This week rap mogul Jay Z has been a busy man.
On Monday he held a star-studded press conference with a line up of A-listers including Usher, Kanye West, Madonna, Rihanna, Nicki Minaj and wife Beyonce.
Following the hyped-up event, on Wednesday, along with Tidal executive Vania Schlogel, the musician discussed his new music streaming venture with a group of students at the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music.
In a Q&A, the rap star answered questions delivered by NYU professor Errol Kolosine - prepared by students about everything from the company's equity structure to the future of the music industry.
Here's the full transcript.
Is Tidal competing with Spotify?
“I know everyone thinks "new company, main business competitor is Spotify" but we’re really not here to compete with anyone. We’re actually here to improve the landscape. If just the presence of TIDAL causes other companies to have better pay structure, or to pay more attention to it moving forward, then we’ve been successful in one way. So we don’t really view them as competitors. As the tide rises, all the boats rise.”
Boats? Will Tidal offer exclusive artist content?
"I don’t know. It’s available for streaming immediately. I don’t know where streaming will go in the future. The analytics that we’re seeing tell us that streaming is the next thing, and downloads are going down. I feel like with the history of this platform, from vinyl to where we are now, it just seems like the next logical step."
What was that cool DECLARATION you guys signed?
“Just a declaration that we’re going to work really hard to improve what’s going on in the pay system as we know it. You guys may have seen some of the stats like, Aloe Blacc had a song that was streamed 168 million times and he got paid $4,000. For us, it’s not us standing here saying we’re poor musicians. If you provide a service, you should be compensated for it. And not just artists — just think about the writers and the producers.”
Will people really pay for this?
“We believe that if you consume music for free, and that’s what you want to do, that’s your choice. There are good and bad parts of a democratic society — do what you like to do. I’m just talking to people who care about musicians and the music they consume... It’s not for everybody, and we’re not trying to force it on you but if that’s what you like and that’s what you really care about, then you have the option. And that’s what TIDAL is saying.”
Isn't this just the rich can get richer?
“You never hear Tim Cook’s net worth whenever he tries to sell you something. Steve Jobs, God bless, he had to have been pretty rich — nobody’s ever said, “Oh, the rich getting richer! I won’t buy an iPhone!” Yeah, right. It’s not about being pretentious; again, this is a thing for all artists. You pay $9.99 for Spotify, so why not $9.99 for TIDAL. We’re not asking for anything else, we’re just saying that we’ll spread that money to artists more fairly.”
That's a valid point. But I'm not sold...
If a person can pay $6 for a bottle of water, something that used to be free, if someone can do that? I can definitely show you why you should pay for Lauryn Hill’s album. There are 14 reasons, it’s incredible. Someone’s changed our mindset to believe that that bottle of water is worth $6.”
Ah, that makes sense. What else?
“Our whole thing is transparency — I think there does need to be transparency. If you went to Bordeaux or something, to look at wine, you’d probably think, “Oh, this is some bougie shit.” But if you went and you saw the craftsmanship, the work that went behind it, and someone’s gotta be picking the grapes, and the whole thing — if you saw the process of what it takes to make an album, maybe you’d have a great appreciation for it as well.”
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