Source: Joseph Okpako / Getty
Apple seems to have officially held up their battle flag against newcomers Tidal, the subscription-based music service that emerged after Jay-Z acquired Aspiro earlier this year in March 2015.
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According to lovebscott, Lil’Wayne held LilWeezyAna Fest in New Orleans for The Carter Fund, which benefits after school programs in Louisiana, post-Katrina. Page Six reports that Tidal faces $20 million had it streamed Drake’s performance at the fest on Friday night. Drake recently signed an exclusive deal with Apple Music for $20 million and it looks like they were not happy with their new signing agreeing to perform at the event.
Lil’Wayne is also a Tidal stockholder so in some eyes this might justify Apple’s interest in seeing to it that Drake is not streamed on the service. However, Drake was reportedly only supposed to perform two songs and it was for charity!
Tidal sent out the following tweets:
In fact, according to Page Six’s sources:
“Legal letters have been sent to Tidal warning that Drake cannot appear on the Tidal stream of the festival, either solo or part of a group, and if the warning was ignored, the liabilities could be up to $20 million.
“This event is for charity, Drake is doing two songs. Why does Apple think it can dictate to artists where and when they can perform?”
Did Apple take it too far? Do they have a right to enforce the contract with Drake in this way? Does this get in the way of artistry, as Tidal suggests? Is this whole situation petty?
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