Last week, Jay Z and his team of fellow artists launched new music streaming service Tidal, and he has now removed his debut album, Reasonable Doubt, from competing streaming service Spotify.
Tidal initially attracted attention when it was revealed that Taylor Swift would be streaming her music on the service, despite the fact that she had recently pulled her entire back catalogue from Spotify due to the fact that she did not feel that those creating the music were being fairly compensated.
Now, Jay Z has followed suit, removing his debut album, Reasonable Doubt, from Spotify. No statement has yet been released regarding the removal of the album, but as Forbes reports, Jay Z gained full control of his master recordings and publishing rights last year, leaving him with the ability to remove the rest of his music from Spotify if he chooses to do so.
Beyonce also pushed Tidal by releasing her new song ‘Die With You’ exclusively through the streaming service. You can watch the video, which was supposedly filmed by Jay Z, below.
Watch Beyonce's 'Die With You':
At Tidal’s recent New York presentation, which saw appearances from the likes of Beyonce, Arcade Fire's Win Butler and Regine Chassagne, J Cole, Jason Aldean, Daft Punk, Kanye West, Jack White, Madonna, Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, deadmau5 and Usher, the service’s launch was described as “A moment that will forever change the course of music history.” They described Tidal as ”the first ever artist-owned, global music and entertainment platform."
Tidal’s launch has sparked plenty of debates and has garnered quite a bit of criticism, as many view the service as merely a way for the artists to make more money.
Lily Allen recently Tweeted that while she agrees with Tidal's intention, she also fears that it will "send people back to pirate/torrent sites".
