Copy that sparks change

This March saw the signing of an important declaration for the music industry. Far from giving birth to a nation this declaration has given birth to Tidal, a new streaming service masterminded by rap pioneer and music mogul Jay Z. The declaration signing ceremony saw a number of high profile artists appear to put their mark on what can only be described as a big piece of paper. Rhianna, Beyonce, Calvin Harris and Madonna amongst others turned up to show their support. Tidal aims to create a level playing field for artists, giving better return for their work whilst providing a high fidelity listening experience in the form of CD quality audio.

Originally a Norweigan streaming service, the new and improved Tidal seems to be a bit late to the party. Its grand entrance comes, as the situation with music and film piracy seems to be spiraling out of control, a problem to which nobody is offering a reasonable alternative. Growing discontent with current streaming market leaders Spotify has been public since Taylor Swift pulled her catalogue from the service claiming it didn’t value her art. Tidals promise to create some kind of fair trade for musicians seems very enticing when Spotify pays as little as $0.007 in royalties per play even before labels have taken their cut, a number appallingly low amount for any artist. However, like many others I find it hard to believe that Tidal are going to treat struggling artists, or any artist better. The elaborate declaration signing seemed to confirm this for me. Its aurora of self-importance was smothering. It was like the kid at the party who insists on playing his own music through the speakers, just awkward because nobody really cares. Jay Z and his group of cronies seemed to think they where some group of diplomats paving the way for civilisation but I fail to see how they are different to any other business owners looking to exploit musicians and their art.

As well as supposedly providing artists with a fair deal Tidal promise a high fidelity audio option. A standard quality subscription will set you back £9.99 a month or you can pay full price at £19.99 a month for their high fidelity FLAC streaming. Much like the classic film featuring John Cusack high fidelity audio in the form of a FLAC file has a cult following. The spotlight has been cast on the little known audio format with its use by Tidal and on Neil Young’s very own digital media player Pono. I have met people that swear by the format but have yet to actually care myself. It seems as if the owners of Tidal think everyone is going to be listening to their music through over-priced home audio systems. In actual fact the vast majority of the music on the streaming platform will probably be heard through iPod headphones making the quality of the audio completely inconsequential. Providing this high quality streaming has done Tidal no end of favors however, I can’t help but feel its unique selling point is actually a bit pointless. I guess sometimes it’s just nice to have the option.

It seems that many people are equally as unconvinced by Tidal as I am. Since its inception Tidal has had to deal with a lot of flak. Most notably Death Cab for Cutie’s Ben Gibbard and Mumford and Sons’ Marcus Mumford have spoken out against Tidal. Gibbard slammed them for not using the opportunity to show the world how hard musicians are really being hit by the slump in record sales and poor royalties received from streaming sites.

It’s not the idea of Tidal that I have a problem with. Like Gibbard, I have a problem with the way they have represented the company. This group of high profile artists have completely bypassed the struggling musicians that are being insulted by the likes of Spotify. Maybe Tidal will have the strength to pay artists more but this also means coming to terms with and confronting the extortionate amounts taken by record labels. To me Tidal seems like a shift of power from labels and other companies like Spotify to a conglomerate of businessmen and women disguised as your favorite artist. I cannot help but to distrust the people who are already earning millions. Perhaps this would change if I where to talk to Jay Z himself however, I really can’t see him knocking at my door for a chat any time soon.