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Jay Z, Madonna, Rihanna and Beyonce Unite Music’s Biggest Stars to Launch Tidal

Some of the biggest names in music industry have joined forces to launch Tidal, an “artist-owned” music and video streaming service.

Rihanna, Madonna, Beyonce, Usher, Daft Punk, Arcade Fire, Jack White and Kanye West joined a host of other stars as they were revealed as co-owners of the subscription service, which is the brainchild of Jay Z.

The membership-based service will provide music and video content. However, unlike rivals Spotify, the service will not have a free tier – meaning the musicians stand to make more money from it.

Alicia Keys gave a presentation as the other artists stood side-by-side.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=386&v=egShCjfvi9s

She said the artists hoped the new service would “forever change the course of music history” and ensure the viability of the industry.

“So we come together before you on this day, March 30th, 2015, with one voice in unity in the hopes that today will be another one of those moments in time, a moment that will forever change the course of music history. For today we announce of Tidal, the first ever artist-owned, global music and entertainment platform”

Alicia Keys

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The membership-based service is being offered to U.S. users at two price points: about $9.95 for standard sound quality and $19.99 for ‘lossless high fidelity sound quality.’

In the United Kingdom the premium service will set users back £20.

Tidal streams at 1,411 kilobytes per second – well above the 320 for premium subscribers of Spotify, which offers lower levels for free users.

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The difference means that Tidal offers higher sound quality for audiophiles with advanced sound systems – but that casual listeners using simple laptops or smartphones may face slower connections.

Jay Z’s company, Project Panther, took over Sweden-based Aspiro for a reported $56m (£37m) on 13 March. Coldplay’s Chris Martin and Calvin Harris, who both appeared via video, are also co-owners.

The firm owned WiMP – which rivals Spotify in some countries – and TIDAL (which streams music in HD).

Before the announcement, big names including Madonna, Rihanna, Coldplay, Usher and Jay Z’s wife Beyonce changed their Twitter profile pictures to the teal blue colour of Tidal’s website to show their support.

Tidal operates in 31 countries, including Britain, France and the US and is to be launched in six more including Australia and Germany.

Spotify is the industry leader and says it has 60 million users with 15 million of them paying for its services.

It has 30 million tracks available on its service and charges £9.99 per month.

Tidal streams at 1,411 kilobytes per second – well above the 320 for premium subscribers of Spotify, which offers lower levels for free users.

The difference means that Tidal offers higher sound quality for people listening on advanced sound systems.

Tidal offers users access to 25 million tracks, in addition to 75,000 music videos and other content including artist interviews.

There are two options: £9.99 for “standard sound quality”, and £19.99 per month for “Lossless High Fidelity sound quality”.

There is said to be no free version of Tidal beyond the initial 30-day trial period.

Tidal will compete with Spotify, Deezer and other streaming services.

Apple plans to relaunch its own Beats Music which was founded by Dr Dre.