The war between the music-streaming services wages on.
Apple Music was up one when it released that commercial featuring Mary J. Blige, Taraji P. Henson and Kerry Washington that played during the Emmy Awards. It was a clear sign that the streaming service was trying to get in with the African-American consumer base. It had me feeling sad for Tidal—the streaming service that Jay Z launched in March to mixed reviews.
Well, don't count out Tidal just yet. Jay Z hopped on Twitter Tuesday to announce that the service has reached a milestone: It has 1 million subscribers.
https://twitter.com/S_C_/status/648891212317921280
On Wednesday Tidal released the news that it was hosting a charity concert in Brooklyn, N.Y., and a few of its artist-partners would be performing—Jay Z, Beyoncé, Nicki Minaj, Usher—along with other artists, including Fabolous, T.I. and Lil Wayne. Oh, and get this: Prince is headlining, too. Nice.
All proceeds from the concert are being donated to nonprofit groups that are "effecting systemic change for the development and sustainability of just societies," the blurb on Tidal's website reads.
I think Jay Z is sending a special message to his detractors by making the concert a charity event. Some of the criticisms that Tidal faced when it launched was that its rich artist-partners seemed spoiled and out of touch for complaining about how they don't see enough profit from their music sales. It seems like Jay Z & Co. are fighting against the perception that the streaming service was launched to make its artist-partners richer.
Looks like Tidal will not go gently into that good night, so Apple Music and Spotify, beware.
For more of black Twitter, check out The Chatterati on The Root and follow The Chatterati on Twitter.
Diana Ozemebhoya Eromosele is a staff writer at The Root and the founder and executive producer of Lectures to Beats, a Web series that features video interviews with scarily insightful people. Follow Lectures to Beats on Facebook and Twitter.
Like The Root on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter.