In March 2015, rapper Jay Z launched his music streaming service, TIDAL along with other collaborators such as Rihanna, Kanye West, Alicia Keys, Beyonce, Coldplay and Nicki Minaj, plus more.
Newcomers get a one month free trial which they can cancel at any time, after the first month, the premium membership starts at $9.99 a month and for "high definition audio," the subscription costs $19.99. I, personally, wasn't too enthused with Tidal when I first heard about it. Thinking to myself, we already have Spotify, why do we need Tidal? Jay Z is just trying to make more money.
Although compared to Spotify, TIDAL offers shows, music videos, and editorial content from big artists in the music industry.
According to Fader, TIDAL will start streaming season 2 of Brooklyn based YouTube drama series, Money and Violence, Money and Violence to Stream on TIDAL which premiered last week. The show is focused on young men in Flatbush who live fast lifestyles as drug dealers and thieves. The show's director Moise Verneau loves the idea. "With Tidal being up-and-coming, who better to partner with to help them while they help us?... We’ve had quite a good run as far as viewership—we’re at 26 million views but I believe Tidal can open us up to a totally different set of viewers. So I thought it was the perfect marriage."
Bajan sensation Rihanna released her highly anticipated eighth album, ANTI, on TIDAL in late January Rihanna Release ANTI on TIDAL (which I have been listening to nonstop since my first listen). After a three year album hiatus, Rihanna released ANTI exclusively on TIDAL, along with a deluxe edtition with three additional songs a few days later.
On Thursday, February 11th, I along with millions of other viewers watched Kanye West live stream his Yeezy Season 3 fashion show he held at Madison Square Garden on TIDAL. He also introduces his new album The Life of Pablo "TLOP" as well as his video game which is a tribute to his late mother, following her through the gates of Heaven. Kanye released TLOP early Valentine's Day exclusively on TIDAL. He asked his fans on Twitter to subscribe to TIDAL and announced that he won't be selling his album for another week.
TIDAL is now #1 on the Apple App Store's Top Charts and also #30 on it's Top Grossing. Kanye Leads TIDAL to #1 on iOS Charts