Jay Z is the latest entrepaneur to jump into the music streaming business, and several of his A-list musician friends showed up to help him launch Tidal at a star-studded event Monday in New York.
Musicians including Madonna, Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, Kanye West, Usher and Deadmau5, as well as Mrs.
The music streaming service, launched last year, was bought by Jay Z in January. The newly relaunched app is seen as a rival to Spotify, though it doesn’t have a free, ad-supported version. Standard definition streaming starts at $9.99 a month, and a high definition audio version goes for $19.99.
In addition to the event, musicians including the bands Arcade Fire and Coldplay also supported the app on Twitter, making the hashtags #TIDALforALL and #Tidal top trends throughout the day.
Tidal is reportedly aiming to differentiate itself from competitors like Spotify by locking down exclusive streaming windows with artists. According to the Swedish tech site BreakIt, Jay Z’s service will be signing first-window deals with artists, wherein music would be made available on Tidal first before being allowed to go wide on apps like Spotify later.
