Will These Artists 'Do A Jay Z' And Leave Spotify Too?
With TIDAL gathering steam, who could be next to jump ship?
There can be no doubt that Jay-Z means business when it comes to TIDAL and his backlash against Spotify.
The Roc-A-Fella mogul has just pulled his 1996 debut album, Reasonable Doubt, from the online service in favour of his own streaming platform.
The 'Empire State Of Mind' rapper, who launched TIDAL at a star-studded ceremony last month (March 30), isn’t the first to leave either.
A whole host of artists are turning their back on free and low-cost streaming, most notably Taylor Swift who refused Spotify a slice of her ‘1989’ cake.
With that in mind, which other artists, both upcoming and established, could disappear from the company’s books?
1. Kanye West
So Help Me God, the follow up to Yeezus, is right around the corner. Could the Glasto headliner be tempted to snub Spotify? He's also a key buisness partner in the TIDAL game and BFFs with Jigga.
2. Rihanna
RiRi has also been one of the big names present in Jay-Z’s boardroom and is practically his protégé. Signs that Rihanna could go full TIDAL in the future include her choosing to premiere the video for her new track, 'American Oxygen', on the site.
I might get a little drunk
I say what's on my mind
I might do a little time
'Cause all of my kindness
Is taken for weakness
Now I'm four, five seconds from wildin'
And we got three more days 'til Friday
I'm just tryna make it back home by Monday mornin'
I swear I wish somebody would tell me
Ooh, that's all I want
Woke up an optimist
Sun was shinin', I'm positive (We can run)
Then I heard you were talkin' trash (I'm on a mystery)
Hold me back, I'm bout' to spaz
Yeah, 'bout four, five seconds from wildin'
And we got three more days 'til Friday
I'm tryna make it back home by Monday mornin'
I swear I wish somebody would try me
Ooh, that's all I want
And I know that you're up tonight
Thinkin' how could I be so selfish
But you called 'bout a thousand times
Wondering where I've been
Now I know that you're up tonight
Thinkin' how could I be so reckless
But I just can't apologize
I hope you can understand, yeah
If I go to jail tonight
Promise you'll pay my bail
See they want to buy my pride
But that just ain't up for sale
See, all of my kindness, (mhm)
Is taken for weakness
Now I'm four, five seconds from wildin'
And we got three more days 'til Friday
I'm just tryna make it back home by Monday mornin'
I swear I wish somebody would tell me
Ooh, that's all I want
Four, five seconds from wildin'
And we got three more days 'til Friday
Just tryna make it back home by Monday mornin'
I swear I wish somebody would tell me
'Cause that's all I want
3. Daft Punk
The French duo’s latest LP, Random Access Memories, smashed Spotify records back in 2013. 'Get Lucky', the Pharrell and Nile Rodgers collaboration, achieved the most streams ever.
Do the Parisian pair still have a point to prove?
4. Madonna
The Queen Of Pop by far has the most extensive back catalogue on this list, to lose Madge would be a huge blow.
The 'Living For Love' singer is another TIDAL affiliate and could decide to go with her 'rebel heart' for future releases, not that she’ll need the money.
5. Beyoncé
Queen B will have no trouble taking her devout BeeHive over to the other side. The 'Drunk In Love' singer’s allegiances will surely be with her husband.
Like Rihanna, Beyoncé has already followed suit, recently dropping the video for ‘Die With You’ on the site.
The Ohio rockers are a prime example of a band who have put two fingers up at Spotify. Seeing that the gold was on the ceiling for everyone but them, the musicians decided to omit 2011’s El Camino along with Turn Blue from the service.
Their reasoning simply was that the royalties weren’t finding the band, telling Rolling Stone: "For a band that makes a living selling music, it's not at a point where it’s feasible for us."
With Jack White involved in the TIDAL biz could they be interested?
Kendrick fans needn’t worry just yet, the LA rapper is very much team Dr. Dre – who himself is launching a service with Apple to take on both Spotify and TIDAL.
To Pimp A Butterfly was streamed more than 9.6 million times on its first full day of release, knocking Michael Buble off the top spot.
8. Drake
Thanks to Jay-Z, TIDAL has a strong Hip-Hop contingent. With the times changing for Drake and his new album, Views From The Six, out later this year, the Canadian star would surely be the high profile signing TIDAL want.
The rapper is also in the process of breaking away from Cash Money. With Nicki Minaj on Jay-Z’s side, Drake could be not far behind...
9. Nicki Minaj
Another one for team TIDAL, Nicki Minaj’s name is already on the dotted line, could the rapper's third album, The Pinkprint, follow?
Who’s even to say Nicki or any of the mentioned artists will remove their latest? The 'Bang Bang' babe may start at the beginning like Jigga and pull 2010’s Pink Friday, either way, it’ll certainly be a blue Monday for Spotify.
My anaconda don't
My anaconda don't want none
Unless you got buns, hun
Boy toy named Troy, used to live in Detroit
Big dope dealer money, he was gettin' some coins
Was in shootouts with the law, but he live in a palace
Bought me Alexander McQueen, he was keeping me stylish
Now that's real, real, real
Gun in my purse, bitch, I came dressed to kill
Who wanna go first? I had them pushin' daffodils
I'm high as hell, I only took a half a pill
I'm on some dumb shit
By the way, what he say?
He can tell I ain't missing no meals
Come through and fuck him in my automobile
Let him eat it with his grills he keep tellin' me to chill
He keep telling me it's real, that he love my sex appeal
He say he don't like em boney, he want something he can grab
So I pulled up in the Jag and I hit him with the jab like
Dun-d-d-dun-dun-d-d-dun-dun
My anaconda don't
My anaconda don't
My anaconda don't want none
Unless you got buns, hun
Oh my gosh, look at her butt
Oh my gosh, look at her butt
Oh my gosh, look at her butt (Look at her butt)
Look at, look at, look at, look, at her butt
This dude named Michael used to ride motorcycles
Dick bigger than a tower, I ain't talking about Eiffel's
Real country-ass nigga, let me play with his rifle
Pussy put his ass to sleep, now he calling me NyQuil
Now that bang, bang, bang
I let him hit it 'cause he slang cocaine
He toss my salad like his name Romaine
And when we done, I make him buy me Balmain
I'm on some dumb shit
By the way, what he say?
He can tell I ain't missing no meals
Come through and fuck him in my automobile
Let him eat it with his grills and he telling me to chill
He keep telling me it's real, that he love my sex appeal
He say he don't like em boney, he want something he can grab
So I pulled up in the Jag mayweather with the jab like
Dun-d-d-dun-dun-d-d-dun-dun
My anaconda don't
My anaconda don't
My anaconda don't want none
Unless you got buns, hun
Oh my gosh, look at her butt
Oh my gosh, look at her butt
Oh my gosh, look at her butt (Look at her butt)
Look at, look at, look at, look, at her butt
Little in the middle but she got much back
Little in the middle but she got much back
Little in the middle but she got much back
Oh my god, look at her butt
My anaconda don't
My anaconda don't
My anaconda don't want none
Unless you got buns, hun
Don't, my anaconda don't
Don't want none
Unless you got buns, hun
Oh my gosh, look at her butt
Oh my gosh, look at her butt
Oh my gosh, look at her butt (Look at her butt)
Look at, look at, look at, look, at her butt
Yeah, he love this fat ass aha!
Yeah! This one is for my
Bitches with a fat ass in the fucking club
I said, where my fat ass big bitches in the club?
Fuck those skinny bitches!
Fuck those skinny bitches in the club!
I wanna see all the big fat ass
Bitches in the muthafuckin' club
Fuck you if you skinny bitches, what? Kyuh
Aha! Kyuh
I got a big fat ass (Ass, ass, ass) Kyuh
Come on!
Hey, hey, hey!
10. Lily Allen
One person who you can be sure won’t be leaving the world of £9.99 a month streaming is Lily Allen.
The chart-topper delivered a damning critique of Jay-Z’s new music revolution on Twitter, saying that the service “will send people back to pirate/torrent sites".
Wow,so if you're a Co owning artist you see a cut of the 25% profit, and let's face it, probably a larger chunk of the 75% than most artists
— lily (@lilyallen) March 31, 2015