--- title: Kanye West: Rapper Talks Apple and Tidal on Twitter description: In a series of tweets, the rapper called on Apple to buy Jay Z's Tidal streaming service — and also asked for a meeting with some industry leaders. canonical: https://time.com/4433313/kanye-west-apple-tidal-jayz/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-08-01T17:43:39.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:34:57.932Z og:title: Kanye West Says Apple Needs to Pay Jay Z for Tidal Now og:description: The rapper called on all the industry's heads to "let the kids have the music" og:url: https://time.com/4433313/kanye-west-apple-tidal-jayz/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Kanye West Says Apple Needs to Pay Jay Z for Tidal Now twitter:description: The rapper called on all the industry's heads to "let the kids have the music" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Kanye West Is Demanding That Apple Buy Tidal Already  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Aug 1, 2016 5:43 PM UTC  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Aug 1, 2016 5:43 PM UTC Kanye West is [fed up with music streaming](http://time.com/4268402/streaming-music-digital-downloads-youtube-spotify/?iid=sr-link2), and when Kanye is unhappy, the world will know about it. That’s the takeaway from a [NSFW series of tweets](https://twitter.com/kanyewest) he let loose over the weekend, venting his frustration and calling for unifying action from the industry’s titans, which includes platforms like Tidal, Apple Music, Spotify, and Google Play. “This Tidal Apple beef is f–king up the music game,” reads his first missive on the subject. Earlier this summer, the [_Wall Street Journal_](http://www.wsj.com/articles/apple-in-talks-to-acquire-jay-zs-tidal-music-service-1467325314) reported that Apple was in talks to buy Jay Z’s subscription streaming platform Tidal. But there hasn’t been movement on that front since. In the meantime, artists have increasingly [taken to choosing one platform](http://time.com/4305814/beyonce-lemonade-new-album-listen-tidal/?iid=sr-link4) or another to release their work exclusively. [West has been a Tidal supporter before](http://time.com/money/4225485/kanye-west-tidal-life-of-pablo-money/), first exclusively releasing his latest album, [_The Life of Pablo_](http://time.com/4218490/kanye-west-album-livestream/?iid=sr-link1)_,_ on Jay Z’s service. > [](https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/759436516389117952) That’s _definitely_ the room where it happens. Let’s break down this invite list: [Tim Cook](http://time.com/4262480/tim-cook-apple-fbi-2/?iid=sr-link5) is Apple’s CEO; Jay Z, of course, runs Tidal; “Jimmy” is most likely a reference to [Jimmy Iovine](http://time.com/132644/apple-beats-electronics-headphones/?iid=sr-link10) of Interscope Records and Beats Electronics; Larry would be Google’s [Larry Page](http://time.com/4362440/larry-page-google-flying-cars-zee-aero-kitty-hawk/?iid=sr-link1); Drake needs no introduction; and “Scooter” is probably [Scooter Braun](http://time.com/4068702/scooter-braun-on-sticking-with-his-artists-through-tough-times/?iid=sr-link2), Justin Bieber’s manager. (“I forgot to add \[Spotify CEO\] [Daniel Ek](http://business.time.com/2013/05/01/time-tech-40-the-ten-most-influential-tech-ceos/slide/daniel-ek-spotify/?iid=sr-link3),” West tweeted shortly after, completing the roll call of music streaming’s major players.) “F\*\*\* all this d\*\*\* swinging contest. We all gon be dead in 100 Years. Let the kids have the music,” he continued, a point to which most millennials probably nodded their heads enthusiastically. Then he called out Apple in specific for dragging its feet: > [](https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/759449038097747968) (That would be a shoutout to visionary Apple founder Jobs, of course.) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4433313/kanye-west-apple-tidal-jayz/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4433313/kanye-west-apple-tidal-jayz/"},"headline":"Kanye West Is Demanding That Apple Buy Tidal Already","datePublished":"2016-08-01T17:43:39.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:34:57.932Z","description":"\"Let the kids have the music\"","url":"https://time.com/4433313/kanye-west-apple-tidal-jayz/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Entertainment","Apple","celebrities","Music","Kanye West","tidal"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"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/4433313/kanye-west-apple-tidal-jayz/","name":"Kanye West Is Demanding That Apple Buy Tidal Already"}}]}] ```