Jay Z’s press conference for his new music streaming service Tidal has drawn great amounts of criticism from around the Internet.
In a new op-ed titled “How Jay Z’s Tidal Press Conference Showed He’s Out of Touch,” posted to TIME this past Tuesday (March 31), writer Daniel D’Addario outlined the reasons as to why he believes Jay Z and the celebrities involved with Tidal’s launch did a poor job of educating the consumer on its benefits.
“The argument Jay Z and his fellow stars at the Tidal launch (including Nicki Minaj, Madonna, and Beyoncé) are making is that they deserve to set the price point for their music,” Daniel D’Addario says.
“The rhetoric around Tidal was pretty funny, when it wasn’t embarrassing,” he continues. “A promotional video showed various celebrities gathering to discuss their master plan as Beyoncé, who would seem to know better, said ‘Every great movement started with a group of people being able to get together and really just make a stand.’ From Seneca Falls, to Selma, to Stonewall, to Los Angeles, where a bunch of celebrities demanded that their fans give them more money—this country has such a rich history of protest movements.”
Later in the piece, D’Addario says that the icons involved with the streaming service’s launch did a poor job of selling the idea to consumers, especially considering today’s market where everyone is so used to listening to music for free via other platforms such as Spotify.
“Jokes aside, the celebrities at the Tidal launch press conference did a remarkably poor job of elucidating why the consumer accustomed to getting music for free should begin paying for it,” he says. “In the age of Spotify, it is entirely legal to listen to music constantly and never spend money on it. Countering that fact with the moral claim that celebrities would prefer if you didn’t stream music for free only makes sense if you believe celebrities should get everything they want, one hundred percent of the time.”
Rounding out his argument, Daniel D’Addario says that so far Hov and co. have merely invested their time introducing a product the same as Spotify, but one consumers have to pay to use.
“As for the rhetoric in the press conference that music is special and has a unique place in our culture: Music fans agree! That’s why they listen to music often, on services that provide that music for free,” D’Addario writes. “But rather than building a better system, Jay Z and friends have, so far, put their energy behind a product that’s more or less the same as Spotify, but more expensive. A product this pointless could, maybe, be sold as a charity case by artists who depend on every penny of fan support. But Jay Z, a rapper who wastes no opportunity to brag, on his records, about his business acumen, is not that figure. Based on the optics of the Tidal launch, his business acumen may have failed him this time.”
To read the full op-ed, visit TIME.
The Tidal press conference can be viewed below:
For additional Jay Z coverage, watch the following DX Daily:
Simple really people would support real artist that are humble just out there on the grind if it was made in the fans interest by The LOX Cormega RA Rugged Man certain Wu Tang Members the old shool rappers like big daddy kane and slick rick but even now there’s kickstarter’s to do all that shit. No real hip hop fan is gonna go out they way to put money in the pocket of jay z nikki minaj and fuckin kanye west
Real talk!
Dude shut the fuck up, you don’t even spend money on Mega or the Wu. Where are the real Hip Hop fans at when Ghostface is on his twitter complaining about his sales? You “real hip hop” fan boys kill me. “If skills sold truth be told I would probably be lyrically Talib Kweli”.. All the artist you mentioned haven’t sold a record in decades. You’re a backpacking idiot.
i was a real hip-hop and wu tang fan but i got burned buying that 12 reasons to die bundle from ghostface and i aint supporting him no more after he aint stand up for the thousands of fans who got ripped off.
That’s petty bro.. if they are really your man’s you will support them regardless. It ain’t Ghosts’ fault RZA has all creative control. But your argument is completely flawed my dude. And if you really want “real hip-hop” to thrive you need to start buying their records, its simple.
fuck yo mouth up Jizzle I always support real hip hop u a vigin ass yung money fan keep playin drake n tyga you fuckin lame.Dont matter to me how much they sell or what they worth real hip hop is bout they fucking bars not they bank account
My dude when did I ever say I was a YOUNG MONEY fan? That clique is ass, but the fact is they sell records and until guys like Mega and Wu sell records you’re gonna keep hearing these dudes. I just find it funny you dudes claim “real hip hop” sells and then the names you mention haven’t sold a record in years. Like Xzibit said “The game is 10% skills and 90% hollywood”. I’m a head to the death of me. I believe in bars just like the next guy, but if you wanna see “real hip hop” flourish you have to support the guys you mention. It’s simple. So learn how to spell, after that come up with a better argument then maybe you will make more sense you corn ball backpacker.
So true. And saying that “water is free, so enjoy that and pay for music” makes no sense whatsoever (not least of which being that water isn’t free) and makes him seem even more out of touch.
FED UP WITH HEARING ABOUT THIS SHIT SMH
yeah, while i generally agree with the points, personally, what they’re forgetting is the artists will probably rely on exclusivity so they’re relying on customer loyalty to the artists themselves to bring that across. It comes down to them giving early releases and exclusive songs to TIDAL instead of itunes.
But are we gonna get content worthy of paying for shit is it gonna be worth listening to, cos artists are abandoning the sound, content & concepts what made us love them. Everybody jumping on bandwagons!!!
This wasn’t for the consumers it was a gesture to ARTISTS. The numbers Spotify pays for streams are embarrassingly low, which is why Taylor Swift left and a gang of industry artists were contemplating it and finding out legalities.
This rollout is Hov’s “come to Death Row” moment. Will it work? That remains to be seen.