Kanye Takes on Tidal

They may have a JAY-Z album exclusive (for a week at least until it reaches Apple Music), but Tidal’s woes continue with the news that Kanye West (pictured with JAY-Z) has reportedly terminated his contract with the service and is considering legal action regarding a claim that the company owes him more than $3m.

In 2016, Kanye released his highly anticipated album “The Life of Pablo” exclusively on Tidal, after taking part in that notoriously ill judged ‘artist led’ re-launch for the service.

According to TMZ, Kanye says that the exclusive brought in 1.5 million new subscribers to Tidal, a service which he co-owns alongside other artists including JAY-Z. West says the company was supposed to give him a bonus for the boost in profile, but it never materialised and also claims that Tidal was supposed to reimburse him for music videos, though there is some dispute around whether said videos were ever actually made. Some reports claim that Kanye will get around to making the videos when he gets paid. “Wait till I get my money right. Then you can’t tell me nothing, right?”.

Tidal are allegedly asserting that they still have an exclusive contract with the rapper, so this could all go legal very soon. All of which is interesting as it may well prove the final nail in the coffin of the album streaming exclusive- we can but hope as this should categorically not be happening in 2017.