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

[thadoggfather]

Hmm, he is widely regarded as one of the greater hip-hop artists in the genre, but whatever.

I don't follow him personally (or any celeb, for that matter), but the issue here is business.

And when it comes to securing content deals recently, Apple has been known to fail (sans Steve) because of their "hardball" policies and requests. Seen plenty of stories on deal discussions breaking down because of it.

But hey, you are entitled to your opinion on a person you don't know personally (or do you? *Rhetorical*).

That first statement is WIDELY up for debate

And just because I don't know someone personally doesn't mean I can't hold an opinion of him/her. public figures (and more specifically celebrities, though they are still people of course) open themselves up to the opinions of the public, both positive and negative.

Small price for being "fabulously wealthy" and married to Beyoncé.

I don't care for someone devoted to the illuminati. All the minute details
Fall by the wayside for me when that reality sinks in

 

[12vElectronics]

I would have to be a die hard fan of an artist for me to go through the hassle of switching streaming services or paying for a second streaming services. I see very few people doing these things where it really won't affect Apple negatively or Tidal positively..

 

[44267547]

Good riddance!

Jay-Z is an illuminati loving waste of space,

.. and cloud space

I thought he retired too, with The Black Album?

Maybe his next Tidal release will be: The Black Album 2: Apple Music Edition.

Agreed. And Kanye can go with him.

 

[soupcan]

And people all over the world continued to not give a damn.

 

[iGeek2014]

99 Problems... but Streaming Ain't One ;-)

 

[skitidetdu]

I'd like to make a quote from The last boyscout:

Milo: You think you're so ****in' cool, don't you? You think you're so ****in' cool. Well just once, I would like to hear you scream, in pain.

Joe Hallenbeck: Play some rap music.

 

[JPLC]

This is exactly why I'm not ready for music platforms like these. My taste of music is way to broad to just enjoy one service. And it would be a pain (also in my wallet) to manage multiple apps just for music. The industry needs a standard. One where all companies pay the same and share the same with the artists. The only difference imo that we should have is interface and additional services.

There should be a shared database of music and its the industrie that should set this up.

I was looking for an album by Lorn the other day. It's not in the iTunes store, can't order a CD or record online. Now I'm stuck between a shuffled album on Spotify or to download or rip it somewhere else illigal. Anyway, I'm willing to pay for it but not like this.

 

[Mouse man]

Oh the humanity. Worthless **** has been removed from iTunes. Now let's see if there's a "monkey see monkey do" effect. Get rid of all that ****. And his she mans music as well

 

[hawkeye_a]

Finally some good news about Apple Music.

 

[arkhanjel]

The equivalent of a spoiled child taking his ball and going home because he didn't get his way.

 

[thadoggfather]

Tidal is the Sam Goody of streaming

The writing is on the wall

 

[radiology]

One of the two is going to loose this battle and I happy either way! RAP THAT!

 

[M.PaulCezanne]

This from the guy who helped bring us Ace of Spades ($850 Champagne) and JetSmarter (the "uber for private jets"). So many fine business decisions.

 

[Babu Life]

Now only if Taylor Swift does the same

 

[rhett7660]

He has so much money, and is married to one of the most powerful women on the planet. He doesn't need to be relevant.

Just because he has what you mentioned, doesn't mean his ego or personality doesn't want it.

 

[radioisotope]

Non news. People still listen to rap, wowzers.

 

[macduke]

Every time I see Jay Z now, all I can think about is how he looks like Troy Aikman.

 

[JGIGS]

There is so much music on AM and Spotify I'm not going to miss one artist. I'll just listen to something else. Good luck Jay!

 

[Quu]

All this does is push people to piracy. People think piracy is about people getting things for free but more often than not it's about convenience. Being able to get the files and play them on any device DRM free quickly and easily. Putting up roadblocks like this where you're tied into paying £9.99 to Apple Music but that one album you want isn't there.. that is when people start looking for a "free" alternative.

At the end of the day he is only spiting himself as people already signed up to Apple Music are not going to then also sign up for Tidal. I don't know a single individual who has more than one paid streaming account but every person I know has one, most of them with Spotify but I digress no one I know holds two for music and this certainly isn't going to make people switch.

 

[dmylrea]

I'm not a Jay Z fan but all this online exclusivity makes me even more glad I still buy and rip CDs so I don't have to put up with the BS that the service I subscribe to doesn't stream the artist I want to listen too.

It's not like this happens daily that it would make one change how they acquire music. It hasn't happened to me yet, but if it did, there are plenty of other artist's music I can listen to. It's much more expensive and more "BS" to go through the trouble of purchasing CD's and ripping and syncing music that just deal with an occasional "Jay Z".

 

[GfPQqmcRKUvP]

people don't really care what the underlying reason is for withdrawing, Jay-Z is trash. No business decision, smart or rash, towards and/or directly from him, can change that (Imo)

I'm embarrassed to have bought several of his albums during my hip-hop obsession phase years ago, in hindsight.

This is a dumb comment. Jay-Z is almost universally considered a top-5 rapper. "The Beatles are trash". See, I can make a trash comment too.

 

[Johnny907]

He has so much money, and is married to one of the most powerful women on the planet. He doesn't need to be relevant.

Actually, he's damn near broke, she has all the money. Basically, they're the older slightly more talented Kanye and Kim.

 

[palmerc]

You must not understand how much money this man already has.

He's so rich he has rollis that don't tick-tock and audema

You must not understand how much money this man already has.

Ball so hard, got a broke clock, Rolleys that don’t tick tock
Audemars that’s losing time, hidden behind all these big rocks

That's how rich he is. He's got drawers of expensive watches that don't work

 

[krause734]

He won't be missed by many.

 

[flat five]

He is desperate to be relevant.

huh?