In case you missed it—I mean, it’s Kanye doing Kanye things in the news, how could you— but the self-proclaimed music god, Kanye West, made a successful attempt at pushing the Tidal music streaming app to the top of the App Store charts.
Originally, Kanye’s new album, Life of Pablo was set to be available to stream on Tidal and for purchase on his official website. But, after the album’s release last week, Kanye changed his mind and made it exclusively available on Tidal.
On February 14th, Kanye tweeted that he decided not to sell his album for another week. He then put out a call to action for his followers and fans to subscribe to Tidal, which, by the way, he is a co-owner of. This plea was for his fans to not wait another week for the album, at which point it will be available on iTunes and through other platforms and distributors. Instead, he wanted them to listen now, but only on Tidal.
However, on Monday, February 15th, Kanye ensured us all that his album will only be available to stream on Tidal. Period. After tweeting that his album will “never never never be on Apple” and that he will “never make it available for purchase,” it’s looking like the only way anyone can listen to Life of Pablo is by streaming it on Tidal.
My album will never never never be on Apple. And it will never be for sale… You can only get it on Tidal.
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) February 15, 2016
Kanye was successful with his antics and the iOS app is now the No.1 spot on the App Store’s “Top Free Apps” chart in the US. To listen to Life of Pablo you have to be a current member of Tidal or sign up, which gives you access to a free, 30-day trial. However, once the trial period ends, you have to purchase a subscription, which costs $9.99 per month at the standard premium level, and $19.99 per month for a high-fidelity experience.
Despite being hyped as the first artist-owned streaming service, co-owned by Kanye and headed by Jay-Z, the company has previously failed to shine against its competition in the music-streaming world, which is currently dominated by Spotify and Apple Music.
Though this little stint by Kanye has proved successful, we’ll be curious to see how many people actually convert to a paid membership once their free-trial ends.