50 Cent Criticizes Tidal, Says Jay Z "Capitalized on People"

50 Cent is far from the first artist to speak out about Jay Z's "for the artist, by the artist" model of his streaming service, Tidal. As MTV reports, 50 said, "It's like the clarity I got about my grandmother after she was gone. Some people have been better at that than me. If I look at Jay Z, I'd point out he capitalized on people better than I did."

According to Business Insider, 50 came after the service and its spokesman for co-opting the artist and failing to pay for their success. He told LA's Real 92.3, ""They probably could've did something more exciting if they reached out, because the people you saw there don't even own the rights to their music. So they can't say it's gonna come out of Tidal. It has to go everywhere."

50 makes many valid points. Like many others, he wonders why he should have to pay $9.99 a month to hear music that he could easily access on Pandora, Spotify or other services for free. Many took issue with Jay Z's " disastrous" press conference regarding his involvement in the streaming service and its new model wherein the artists had a stake in the company. The press conference was a star-studded, if vague, event that held little bearing over the later success of the brand. This symbolized, to many users, that the company had no interest in supporting independent, struggling artists, but rather the already-wealthy stars that studded the stage that evening.

Regarding the conference, 50 said, "Usher was there and Madonna and all these people. That's a little bit more of a, when you say, 'It was business,' it's more of a corporate play. When the record is playing on the air, they say, 'Oh, all right. Let's get this guy.' The popular rapper/business mogul added, "The companies have contracts, and companies are gonna do everything to get the maximum performance out of the music. They're not going to just put it through Tidal as a service."

It is reported that Jay Z purchased Tidal for $56 million and is understandably upset with the company's performance since he took the reigns.

50 is hardly the first artist to speak out against the company, with Ben Gibbard of Death Cab For Cutie, Marcus Mumford, and Lily Allen all criticizing Jay Z's latest venture.

Tags

Jay-Z, 50 cent, Tidal