The men and women renowned for fascinating their fans with dazzling displays of lights and sound stood awkwardly on stage as Keys gave a nonsense speech quoting Nietzsche and proclaiming the press conference to be “a moment that will forever change the course of music history.”
Except it didn’t. And it won’t.
These entertainers, who have made it their business to be entertaining, failed to engage fans with a spectacularly boring affair.
And they have managed to piss off the very people who have afforded them their power.
Not since Metallica tried to shut down peer-to-peer digital file-sharing service Napster have musicians so successfully failed to make their stand.
Tidal is the artist’s antidote to Spotify, the world’s most recognised music streaming site.
Taylor Swift refuelled the debate about artist compensation from streaming services last November when she ripped her catalogue off Spotify ahead of the release of her 1989 record.
It was part clever marketing, part a Jerry Maguire statement about artist rights and inevitably made her many more millions in royalties as fans were forced to download the record rather than stream it.
Swift was so smart to not appear to be a part of the Tidal wave.
Most fans could not tell the difference between a Tidal stream or a Spotify one played through headphones via their smartphone, tablet or computer.
And the amount of those who could — engineers and audiophiles nerds — and would pay $20 a month for it, is probably below five per cent.
The Tidal promise of exclusivity is difficult to deliver in an era when any piece of music can be found online within an hour of its official release to iTunes and the other stores.
Will fans of Kanye West and Rihanna, who both have new albums slated for release in the coming weeks, rush to join Tidal to be the first to get it before it hits the platform’s competitors.
No. They’ll just wait for it to hit a ******* site.
Tidal also wants you to pay to watch videos. As videos are essentially a marketing tool to inspire you to buy the song, that is not going to wash. And again, there are plenty of sites to stream videos for free if you can put up with 30 seconds of an ad.
Does the average music fan have an altruistic bone in their body when it comes to “investing” in their favourite artists by buying their music rather than taking it for free from the interwebs? No. They just want to hear their favourite tune when they want to hear it. And they already think Jay-Z has enough money.
It took mere minutes for the #TIDALforALL hashtag to inspire the contrary #TIDALforNOONE.
It is very early days for Tidal but the rocky start-up of this start-up doesn’t bode well for its future unless the price point changes and the artists manage to inspire fans that it is in fact a music revolution.
The Tidal wave of backlash will WASH OUT Beysic's career. Lol.
If any of my faves ever released a BOTCH'dney GENE I would disown
This could mean so many things. Not sung by her??? Flopping in every country britney has never heard of (and has heard of) f??? Trashed by the critics and the GP alike???
This could mean so many things. Not sung by her??? Flopping in every country britney has never heard of (and has heard of) f??? Trashed by the critics and the GP alike???
I'm confused.
It means all of these things Mostly the first (duh) and also the third, too.
Gags! I Feel like a Woman alone is more global than any Ace of Base song ( well, I read somewhere that Gags ripped them off with Alejandro, but even in that case, Shania still wins)
47 The Sign - Ace Of Base
London / Arista - 1994 - 10.371.000 points
130 All That She Wants - Ace Of Base
London / Arista - 1993 - 8.478.000 points
Mostly the first (duh) and also the third, too.
They must've played Sia's cover instead of myah's by mistake 