Whatever behind the scenes drama Jay Z was having with Apple Music seems to be resolved because the songs and albums he pulled from the streaming music service on Friday were back by Monday morning. His catalog disappeared from Apple Music and Spotify at the end of last week without any notice, and is back without any fanfare, too.
Spotify confirmed last Friday Jay Z requested to have his library removed from the streaming music services, but didn’t offer up any other details. The assumption was the move had something to do with Jay Z being a co-owner of competing streaming music service Tidal.
Tidal claims to be a better streaming music service because it offers higher bit rate music files, and because it’s artist owned. Getting those higher audio quality tracks comes at a price, however, because you’ll pay double compared to Apple Music and Spotify.
Tidal also offers a less expensive US$9.99 tier that’s in line with competitors both for price and audio quality. That makes exclusive artist deals the real feature setting Tidal apart from Apple Music and Spotify.
With Jay Z’s catalog back on Apple Music and Spotify, it looks like we’re back to business as usual in the streaming music market. That’s assuming, of course, Kanye West doesn’t have another internet meltdown.
I love Jay Z, but I can’t download his music on my Mac so currently I am using Nox App Player (an emulator) to download his songs.