Lily Allen, you're wrong about Tidal
Allen criticises Jay Z's music streaming service, but it's clear that he wants to credit the creators more - if he wanted profit he could sell branded headphones
Related: Rihanna and Beyonci(C) unveil new music via Tidal
Over Easter, Lily Allen took to Twitter to critique Jay Z's music streaming service Tidal. She's not the the first person to oppose the opulence of its star-studded launch event last week, or to voice pessimism about its mantra of doing right by artists, but as a fellow songwriter - who, unlike Allen, is not a performer - I think she's wrong in a number of ways.
Related: Tidal: 10 things you need to know
For someone like me, I can go on tour. But what about the people working on the record, the content creators and not just the artists? If they're not being compensated properly, then I think we'll lose some writers and producers and people like that who depend on fair trade. Some would probably have to take another job, and I think we'll lose some great writers in the process. Is it fair? No. If you put in work, everyone else, you go to work you get paid. That's fair trade. It's what our country is built on.
I'm just saying the producers and people who work on music are getting left out - that's when it starts getting criminal. It's like you're working hard and you're not receiving. In any other business people would be standing before Congress. They have anti-trust laws against this kind of behaviour. It almost seems like when it applies to music no one really cares who's cheated. It's so disorganised; it's so disconnected from reality.
Continue reading...