Tidal Waves: A Complete Timeline Of The Music Platform
Will Apple soon own Tidal?
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An Apple A Day - When Jay Z first announced his plans to put the music industry back into the hands of the artists with Tidal, he explained that the new venture would not let musicians continue to be dictated by technology with his new platform.But not everyone wanted to see Tidal's team win as Apple was accused by The New York Post of sabotaging Tidal's placement on the App Charts by dragging its feet to approve their iOS updates. There were also reports that Tidal artists could feel the backlash on iTunes as well, and may not be highly promoted if they release their music strictly on Tidal.However, now the music platform is in talks to be acquired by Apple. It's an interesting move to say the least. Let's check out the rest of Tidal's history thus far. — BET Staff(Photos from left: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Roc Nation, Tidal, Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Roc Nation)
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Can't Knock the Hustle - Hov's road to purchase Aspiro and Tidal had a bumpy start from the beginning. Jay and his partners put in a bid in January to invest in Aspiro for $56 million, but the company's shareholders owned 10 percent and weren't initially down for it. (Photo: Larry Busacca/Getty Images for NARAS)
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Takeover - Jay and his business partners turned out to be rather convincing and the negotiations concluded in the second week of March. Jay and his company Project Panther Bidco ended up acquiring full acquisition of Aspiro at 95.18 percent. (Photo: Rich Schultz/Getty Images for Roc Nation Sports)
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Cry Me a River - Jay Z held a press conference in New York on March 30 to announce the relaunch and the alliance and business partnership with Tidal and some of the music industry’s elite, including Beyoncé, Alicia Keys, J. Cole, Rihanna, Madonna, Kanye West and Usher. Making their statement that Tidal was owned by the artists and created to get artists their fair share in compensation from music streaming, the conference took a hit. Some viewed it as a plea for millionaires to cry broke and didn’t see the value in it for the consumer. Two days after the announcement, Jay headed over to New York University to speak with students (who are clearly his potential consumers) about his product.(Photo: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Roc Nation)
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Jump Ship - Back in March, Taylor Swift was the first to take the Tidal plunge when she removed all of her songs from Spotify and made them available on Tidal. Taylor bought into Jay Z's get-more-money-for-the-artists pitch and the country/pop princess seems happier than ever. Bold move considering Spotify had over 60 million users while Tidal's parent company, Aspiro, had just a little over 500,000.(Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images for dcp)
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Song Cry - On April 16, Jay gave his Tidal following another surprise gift: the exclusive video to "Glory," his ode to Blue Ivy when she was born. The clip also contained pieced-together behind-the-scenes footage of his rehearsal for his Carnegie Hall performance back in 2012, which caused some to give the "exclusive content" promises the side-eye.(Photo: Mark Davis/Getty Images)
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Bound - Ye keeps the Internet talking, and one of the biggest stories is that he may be dropping his next album exclusively on Tidal. The talk started after a track listing for So Help Me God made its rounds right after exclusive releases by some of his business partners appeared on the streaming network.(Photo: Mike Coppola/Getty Images for Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week)
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Politics as Usual - Jigga proved that business is war when his classic debut, Reasonable Doubt, was removed from rival Spotify's streaming service a week after Tidal's star-studded press conference. (Photo: Priority Records / Roc-A-Fella Records / Freeze Records)
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Drop Out - Yeezy deleted this tweet after a few weeks, which caused speculation that he wasn't feeling Tidal as strong as he once had. (Photo: Kanye West via Twitter)
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Sasha Fierce - Beyoncé serenaded Jay Z for their wedding anniversary earlier in the month and hit up Instagram previewing the song "Die With You." The Queen when it comes to new-school music marketing, Mrs. Carter soon made the full version of the song only available on Tidal.(Photo: Tom Ford via Getty Images)
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Show and Prove - Some early Tidal subscribers were rewarded with an intimate concert with J. Cole in New York for their dedication. (Photo: Robin Marchant/Getty Images for ESPN)
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Under One Umbrella - Tidal used its star-power owners to help seal a few deals when Rihanna unveiled her "American Oxygen" single exclusively on the service. (Photo: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Roc Nation)
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Shake Things Up - After taking over Aspiro, Jay Z seemed to be doing a little house cleaning last week as several employees parted ways with the company, including Andy Chen, CEO of Tidal at Norwegian-based parent company Aspiro Group. Chen was replaced by interim CEO Peter Tonstad, which further added fuel to the company's stability. (Photo: Aspiro)
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Numbers Below the Board - Jay said it best, "Numbers don't lie." And if that statement holds true, Tidal's rocky start is so low in numbers that it has fallen out of the top 700 U.S. App Store charts list and is No. 56 on Apple Inc.'s music chart. Its competitors Pandora and Spotify sit comfortably in the Top 10 of the App Chart. (Photo: Tidal)
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Dangerously in Love - DJ Skee let the cat out of the bag that Beyoncé and Jay Z's highly talked about collaborative album was "nearing completition" and would be a Tidal exclusive. If this holds true, the Carters are preparing to send users "On the Run" to their music-streaming service. Hopefully, the bold strategy doesn't backfire. (Photo: PacificCoastNews)
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In Roc Nation We Stand - Mr. West's tweets supporting his new music streaming service mysteriously disappeared and the talk of the town was that Kanye wasn't happy with Tidal's starting hurdles. Well Jay Z must have put that Roc signal out because Yeezy returned to Twitter bigging up his big brother's brainchild. (Photo: Kanye West via Twitter)
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The Come Up - Jay went on a Twitter PR campaign for Tidal on April 26 and made sure to dispel the rumors that only major artists will reap the benefits from their work. Pulling a page from Suge Knight's Source Awards playbook, Hov added, "Indie artists who want to work directly w/ us keep 100% of their music. 'If you don't want the CEOs all in the videos' haa. #tidalfacts"(Photo: Jay Z via Twitter)
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Show Me the Money - Talk also circulated that rich musicians were crying broke after their press conference last month that seemed to draw some negative feedback. Jigga said numbers don't lie and showed where most artists' money ends up after being streamed...which was not in their pockets. (Photo: Jay Z via Twitter)
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Friend or Foe...State Your Biz - Mr. Carter also spread light on what different perks his streaming service offers and pointed out that there are forces lining up that don't want to see the artist driven company succeed.Jay made note of the witch hunt, also tweeting, "There are many big companies that are spending millions on a smear campaign. We are not anti-anyone, we are pro-artist & fan. #TidalFacts"(Photo: Jay Z via Twitter)
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I Will Not Lose - The Throne let all of his subjects know that he has Tidal in order and he's already prepared to run the course to the finish line and eventually take the victory lap. Spitting more facts, Shawn Corey added, "The iTunes Store wasn't built in a day. It took Spotify 9 years to be successful… We are here for the long haul. Please give us a chance to grow & get better. #TidalFacts"(Photo: Jay Z via Twitter)
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Tidal Feels Itself - Beyonce and Nicki Minaj showcased Tidal's girl power when the two divas premiered their collaborative visual "Feeling Myself" last month. The debut was just one of many roll outs as the music streaming baby started riding a few waves of its own. (Photo: Young Money / Cash Money / Republic Records)
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Roc-A-Fella Reloaded - Jiggaman went back to his Roc-A-Fella roots and delivered a heralded concert in May where he performed classic album cuts for his B-Sides show. Tickets were awarded to lucky Tidal subscribers and aired exclusively on Tidal's platform while Hov proved he was in the fight for the long haul as he earned another win. Those lucky Tidal subscribers also witnessed Jay, Memphis Bleek, State Property and Beanie Siegel rock the mic once again as Hovito put the cherry on top of an already dope show.(Photo: Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Live Nation)
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The Carters Unite - Roc Nation and Young Money's bosses have officially joined forces as Wayne was inducted into the music business's Hall of Justice, Tidal. Score that as a win for Hov and his revolutionary team as well as Wayne, who made the announcement today, also released a new track called "Glory" that's only available on the streaming network.(Photo: Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Live Nation)
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Interim CEO Resigns - It looks like Tidal hit another snag this month as they have released their interim CEO Peter Tonstad, who took the position in April. Tidal released a statement today (June 23) stating, “We are thankful to Peter for stepping in as interim CEO and wish him the best for the future.” In the meantime, Tidal will be run by executives in New York and Oslo, Norway, until a replacement is found. That was quick.(Photos from Left: Tidal, Justin Lane/EPA/Landov)
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TIDAL DISCOVERY 1440 - The music streaming service kicked off their TIDAL DISCOVERY 1440 series this month where they spotlight up-and-coming artists by helping increase consumer awareness via playlists, various exclusives and touring. The flagship artist is Miami rapper Bizzy Crook, and they followed him around for 1,440 minutes (an entire day), which can be seen here. Bizzy also previewed his latest single "Moon Child" through Jigga's latest business venture and he'll be dropping his upcoming album, From Nothing Came Everything, via TIDAL DISCOVERY. (Photo: Johnny Louis/WENN.com)
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FWA Released Exclusively on Tidal - Tidal and Weezy celebrated their own Independence Day on the Fourth when the Young Money boss released his highly anticipated FWA (Free Weezy Album) exclusively on the music streaming site. Since he can't actually sell his own music while he battles it out with Cash Money for his release papers, Jay Z and crew will reap the rewards of this free project as Wayne proves to be a huge draw for Tidal.(Photos from Left: Kevin Winter/Getty Images,Tidal)
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TIDAL X: 1020 Wins Fans Over - On October 20, 2015, Tidal celebrated its milestone of one million subscribers with the TIDAL X: 1020 concert. The benefit concert boasted an all-star lineup including Jay Z, Beyonce, Usher, Meek Mill, French Montana, Nicki Minaj, Lil Wayne, T.I., Rick Ross, Nick Jonas, Travis Scott, Damian Marley, Alessia Cara, Justine Skye and many more. Add to that, $1.5 million raised for the New World Foundation, aimed to help civil rights and social movements. (Photo: Tidal)
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Musical Chairs - In December of 2015, Tidal CEO Peter Tonstad was replaced by new CEO Jeff Toig. Tonstad had previously replaced former CEO Andy Chen. (Photo: Jeff Toig via Facebook)
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Tidal: Not for All? - In February, Yesh Music Publishing along with John Emanuele of American Doller entered into a $5 million lawsuit over unpaid royalties, coupled with copyright infringement.(Photo: Tidal)
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Trap King Support - T.I. signed on as an co-owner of Tidal this past February, and he celebrated that power move by releasing the exclusive single "Money Talk" as well as a concert stream from his hometown of Atlanta. (Photo: Paras Griffin/Getty Images for Tidal)
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