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| Tanlines will perform at the 2015 Made in America festival |
When Jay Z, Live Nation and Budweiser combine forces for the fourth annual Made in America (MIA) festival, they'll have headliners such as Beyoncé (September 5) and The Weeknd (September 6) along with major alterna-rockers (Modest Mouse, Strands of Oaks), rappers (De La Soul, Meek Mill) and more. The surprise highlight of the 2015 MIA fest (with an expected 70,000+ attendees per day on Philadelphia's Benjamin Franklin Parkway) however, is Jay Z's other business venture, the TIDAL streaming music and content provider that will have special stages and offer members-only access.
TIDAL was started in 2015 when Jay Z's company, Project Panther Ltd., bought the barely-year-old Aspiro Company and its Tidal brand for $56.2 million. Beyoncé, Rihanna, Daft Punk and Madonna are among the owners in TIDAL, which currently only has paid subscriptions (as opposed to having some non-premium, free content like many of their competitors), but claims to pay the highest percentage of royalties to artists and songwriters in music's streaming market. They host 25 million tracks, 75,000 music videos and countless exclusives, purportedly with the best sound quality.
That is TIDAL's pitch. Detractors have pegged TIDAL as being a haven for wealthy musicians, with recording artists from Lily Allen, to Marina and the Diamonds to My Morning Jacket's guitarist and singer Jim James stating in interviews that TIDAL was too expensive, too corporate and too elitist.
Jay Z has responded to that criticism with his own freestyle rap calling those against him "haters," and he has won new artist converts to his fold such as Lil Wayne and Prince.
At any rate, on September 5 and 6, TIDAL will stream portions of Made in America to its membership, as well as teasers for non-members. At the festival itself, TIDAL members will have a special VIP entrance, but of course everyone will be able to view the curated stages featuring TIDAL Rising and TIDAL Discovery artists with indie acts such as Brooklyn's Tanlines, Chicago's Lili K and Nashville's Mike Floss.
Meanwhile, we're wondering, what will Beyoncé do tonight? I predict a Destiny's Child reunion since they're working on new music.
TIDAL's livestream begins at 1:30 PM (EDT) on Saturday, September 5th and Sunday, September 6th. For more info visit TIDAL.com.
Photo credit: Columbine Goldsmith
Posted on Saturday, September 5, 2015
