Jay Z launched his artist-owned streaming service Tidal in New York last night with all the rhetoric of a campaign promoting social justice.
'Tidal for All' promises to give users CD-quality streaming for $19.99 (NZ$26.74) a month, which will directly benefit the artists featured on the service.
Pop behemoths including Kanye West, Rihanna, Beyoncé, Madonna, Nicki Minaj and Daft Punk lined up on stage as they were announced as joint owners of Tidal to the world.
• "This is so powerful and I think everyone in this room is experiencing the same sort of energy."
• "It's come up a couple of times that it feels like a graduation, but in actuality it is a graduation and that's a really powerful thing that we're all celebrating."
• "We're gathered... with one voice in unity in the hopes that today will be another one of those moments in time, a moment that will forever change the course of music history."
• "Our mission goes beyond commerce, it goes beyond technology. Our intent is to preserve music's importance in our lives."
• "Music is the language of love, of laughter, of heart break, of mystery. It's the world's true universal language. There's not a soul living who can deny its universal impact."
• "[Tidal is] a place for connection between artists and fan where we will deliver exclusive experiences that will be found nowhere else, a destination where we will discover the music that will become the soundtrack for the rest of our lives."
• "We believe Frederick Nietzsche couldn't have been more right when he said 'without music, life would be a mistake'." Here Keys pronounces Nietzche 'Niet-zschee'.
Tidal has already drawn criticism for appearing to be a thinly veiled campaign to save the music industry that is instead a means for wealthy artists to make even more money.
Jay Z may be hoping to create a tidal change in the music industry, but it looks like he will have to counter audience perceptions before he can begin to reap financial rewards for his friends.
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