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# David Pakman: What Jay-Z Should Have Launched With Tidal
- URL: https://www.hypebot.com/what-jay-z-should-have-launched-with-tidal/
- Published: 2015-04-03T11:59:00.000Z
- Updated: 2015-04-03T11:59:00.000Z
- Description: [UPDATED] According to digital music pioneer turned venture capitalist David Pakman, Jay-Z's launch of Tidal should have sounded a something like this: “The transition from CDs to digital hasn’t worked well. Continue reading [https://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2015/04/what-jay-z-should-have-launched-wi
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Music Business, Music Tech, Streaming, Big Machine Records, Calvin Harris, Compact disc, Daft Punk, iTunes, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Nicki Minaj, Spotify, Taylor Swift, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-01-21 10:28

[![Tidal-announcement-madonna-deadmau5-kanye-jay-z-march-2015-billboard-650-1200x794](http://hypebot.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83451b36c69e201b7c7716feb970b-150wi "Tidal-announcement-madonna-deadmau5-kanye-jay-z-march-2015-billboard-650-1200x794")](http://hypebot.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83451b36c69e201b7c7716feb970b-popup?ref=hypebot.com)

\[UPDATED\] According to digital music pioneer turned venture capitalist **David Pakman,** [Jay-Z](http://lifeandtimes.com/?ref=hypebot.com "Jay-Z")'s launch of Tidal should have sounded a something like this: “**The transition from CDs to digital hasn’t worked well for the [music industry](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music%5Findustry?ref=hypebot.com "Music industry")…"**

  
*Guest Post by *David Pakman* on [Disruption](http://www.pakman.com/2015/04/01/here-is-what-jay-z-should-have-launched-with-tidal/?ref=hypebot.com)*

(Continued)"…Sales are down and too many people listen to music without paying for it. **We think that is because [digital music](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital%5Faudio?ref=hypebot.com) is too expensive for the value it delivers.** For too long, music has been both too expensive for fans and doesn’t produce enough money for artists. We wanted to completely change the game. So we did.

[![Screen Shot 2015-03-30 at 11.57.04 AM](http://a5.typepad.com/6a016766638dee970b01bb081565c5970d-150wi "Screen Shot 2015-03-30 at 11.57.04 AM")](http://a5.typepad.com/6a016766638dee970b01bb081565c5970d-popup?ref=hypebot.com)

We, the sixteen superstar artists on this stage, used our incredible power and leverage over the music industry to demand completely new economics from the labels and publishers. So today, we are launching Tidal5. **For $5 a month, you get [music streaming](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streaming%5Fmedia?ref=hypebot.com) of 20 million songs to any device.** And to help artists, we are introducing the same economics as the iTunes and [Google Play](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google%5FPlay?ref=hypebot.com) stores into music. 70% of all Tidal5 revenue will go to the artists and 30% will be split among the operations of the service and to the labels and publishers.

We wanted to find a way to attract more buyers into digital music and we knew the only way to do that was to get prices much lower. That’s a gift to our fans. **But we also needed to get way more money into the hands of the artists.** And we did that too. We used our power for good. And we hope you enjoy it.

**Huzza.”**

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