16bit low frequencies at low volumes (that are not filtered out as DC noise) end up aliasing creating digital harmonics which are partially alleviated with oversampling and filters. This issue diminished greatly when encoding the lossy format from a 24bit mastered source (which is not possible in PCM format). Despite it being a lossy, format its still a higher resolution than CD.

But this effect low volume quantization all around which is demonstrated in the next 3 photos:
3 images are a 440hz tone at -66db izotope's codec test. One is 16bit PCM, another is 24bit PCM and lastly a 24bit AAC at 256kps. of course at 440hz the filters will smooth this out considerably, but we're still talking about massive stepping at -66db.

Thus proving that the Mastered for iTunes specification is a higher resolution than Tidal's high resolution CD quality format.

Now that I've proven you wrong......

A Sidenote: I was being cordial and trying to help others realize that the Tidal high fidelity format is an inferior format compared to what Apple offers. I'm not infallible and welcome debate. However you were rude and insulting while being wrong. Just because you're incapable of understanding the difference is not my fault. Insulting me because of your shortcomings is troll-worthy. You need a little humility in your life and perhaps in your profession. You obviously have at least a rudimentary understand of how digital audio works, perhaps you should have taken 3 minutes to test what I had stated instead of making a fool out of yourself. I don't need to go to a "hifi" website to discuss such issues as I have already with Apple's engineers and scientists during development of the standard. I don't know if this is still going over your head or not, but I would recommend losing the arrogant attitude if you do not have cognitive prowess to back it.

 

[Solomani]

Lack of. Sales over the weekend likely plummeted to $0, haha.

Bee was sayin: "Feed meeee! I hunger! Feeed meeee!"

and Jay's like: "OK bae. But I'm outta dough. First gotta make sum moolah this weekend. Hand on bae, gotta call Tim again….."

Bee's like: "TIM?? TIM WHO!!? Does he taste like chicken?!!"

and Jay's like: "Tim, the Apple dude. Hang on, bae….. I'm callin Tim right…. oh crap, he's blocked my calls…."

 

[Tech198]

Perhaps he got confused..

 

[sentiblue]

He won't be collecting revenue from Apple Music customers... simple as that!

I don't think these exclusions to the competitors should be done at all. I still remember back in the days when Safari simple will not display Microsoft's websites and IE did the same thing with Apple's sites... it was so bad that the pages showed up all deformed and the hyperlinks were not clickable. MS and Apple fixed their attitude about this because consumers were forced to choose only one side....

Jay should "smart up" and drop the act... it only makes him look dumb. He should also do a simple comparison: His Tidal business is nothing compared to Apple's service. I never even heard about it until the news about the acquisition talk came by... but then the sale didn't happen that's probably what makes him take radical actions.

Grow up Jay!!!

 

[rockarollr]

Does anyone really care? I'm glad I won't have to look at his untalented, ugly biscuit head among my options when selecting my next playlist on Apple Music. Jay Z did *me* a favor!

 

[Shirasaki]

Agreed. I also already own his albums and subscribe to Apple Music. Lately I have indeed noticed some random songs that I've downloaded no longer being available. Big flaw in streaming services.

And yet inevitable.
This is a major reason I hate streaming service.

Happened to me recently with Netflix TV shows. I generally keep everything stored locally @ home on my server. Started watching Bob's burgers on Netflix. was on season 3, went last night to watch an episode. It was now showing only seasons 1 & 2. the other 5 are now gone.

That's user hostile yet most people really don't seem to care.."oh well I'll just watch something else"

Sometimes I need to pirate to ensure my loved series are locally available as a last resort.
Sadly, user is almost nothing other than sending them money for whatever they could get. We are like slaves...

 

[OllyW]

He won't be collecting revenue from Apple Music customers... simple as that!

I don't think these exclusions to the competitors should be done at all. I still remember back in the days when Safari simple will not display Microsoft's websites and IE did the same thing with Apple's sites... it was so bad that the pages showed up all deformed and the hyperlinks were not clickable. MS and Apple fixed their attitude about this because consumers were forced to choose only one side....

Jay should "smart up" and drop the act... it only makes him look dumb. He should also do a simple comparison: His Tidal business is nothing compared to Apple's service. I never even heard about it until the news about the acquisition talk came by... but then the sale didn't happen that's probably what makes him take radical actions.

Grow up Jay!!!

If you see [Updated] in a news thread title it always pays to read the first post again before posting a reply.

Update: Jay Z's albums have reappeared on Apple Music over the weekend

 

[Ma2k5]

What good is Jay Z doing himself by removing his music from Apple Music?

Tidal has, what, MAYBE 2 million subscribers?* Compared to the many million users that Apple Music has.

*Source:
http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2017/01/20/jay-z-tidal-fraudulent-subscribers/

Well companies (Spotify/Apple Music) pay musicians for limited time exclusivity - clearly to get customers. So it isn't that hard to believe Jay-Z will try to entice people to try Tidal, using the same tactics.

 

[elvislives]

Apple should just remove it all.

 

[sanook997]

Jay who?

 

[gnasher729]

Yes, 256 kbps AAC encoded from a 24bit source (Mastered for iTunes) is a higher resolution than an PCM at 44.1k 16bit (Tidal High Resolution).

In the end, if you have a 24 bit source, then "CD quality" is lossy compression. It is lossy compression using a very simplistic method. AAC is also lossy compression, using a much more clever compression scheme on one hand, but lower bitrate on the other hand. "CD quality" loses most in quiet passages of the music. AAC loses most in highly complex parts of the music. The worst case for CD quality is quite likely to be more audible.

And with all that said, AAC has the huge advantage of being a lot, lot smaller than CD quality. I can fit tons of music in 256 Kbit AAC onto a 32 GB iPhone. Much, much more than in "CD quality".

 

[malexandria]

....

 

[stevet]

what a stupid, borderline racist post. You realize these people are worth HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS? Macrumors suspends me for calling someone an idiot but allows this garbage in their comments.

Borderline? I hear you on the blocking/banning but you have to complain and they will do something about it, I don't think the mods go through every post. The person you called an idiot probably tattled on you to get you blocked.

 

[3568378]

(Yawn) who is Jay-Z? Is he related to Justin Bieber or something? ...and what is Tidal again? ...and Apple Music? ...and why is this news?

 

[WRChris]

Shawn Carter, known professionally as rapper Jay Z, appears to have removed his entire solo album collection from Apple Music overnight. Now, when searching for "Jay Z" on Apple Music, only songs in which he collaborated with other artists are available to stream on the service in the United States and elsewhere.

Jay Z has removed select albums from Apple Music in the past, including Reasonable Doubt and The Blueprint series, but this is the first time he has pulled his entire catalog of albums from the service. Only some of his collaborations with Kanye West, Linkin Park, R. Kelly, and Rihanna remain streamable.

Jay Z co-owns Tidal, a rival streaming music service, so his decision to remove his discography from Apple Music could be for competitive reasons. Kanye West, another stakeholder in Tidal, also implied that there might be some animosity between Apple and Jay Z in a series of tweets last year.

Jay Z's albums appear to have been removed from Spotify recently as well, so his decision might be unrelated to any potential feud with Apple. Spotify on Twitter today said it can "confirm that some of Jay Z's catalogue has been removed at the request of the artist," but it did not provide a specific reason.

Jay Z's albums are still available for purchase on iTunes, and to stream on smaller services such as Google Play Music, at least for the time being. By contrast, Jay Z's wife Beyoncé still offers a large number of her songs and albums on Apple Music, including her recently added single "Die With You."

Tidal's other stakeholders, including Kanye West, Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, Daft Punk, Jack White, Madonna, Arcade Fire, Alicia Keys, Usher, and Calvin Harris, also continue to offer many of their songs and albums on Apple Music.

Tidal costs $9.99 per month, the same price as Apple Music, while a premium tier with high-fidelity sound is available for $19.99 per month. Tidal said it had over 3 million subscribers in March 2016, but recent reports have claimed it may have been falsely inflating the number of paying customers it had.

Apple Music had over 20 million subscribers as of last December, while Spotify recently announced it surpassed 50 million paying customers.

Sprint acquired a 33 percent stake in Tidal in January, and at the time it said it would give its customers "unlimited access to exclusive artist content not available anywhere else." Under the deal, artists partnering with Tidal will create music that will only be available to the carrier's customers.

It's unclear at this point if Sprint's stake in Tidal has anything to do with Jay Z's music being removed from Apple Music or Spotify.

Apple and Jay Z's label Roc Nation did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Universal Music Group deferred comment to Roc Nation.

Update: Jay Z's albums have reappeared on Apple Music over the weekend, although the previously absent albums Reasonable Doubt and The Blueprint series remain unavailable. However, many of his tracks are still missing from Spotify.

Article Link: Tidal Owner Jay Z Has Removed All of His Albums From Apple Music [Updated]

Another cry baby from tidal with no real musical talent. Good riddance, maybe take drake with you?

 

[malexandria]

Borderline? I hear you on the blocking/banning but you have to complain and they will do something about it, I don't think the mods go through every post. The person you called an idiot probably tattled on you to get you blocked.

yeah, probably. It was just a stupid ***** comment until they added the part about chicken. which tells you everything you need to know about the comment and poster.

 

[MacBergin]

Who would notice...I certainly didn't...yawn.

 

[bflowers]

Probably not the first to say it (not reading all 17 pages to check), but Apple Music's library quality just got better! Thanks for taking your crap off JayZ!

 

[adamjackson]

If you see [Updated] in a news thread title it always pays to read the first post again before posting a reply.

Yes. Jay-Z is back on Apple Music but for how long. This is another temporary measure. Next week, it'll be a different artist.

 

[840quadra]

All this time I thought tidal was a laundry detergent.

 

[unplugme71]

Any artist that pulls out of Apple Music because of unrelated reasons from Apple itself is black listed from me purchasing their music.

The only time I will continue to buy is if Apple did something negative to that artist like further undercut them, screw them over, etc.

 

[Glideslope]

All this time I thought tidal was a laundry detergent.

It's definitely not a Fabric Softener.

 

[AdonisSMU]

What about just supporting good businesses? Let people benefit on their own merits as humans and not on the basis of color.

I think my follow up post already addresses your concern. Maybe read further before piling on.

 

[saschke]

Sheesh some people have ridiculous intolerance towards artists they do not understand or care for.

 

[mytdave]

Does anyone really care?