Unlike the Mayweather/Pacquiao hugfest that took place this past Saturday, haymakers are really starting to fly in the fight between Apple, Tidal, and Spotify. After feeling the heat from the media and public perception alike, Tidal owner Jay Z took to Twitter last week to unleash a series of tweets defending his new streaming service, along with firing a few shots at his competitors:
The iTunes Store wasn’t built in a day. It took Spotify 9 years to be successful…
— Mr. Carter (@S_C_) April 26, 2015
There are many big companies that are spending millions on a smear campaign. We are not anti-anyone, we are pro-artist & fan. #TidalFacts
— Mr. Carter (@S_C_) April 26, 2015
Rich getting richer? Equity values… YouTube $390 billion. Apple $760 billion. Spotify $8 billion. Tidal $60 million. #TidalFacts
— Mr. Carter (@S_C_) April 26, 2015
These tweets came hand in hand with a “leaked” Tidal royalty statement, which showed its payments were almost double the average paid by its competitors. When asked about the “leaked” (got an itching suspicion “released” is a better word) royalty statement, Tidal refuted the claims, instead stating the company pays four times the rate of its leading competitor Spotify (paying $0.024 to $0.028 per stream compared to Spotify’s $0.006 to $0.008).
However while Spotify was dodging jabs from Jay Z and Tidal on the left, Apple may be in the process of a fierce roundhouse coming from the right. As reported by TheVerge.com two days ago, Apple has “been pushing major music labels to force streaming services like Spotify to abandon their free tiers, which will dramatically reduce the competition for Apple’s upcoming offering.” As you can imagine, this kind of behavior is a tad frowned upon. Ok maybe more than a tad, because the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission are now putting Apple and high-ranking music executives under a legal microscope.
Will Apple get smacked by the courts? Are some music executives about to be forced to an early retirement? Will that crispy and shiny Tidal commercial become a haunting memory for Jay Z? With enough plot lines and high profile characters for an episode of “Suits”, this streaming music battle royal is only going to get more intense as the weeks go on. Until then, excuse me as I go get lost in my Soundcloud.
