--- title: How Jay Z's Tidal Press Conference Proved He's Out of Touch description: The launch event for the rapper's streaming service was a big mess canonical: https://time.com/3765268/tidal-music-jay-z-beyonce/ author: Daniel D'Addario article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-03-31T15:44:18.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:41:00.740Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: How Jay Z's Tidal Press Conference Proved He's Out of Touch og:description: The launch event for the rapper's streaming service was a big mess og:url: https://time.com/3765268/tidal-music-jay-z-beyonce/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt42f94ff9319674b9/698785f335ba6fb75fc07d0a/468160102.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Tidal Launch Event NYC #TIDALforALL og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How Jay Z's Tidal Press Conference Proved He's Out of Touch twitter:description: The launch event for the rapper's streaming service was a big mess twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt42f94ff9319674b9/698785f335ba6fb75fc07d0a/468160102.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How Jay Z's Tidal Press Conference Showed He's Out of Touch > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. ## Video: #TIDALforALL [Watch (HLS stream): #TIDALforALL](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/K045ISgT.m3u8) (2:02)  _Published 2015-03-31. #TIDALforALL_  by [Daniel D'Addario](https://time.com/author/daniel-daddario/)  ## Daniel D'Addario Mar 31, 2015 3:44 PM UTC  From left: Usher, Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, Madonna, Deadmau5, Kanye West, Jay Z and J. Cole onstage at the Tidal launch event at Skylight at Moynihan Station in New York City on March 30, 2015 From left: Usher, Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, Madonna, Deadmau5, Kanye West, Jay Z and J. Cole onstage at the Tidal launch event at Skylight at Moynihan Station in New York City on March 30, 2015Jamie McCarthy—Getty Images  by [Daniel D'Addario](https://time.com/author/daniel-daddario/)  ## Daniel D'Addario Mar 31, 2015 3:44 PM UTC After its splashy launch press conference yesterday, the primary argument for Tidal—the two-tiered music service recently purchased by Jay Z that costs either $9.99 or $19.99 per month—is that artists deserve more money for their work. It’s not necessarily a wrongheaded argument, but the manner in which Jay Z and his contemporaries have pressed the point is embarrassingly out-of-touch. There are real, systemic problems with current streaming services like Spotify, which stream music for free to listeners and distribute to artists a paltry fee drawn from advertising. That’s why Taylor Swift [withdrew her hugely profitable catalog](http://time.com/3554438/taylor-swift-spotify/) from the service last year. The argument Swift has been making is that music has inherent value; from her statements regarding Spotify to her [op-ed in the ](http://www.wsj.com/articles/for-taylor-swift-the-future-of-music-is-a-love-story-1404763219)[_Wall Street Journal_](http://www.wsj.com/articles/for-taylor-swift-the-future-of-music-is-a-love-story-1404763219), it’s a point she’s consistently made well. The argument Jay Z and his fellow stars at the Tidal launch (including Nicki Minaj, Madonna, and Beyoncé) are making is that they deserve to set the price point for their music. The supporting evidence for this claim? They want to set the price point for their music. The rhetoric around Tidal was pretty funny, when it wasn’t embarrassing. A promotional video showed various celebrities gathering to discuss their master plan as Beyoncé, who would seem to know better, said “Every great movement started with a group of people being able to get together and really just make a stand.” From Seneca Falls, to Selma, to Stonewall, to Los Angeles, where a bunch of celebrities demanded that their fans give them more money—this country has such a rich history of protest movements. Jokes aside, the celebrities at the Tidal launch press conference did a remarkably poor job of elucidating why the consumer accustomed to getting music for free should begin paying for it. In the age of Spotify, it is entirely legal to listen to music constantly and never spend money on it. Countering that fact with the moral claim that celebrities would prefer if you didn’t stream music for free only makes sense if you believe celebrities should get everything they want, one hundred percent of the time. As for the rhetoric in the press conference that music is special and has a unique place in our culture: Music fans agree! That’s why they listen to music often, on services that provide that music for free. But rather than building a better system, Jay Z and friends have, so far, put their energy behind a product that’s more or less the same as Spotify, but more expensive. A product this pointless could, maybe, be sold as a charity case by artists who depend on every penny of fan support. But Jay Z, a rapper who wastes no opportunity to brag, on his records, about his business acumen, is not that figure. Based on the optics of the Tidal launch, his business acumen may have failed him this time. _Read next:_ [_This Is What Computers Look Like Now and That’s Just Awesome_](http://time.com/3765764/google-chromebit-asus/?iid=time%5Freadnext) [_Listen to the most important stories of the day._](http://time.com/newsletter/the-brief/?sl%5Fautoplay=true&xid=spl-fullbrief-article) ### Artists Who Have Never Won A Grammy  Queen John Rodgers—Redferns/Getty Images  Jackson 5 Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images  Spice Girls Ray Burmiston—Photoshot/Getty Images  GLENDALE, AZ - FEBRUARY 01: Recording artist Katy Perry performs onstage during the Pepsi Super Bowl XLIX Halftime Show at University of Phoenix Stadium on February 1, 2015 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/WireImage) Kevin Mazur—WireImage/Getty Images  Björk Mark Horton—WireImage/Getty Images  Diana Ross performs in Dublin. ShowBizIreland/Getty Images  Nicki Minaj Denise Truscello—WireImage/Getty Images  Janis Joplin Evening Standard/Getty Images  Patti Smith Dick Barnatt—Redferns/Getty Images  Snoop Dogg Gabriel Olsen—FilmMagic/Getty Images  Jimi Hendrix David Redfern—Redferns/Getty Images  The Who The Visualeyes Archive/Redferns/Getty Images  The Doors Gunter Zint—Redferns/Getty Images  Led Zeppelin Chris Walter—WireImage/Getty Images  Public Enemy David Corio—Redferns/Getty Images  Journey Michael Putland—Getty Images  Kiss Michael Putland—Getty Images  Run-D.M.C. Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images  Ramones Roberta Bayley—Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images  Brian McKnight KMazur—WireImage/Getty Images  Nas Merrick Ales—FilmMagic/Getty Images  Iggy Pop Frans Schellekens—Redferns/Getty Images  Kid Rock Scott Legato—Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3765268/tidal-music-jay-z-beyonce/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3765268/tidal-music-jay-z-beyonce/"},"headline":"How Jay Z's Tidal Press Conference Showed He's Out of Touch","datePublished":"2015-03-31T15:44:18.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:41:00.740Z","description":"The launch event for the rapper's streaming service was a big mess","url":"https://time.com/3765268/tidal-music-jay-z-beyonce/","keywords":["Music","Spotify","Beyonce","Jay-z","Madonna","Nicki Minaj","tidal"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt42f94ff9319674b9/698785f335ba6fb75fc07d0a/468160102.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Daniel D'Addario","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/daniel-daddario/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt42f94ff9319674b9/698785f335ba6fb75fc07d0a/468160102.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Tidal Launch Event NYC #TIDALforALL","caption":"Tidal Launch Event NYC #TIDALforALL","creditText":"Jamie McCarthy—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":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3765268/tidal-music-jay-z-beyonce/","name":"How Jay Z's Tidal Press Conference Showed He's Out of Touch"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"#TIDALforALL","description":"#TIDALforALL","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/K045ISgT/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-03-31T17:59:54.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/K045ISgT.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3765268/tidal-music-jay-z-beyonce/","duration":"PT2M2S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3765268/tidal-music-jay-z-beyonce/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```