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Kanye West Is Leaving Tidal Because the Company Owes Him Money (theverge.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: Kanye West has terminated his contract with Tidal, TMZ reports. West claims that Jay Z's streaming service owes him upwards of $3 million and is in breach of contract, according to TMZ's sources. Through his lawyers, West has terminated his contract with Tidal, while the company apparently refuses to recognize that termination. West was one of the first artists to join Jay Z's streaming service at its launch in 2015; his 2016 album The Life of Pablo was originally released as a Tidal exclusive. West claims that album brought 1.5 million new subscribers to Tidal -- a number that was apparently supposed to come with a bonus check, according to TMZ. West also says Tidal went back on a promise of additional money for exclusive music videos, which Tidal reportedly says Kanye never produced. According to TMZ, Tidal has threatened to sue West if he leaves the service.
This has nothing to do with technology. It's a spat between two spoiled egocentrics.
Again, who the fuck cares
This is a fascinating and relevant follow up story to something that interested us all in the past. We covered the Kanye West exclusive online release of a major album in the past in relation to piracy, physical copies, and the general saturation of the online music industry.
It was interesting at the time, and it's even more interesting to see it all fall in a heap.