Along with her husband Jay Z, Beyoncé is one of the principal owners of TIDAL. In a bizarre twist, her music could soon be pulled from the high-fidelity streaming music service. Yes, Beyoncé’s music may soon be missing from the company that she herself owns.
How is this possible, you might ask? Sony, who owns the licensing rights to Beyoncé’s music, is demanding a large cash advance from TIDAL, according to Bloomberg. If a deal is not struck soon, Sony is threatening to pull its catalog, including the music of Beyoncé.
Bloomberg reports that TIDAL has already struck similar deals with Universal and Warner. However, TIDAL finds itself with less financial capital than anticipated after an investment from Sprint failed to close. Additionally, of the 900,000 people who reportedly subscribed to TIDAL, Bloomberg speculates that a majority of them were for trial services that were not renewed.
Daft Punk, Alicia Keys, and Usher are among other TIDAL co-owners signed to Sony.
Read Colin McLaughlin’s recent Aux.Out. essay on why there’s reason to be skeptical of TIDAL.
