Artists came together today for a special press conference for Tidal, the first ever artist-owned streaming service. Jay Z, Beyonce, Madonna, Rihanna, Alicia Keys, Usher, Kanye West, Daft Punk, Nicki Minaj, Jack White and several others stood on stage at the Skylight at Moynihan Station in Manhattan, where each musician took a moment to sign off on an official agreement solidifying their participation in the groundbreaking platform. With numerous streaming services already in existence (i.e. Spotify, Pandora, Google Play), Tidal has received mixed opinions from the public. While services like Pandora offer free music streaming, many music lovers are finding it hard to buy into the idea of having to pay to listen to music. Free streaming and music downloads has become a normal practice for many people. However, Tidal’s membership-based service is taking those privileges away. Tidal offers two types of memberships: $10/month for standard sound quality and $20/month for Hi-fi sound quality. In addition to streaming music, Tidal will offer video streaming, exclusive content, and the ability to listen to music offline. The inability to earn reasonable percentages from streaming services has been a big complaint by many artists. This is why platforms like Tidal are being accepted by the world’s most successful artists. Having the ability to take control of their own music and dictating how revenue is generated from it, is top priority. But the reality is, the rich can not get richer without subscribers. Without fans willing to pay $20 a month to listen to music, the previously defunct streaming service will end up where it started. According to Alicia Keys and the others, this is the wave of the future and will change the course of music history. Keys spoke of this momentous occasion at the press conference. “So we come together before you on this day, March 30th, 2015, with one voice in unity in the hopes that today will be another one of those moments in time, a moment that will forever change the course of music history. For today we announce of Tidal, the first ever artist-owned, global music and entertainment platform,” Keys said. For more information about Tidal, visit www.tidal.com. #TidalForAll WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE NEW TIDAL STREAMING SERVICE?
