--- title: Jay-Z's Tidal Music Streaming App Is Why Artists are Going Blue description: No, it's not for charity canonical: https://time.com/3763487/tidal-avatar-blue-jayz/ author: Laura Stampler article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-03-30T15:54:56.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:18:11.643Z og:title: Why Jay Z, Rihanna and Kanye Have Gone Blue on Twitter og:description: Wondering why your favorite musicians changed their avatars? og:url: https://time.com/3763487/tidal-avatar-blue-jayz/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8403bbe138db96c1/698785c706f2c16d3e334a79/463720896.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5184 og:image:height: 2916 og:image:alt: NBA All-Star Game 2015 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Why Jay Z, Rihanna and Kanye Have Gone Blue on Twitter twitter:description: Wondering why your favorite musicians changed their avatars? twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8403bbe138db96c1/698785c706f2c16d3e334a79/463720896.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Why Jay Z, Rihanna and Kanye Have Gone Blue on Twitter by [Laura Stampler](https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Mar 30, 2015 3:54 PM UTC  Rappers Sean Combs and Jay Z attend the 2015 NBA All-Star Game Rappers Sean Combs and Jay Z attend the 2015 NBA All-Star GameElsa—Getty Images by [Laura Stampler](https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Mar 30, 2015 3:54 PM UTC Jay Z has prompted musicians to turn their Twitter avatars and Instagram photos into a square of solid bright blue Sunday night — and it has nothing to do with Blue Ivy. Musicians are going teal to support Jay Z’s new music streaming service called [Tidal](http://tidal.com/us). Details are still sparse, but Tidal is marketing itself as an artist-friendly streaming experience. Taylor Swift wrote an op-ed for the [_Wall Street Journal_ ](http://www.wsj.com/articles/for-taylor-swift-the-future-of-music-is-a-love-story-1404763219)last year explaining that she was pulling her music from Spotify because artists weren’t properly compensating. “Together, we can turn the tide and make music history,” Kanye West [tweeted](https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/582391919218532352). Here’s who else is joining in: > [](https://twitter.com/rihanna/status/582573208550936576) > [](https://twitter.com/NICKIMINAJ/status/582412016142385153) > [](https://twitter.com/S%5FC%5F/status/582391785923743744) > [](https://twitter.com/coldplay/status/582397349005271040) > [](https://twitter.com/iamdiddy/status/582419614065238016) > [](https://twitter.com/deadmau5/status/582395905380360192) > [](https://twitter.com/rihanna/status/582392326573670400) > [](https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/582391919218532352) > [](https://twitter.com/Usher/status/582391880333197312) More [details](https://twitter.com/RocNation/status/581812699954343936) to come Monday at 5 EST. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3763487/tidal-avatar-blue-jayz/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3763487/tidal-avatar-blue-jayz/"},"headline":"Why Jay Z, Rihanna and Kanye Have Gone Blue on Twitter","datePublished":"2015-03-30T15:54:56.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:18:11.643Z","description":"No, it's not for charity","url":"https://time.com/3763487/tidal-avatar-blue-jayz/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Tech","viral","twitter","Jay-z"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8403bbe138db96c1/698785c706f2c16d3e334a79/463720896.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Laura Stampler","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8403bbe138db96c1/698785c706f2c16d3e334a79/463720896.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"NBA All-Star Game 2015","caption":"NBA All-Star Game 2015","creditText":"Elsa—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3763487/tidal-avatar-blue-jayz/","name":"Why Jay Z, Rihanna and Kanye Have Gone Blue on Twitter"}}]}] ```