You guys remember CDs? Those shiny disks of plastic that when inserted into a 'player' would send a signal through 'wires' and into speakers for songs to come out of? In 2017, those things are relics, yet likely the only way you're going to hear any of Jay Z's music anymore if you're lucky enough to own his albums — or *gasp* head to Tidal.
Because a few days back, Hov pulled his tracks from music streaming juggernauts Spotify and Apple Music, which have over 70 million paying subscribers between the two of them. He did so because he thinks people will ditch the companies and head over to his Tidal platform, probably. If you feel like this is a stupid move on his part, well, it is (and just this morning appears to have had a change of heart on at least one of his decisions).
Reports Billboard: "A search today on Spotify showed only two collaborative albums with R Kelly listed: Unfinished Business (2004) and Best of Both Worlds (2002). There are now also only five singles, all collaborations: "N—-s in Paris" (Kanye featuring Jay), "Numb/Encore" (Linkin Park with Hova), "All the Way Up" (Fat Joe and Remy Ma ft. French Montana, Infared and Jay Z), "Clique" (Big Sean with Jay Z and Kanye) and "Dirt Off Your Shoulders" (with Notorious B.I.G.)."
As of yesterday morning, however, the majority of his albums are back on Apple Music — a possible sign Tidal and Apple Music may be in the works of something in the future? Who knows, it's tech and it makes astronomical changes by the minute. In January, Tidal sold 33 percent of itself to Sprint with an astonishing (and likely far off-base) evaluation of over $600 million. For a service that is rumored to have only 1 million subscribers, that's an insane worth.
That sale to Apple (or maybe Sprint), would be smart though. Making your music inaccessible to everyone while the industry aggressively mutates around competitive exposure? Is not.
Then again, Jay Z is having a rough go at this whole streaming thing. His decisions as of late seem suspect. It seems like he just wants to bail altogether and get back to buying and reselling things for major profits. He's a business, man.
Without getting further into the speculation hole, we'll leave you with this: The only song in music history that matters:
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