[cocktailpeanuts]

I knew this would happen from the beginning, but actually seeing it happen breaks my heart.

I really can't interpret this as anything other than Jay-Z trying to be like Dr. Dre.

The difference is Dr. Dre's company actually created a product people wanted, and he deserves the success.

As for Tidal, how is this not different from union workers going on a strike? Except that people going on a strike do have legitimate reasons. For the "exclusive" artists who were on Tidal they're all rich people already. They just wanted to make more money.

They created absolutely 0 value with this company, all they did was create a collective with enough critical mass to matter and monetized on it. And when I say "monetize", it's us the fans that they monetized. It's almost like a betrayal.

[prawn]

But why not create that conglomerate themselves rather than join another service where they have less control as individuals, say signed exclusively to Spotify or whatever?

I've long thought that elite-brand athletes (LeBron, Durant, etc) should collectively start an alternative social media network that gives them more functionality that suits them, rather than just play on Instagram, Twitter and the like.

You already see things like The Players' Tribune - a media presence by players giving them direct control over things like signing announcements and so on.

[gleenn]

I have no issue particularly with your statement but technically Kanye isn't rich, last I heard he was 50 mil in the hole haha.

[cocktailpeanuts]

If 50 million dollars isn't rich I don't know what is. Maybe reading a lot of Techcrunch made us think people aren't rich unless they're billionaires, but stop and think about it. He's much richer than me, and probably richer than you. And I'm not poor.

[prawn]

$50m in the hole means he's carrying $50m in debt.