When Beyoncé released her new album Lemonade over the weekend, her fans could only access it on Tidal — the streaming service owned by her husband, rapper Jay-Z, in which she has a partial stake.
That period of exclusivity may only last around 24 hours, however, with knowledgeable sources telling the New York Times that the album will be available for purchase on iTunes by midnight on Sunday. The Times said representatives for neither Apple nor Beyoncé would comment.
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Although Tidal was packaged as an artist-owned competitor to streaming sites like Apple Music and Spotify, it only has three million subscribers in comparison to Apple’s 11 million and Spotify’s 30 million — thus severely restricting its reach. The company has been picking up steam in recent months, however, with exclusive album releases from superstars like Rihanna and Kanye West bolstered by the fact that it was the only service with the complete works of pop icon Prince, who died suddenly last Thursday.
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But efforts to keep Lemonade exclusively under Tidal’s umbrella — with the announcement of a download-able version in addition to the online stream — appear to have failed, with e-commerce giant Amazon also saying it would soon start selling the album.
[NYT]
