Music
Tidal accuses Apple of interfering with Drake livestream
by Jeremy Mersereau
August 31, 2015
Was it just a marketing stunt by Tidal?
In true cyberpunk style, it’s getting hard to tell just what’s going on with our beloved shadowy megacorps, and that includes the ones behind music streaming services. “You take the blue pill, you keep streaming the Weezy show, and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill, you stay in the tech world and I show you just how deep the Aspiro hole goes.” – Jay-Z dressed up like Morpheus. Ne-Yo: “Woah.”
Tidal users who were viewing Lil Wayne’s annual Lil Weezyana festival in New Orleans last night were surprised to find the stream cut off just as Toronto’s favourite son (well, after the Ikea Monkey) took the stage. A message popped up, stating that “Apple is interfering with artistry and will not allow this artist to stream. Sorry for Big Brother’s inconvenience.” If true, this is an especially rank move on Apple’s part, since a portion of the proceeds from the event were going to benefit Katrina victims. The only problem: according to Drake’s camp, the tech giant does not have the power to stop Drake from participating in a live stream, despite their $19 million exclusivity deal with Aubrey.
“The decision to not have Drake participate in the Tidal steam has nothing to do with Apple or Drake’s deal. Apple doesn’t have the power to stop us from being part of a live stream. We wanted to make sure the stream represented us in the right way, and we didn’t have much insight into what they were doing” Drake’s manager Future the Prince told Buzzfeed. “Aesthetics and quality are important to us and we didn’t have any control over that or time to investigate it. [Tidal] saw the opportunity to take a situation and spin it in their favour as a publicity stunt.” Tidal has since responded to the accusations with the following statement:
“We have all the email receipts and written correspondence that took place with said, blocked performance. That being said we choose to keep it classy. Great show to all the performers. Great performance Wayne. God Bless New Orleans. 10 years stronger.”
Pretty convincing stuff! “I totally have the paper trail to prove I kept my pants on, but I’m keepin’ it classy baby! Great game! GO CUBS!” – guy who’s been accused of streaking and certainly can’t be lying.
Who knows what the truth may be, but you gotta admit: If Apple really did have nothing to do with yanking the stream, that’s an incredibly shrewd business move on the part of Tidal. Brand one of their biggest competitors as “Big Brother” and blame them for a global superstar’s unwillingness to be streamed on their platform? Crafty stuff Jay …and pretty desperate, but crafty nonetheless.
